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Why at Sparta is a shrine of Odysseus built
near the shrine of the daughters of Leucippus?
Erginus, one of the descendants of Diomedes, was
persuaded by Temenus to steal the Palladium from
Argos ; this he did with the knowledge and help
of Leagrus, who was one of Temenus's friends. But
later Leagrus became incensed at Temenus and removed to Sparta, taking the Palladium with him. The
Spartan kings received it eagerly, and gave it a place
near the shrine of the daughters of Leucippus, and
they sent to Delphi to obtain an oracle concerning its
safety and preservation. When the god gave oracle
that one of those who had purloined the Palladium
should be made its guardian, the Spartans constructed
there the shrine of Odysseus, especially since, because of his marriage with Penelopê,1 they reckoned
that this hero had close relations with their city.
1 The daughter of the Spartan Icarius.
Plutarch. Moralia. with an English Translation by. Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. 4.
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