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A proverb applied to those who take second place. The Lesbian citharodes were the first whom the Lacedaemonians used to invite, for when the city was in discord, a prophecy ordered them to 'send for the Lesbian singer'; they sent for Terpander from Antissa,[1] when he was in exile because of blood-guilt, and they listened to him in their messes and were brought into good order.
[Note] that when the Lacedaemonians were quarreling they summoned the musician Terpander from Lesbos, who put their souls in order and settled the strife. So after this whenever the Lacedaemonians listened to a musician they said [he was second] "after the Lesbian singer."

*meta\ *le/sbion w)|do/n: paroimi/a legome/nh e)pi\ tw=n ta\ deu/tera ferome/nwn: oi( ga\r *lakedaimo/nioi tou\s *lesbi/ous kiqarw|dou\s prw/tous prosekalou=nto: a)katastatou/shs ga\r th=s po/lews au)tw=n xrhsmo\s e)ge/neto to\n *le/sbion w)|do\n metape/mpesqai: oi( d' e)c *)anti/sshs *te/rpandron e)f' ai(/mati feu/gonta metapemya/menoi h)/kouon au)tou= e)n toi=s sussiti/ois kai\ katesta/lhsan. o(/ti oi( *lakedaimo/nioi stasia/zontes metepe/myanto e)k *le/sbou to\n mousiko\n *te/rpandron, o(\s h(/rmosen au)tw=n ta\s yuxa\s kai\ th\n sta/sin e)/pausen. ei)/pote ou)=n meta\ tau=ta mousikou= tinos h)/kouon oi( *lakedaimo/nioi, e)/legon meta\ *le/sbion w)|do/n.

Cratinus fr. 243 Kock (263 K.-A.); Photius mu318 Theodoridis; Zenobius 5.9 and other paroemiographers; 'prov[erbial] of a second-rate musician' (LSJ s.v. w)|do/s).
On Terpander, see generally tau 354. The traditional date for his visit to Sparta is 676 BCE, when he was believed to have re-founded the Spartans' Karneia festival.
[1] Antissa: alpha 2726.

David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics) on 23 April 2003@03:20:08.
David Whitehead (expanded primary note; another keyword) on 17 May 2009@10:40:06.
Catharine Roth (betacode detail, keyword) on 26 May 2009@22:11:51.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaking) on 17 May 2013@07:07:10.

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