The Argives heard of this and came to the coast to do battle with him. When they had come near Tiryns and were at the place called Hesipeia, they encamped opposite the Lacedaemonians, leaving only a little space between the armies. There the Argives had no fear of fair fighting, but rather of being captured by a trick.
[2]
This was the affair referred to by that oracle which the Pythian priestess gave to the Argives and Milesians in common, which ran thus:
“When the female defeats the male1
And drives him away, winning glory in Argos,
She will make many Argive women tear their cheeks.
As someday one of men to come will say:
The dread thrice-coiled serpent died tamed by the spear.
”
[3]
All these things coming together spread fear among the Argives. Therefore they resolved to defend themselves by making use of the enemies' herald, and they performed their resolve in this way: whenever the Spartan herald signalled anything to the Lacedaemonians, the Argives did the same thing.
