For how could anyone have surpassed in nobility of birth the descendants of Heracles The Spartan kings claimed descent from Heracles, the son of Zeus and Alcmena; cf. Isoc. 4.62 and Isoc. 6.8 . and Zeus—and all men know that to your family alone confessedly belongs this honor—or in valor the founders of the Dorian cities in the Peloponnese who occupied that land, or in the multitude of the perilous deeds and the trophies erected as a result of your leadership and rule?