Killed by his own hand he departed this life. The daughters of Erechtheus, For the story of the daughters of Erechtheus see Lyc. 98 and note. by nobility of virtue, triumphed over the woman’s weakness in their hearts the frailty of their nature was made virile by devotion to the soil that reared them. Old men shrink from death in the sunset of life. . . . lit up Greece with the fire of war. A word, if rashly uttered, will sharpen the sword of war, and yet, if skilfully chosen, it will blunt the spear even though it is already whetted. There is more speed in management than in force.