Βασιλεία ἔνδοξος δουλεία.

Greek Learning Greek
1

I am thinking about how to understand this sentence:
“Βασιλεία ἔνδοξος δουλεία.”
(Maybe Antigonus II Gonatas said this.)

I guess “Βασιλεία” here means “Monarchy” or “Kingship”, rather than “King”, and “δουλεία” means “slavery”. But I’m not sure about “ἔνδοξος”. Here does it mean “esteemed”/“reputable” or “recognised”/“accepted”?

I find a translation: “Kingship is recognised servitude”, but I doubt it.

2

In this context, I think ἔνδοξος means something like ”glorious”. So ”kingship is glorious servitude”.

3

Maybe.
My textbook quotes it in a text extracted from Anabasis by Xenophon (Book II I remember), where Cyrus the Younger has died and Κλέαρχος/Clearchus is negotiating with Τισσαφέρνης/Tissaphernes.
I’m not sure why my textbook quotes it here.

4

The story from Aelian:

Ἀντίγονόν φασι τὸν βασιλέα δημοτικὸν καὶ πρᾶον γενέσθαι. καὶ ὅτῳ μὲν σχολὴ τὰ κατ’ αὐτὸν εἰδέναι καὶ αὐτὰ ἕκαστα ἐξετάζειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀνδρός, εἴσεται ἑτέρωθεν· εἰρήσεται δ’ οὖν αὐτοῦ καὶ πάνυ πρᾶον καὶ ἄτυφον ὃ μέλλω λέγειν. ὁ Ἀντίγονος οὗτος ὁρῶν τὸν υἱὸν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις χρώμενον βιαιότερόν τε καὶ θρασύτερον ‘οὐκ οἶσθα’ εἶπεν, ‘ὦ παῖ, τὴν βασιλείαν ἡμῶν ἔνδοξον εἶναι δουλείαν;’ καὶ τὰ μὲν τοῦ Ἀντιγόνου πρὸς τὸν παῖδα πάνυ ἡμέρως ἔχει καὶ φιλανθρώπως· ὅτῳ δὲ οὐ δοκεῖ ταύτῃ, ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνός γε οὐ δοκεῖ μοι βασιλικὸν ἄνδρα εἰδέναι οὐδὲ πολιτικόν, τυραννικῷ δὲ συμβιῶσαι μᾶλλον.

He’s speaking to his son who has been abusing the servants, and here says “Son, do you not know that our kingly office is a highly honored slavery?”

I like Aelian’s chatty bookends to the anecdote.

5

Have a point.