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Yet another remarkable story from Plutarch.  The similarities to the sacrifice of Isaac are remarkable, and in general, whether or not religious precepts should be exposed to this kind of treatment, as opposed to taken at face value, is one of the perennially relevant theological questions; and whether or not the virtue of actions may be determined by their effectiveness is also forever relevant.  The scene is mid-fourth-century B.C. Greece, when the city of Thebes is struggling for its freedom against the hegemon Sparta.

Now when the Lacedaemonians had made peace with the other Greeks, and united all their strength against the Thebans only, and their king, Cleombrotus, had passed the frontier with ten thousand foot and one thousand horse, and not only subjection, as heretofore, but total dispersion and annihilation threatened, and Boeotia was in a greater fear than ever – Pelopidas, leaving his house, when his wife followed him on his way, and with tears begged him to be careful of his life, made answer, ‘Private men, my wife, should be advised to look to themselves, generals to save others.’  And when he came to the camp, and found the chief captains disagreeing, he, first, joined the side of Epaminondas, who advised to fight the enemy; though Pelopidas himself was not then in office as Boeotarch, but in command of the Sacred Band, and trusted as it was fit a man should be, who had given his country such proofs of his zeal for its freedom.  And so when a battle was agreed on, and they encamped in front of the Spartans at Leuctra, Pelopidas saw a vision, which much discomposed him.  In that plain lie the bodies of the daughters of one Scedasus, called from the place Leuctridae, having been buried there after having been ravished by some Spartan strangers.  When this base and lawless deed was done, and their father could get no satisfaction at Lacedaemon, with bitter imprecations on the Spartans, he killed himself at his daughters’ tombs: and from that time the prophecies and oracles still warned them to have a great care of the divine vengeance at Leuctra.  Many, however, did not understand the meaning, being uncertain about the place, because there was a little maritime town of Laconia called Leuctron, and near Megalopolis in Arcadia a place of the same name; and the villainy was committed long before this battle.

Now Pelopidas, being asleep in the camp, thought he saw the maidens weeping about their tombs, and cursing the Spartans, and Scedasus commanding, if they desired the victory, to sacrifice a virgin with chestnut [I presume this word is xanthos, which seems to mean something like “blond”] hair to his daughters.  Pelopidas looked on this as a harsh and impious injunction, but rose and told it to the prophets and commanders of the army, some of whom contended that it was fit to obey, and adduced as examples from the ancients, Menoeceus, son of Creon; Macaria, daughter of Hercules; and from later times, Pherecydes the philosopher, slain by the Lacedaemonians, and his skin, as the oracles advised, still kept by their kings.  Leonidas, again, warned by the oracle, did as it were sacrifice himself for the good of Greece; Themistocles offered human victims to Bacchus Omestes, before the engagement at Salamis; and success showed their actions to be good.  On the contrary, Agesilaus, going from the same place, and against the same enemies that Agamemnon did, and being commanded in a dream at Aulis to sacrifice his daughter, was so weak as to disobey; the consequence of which was, that his expedition was unsuccessful and inglorious.  But some on the other side urged that such a barbarous and impious obligation could not be pleasing to any Superior Beings; that typhons and giants did not preside over the world, but the general father of gods and men; that it was absurd to imagine any divinities or powers delighted in the slaughter and sacrifices of men; or, if there were such, they were to be neglected as weak and unable to assist; such unreasonable and cruel desires could only proceed from, and live in, weak and depraved minds.

The commanders thus disputing, and Pelopidas being in a great perplexity, a mare colt breaking from the herd, ran through the camp, and when she came to the place where they were stood still; and whilst some admired her bright chestnut color, others her mettle, or the strength and fury of her neighing, Theocritus, the augur, took thought, and cried out to Pelopidas, ‘O good friend! look, the sacrifice is come; expect no other virgin, but use that which the gods have sent thee.’  With that they took the colt, and leading her to the maidens’ sepulchers, with the usual solemnity and prayers, offered her with joy, and spread through the whole army the account of Pelopidas’s dream, and how they had given the required sacrifice.

In the battle, Epaminondas, bending his phalanx to the left, that, as much as possible, he might divide the right wing, composed of Spartans, from the other Greeks, and distress Cleombrotus by a fierce charge in column on that wing, the enemies perceived their design, and began to change their order, to open and extend their right wing, and, as they far exceeded him in number, to encompass Epaminondas.  But Pelopidas with the three hundred came rapidly up, before Cleombrotus could extend his line, and close up his divisions, and so fell upon the Spartans while in disorder; though the Lacedaemonians, the expertest and most practiced soldiers of all mankind, used to train and accustom themselves to nothing so much as to keep themselves from confusion upon any change of position, and to follow any leader, or right-hand man, and form in order, and fight on what part soever dangers press.  In this battle, however, Epaminondas with his phalanx, neglecting the other Greeks, and charging them alone, and Pelopidas coming up with such incredible speed and fury, so broke their courage and baffled their art that there began such a flight and slaughter amongst the Spartans as was never before known.  And so Pelopidas, though in no high office, but only captain of a small band, got as much reputation by the victory as Epaminondas, who was general and Boeotarch.

From the LIfe of Pelopidas.