Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Chilon

CHILON, one of the seven sages of Greece, was a Lacedæmonian by birth His father's name was Damagetos, and he appears to have flourished about the beginning of the 6th century B.C. In 556 B.C. he acted as ephor eponymous, but little more is known of his life. He is said to have died of joy on hearing that his son had gained a prize at the Olympic games. Diogenes Laertius tells us that he composed elegies, but none of these are extant. Many of his apophthegms have been handed down. They show much of the weight and brevity that might be expected in a Spartan, but are not so pointed and severe as those of Bias. According to Chilon the great virtue of man was prudence, or well grounded judgment as to future events. (Diog. Laer., i. §§ 68–73; Mullach, Frag. Phil. Græc., i.).