Lysander

Lysander
Lysander as a Renaissance duke, engraved 1553.
Allegiance	Sparta
Rank	Navarch
Battles/wars	Battle of Aegospotami

Lysander (/laɪˈsændər/ or /ˈlaɪˌsændər/; died 395 BC, Greek: Λύσανδρος, Lýsandros) was a Spartan admiral who commanded the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont which defeated the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 BC. The following year, he was able to force the Athenians to capitulate, bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end; he organized the dominion of Sparta over Greece in the last decade of his life.

Little is known of Lysander's early life. Lysander's father was Aristocleitus, who was a member of the Spartan Heracleidae; that is, he claimed descent from Heracles but not a member of a royal family. He grew up in poverty and he showed himself obedient and conformable. According to Plutarch he had a "manly spirit".

Lysander was appointed Spartan navarch (admiral) for the Aegean Sea in 407 BC. It was during this period that he gained the friendship and support of Cyrus the Younger, a son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis.