GYLIPPUS, a Spartan general of the 5th century B.C., he was the son of Cleandridas, who had been expelled from Sparta for accepting Athenian bribes (446 B.C.) and had settled at Thurii. When Alcibiades urged the Spartans to send a general to take charge of the defence of Syracuse, Gylippus was appointed, and his arrival was undoubtedly the turning point of the struggle . When he arrived the Syracusans were on the point of negotiating for a surrender, but Gylippus at once took vigorous measures. His first move was to block the completion of the Athenians' encircling wall. Later he organized assistance among the other Sicilian cities, and was responsible for the decisive step of attacking the Athenian fleet in the harbour. Persisting in this policy in spite of an early reverse, he turned defence into attack. According to Thucydides, who is probably right, he wished to spare the Athenian commanders when they were captured, in order to take them to Sparta. Later, entrusted with a large sum by Ly sander to deliver to the ephors, he embezzled it, and went into exile when discovered.
See Thucydides, vi. 93. 1o4, vii.; Plutarch, Nicias, 19, 21, 27, 28, Lysander, 16, 17; Diodorus, xiii. 7, 8, 28-32 ; Polyaenus, i. 39. 42. See SYRACUSE (for the siege operations) , commentaries on Thucydides and the Greek histories.