He participated in many key engagements, held important commands and is mentioned multiple times by Thucydides, Xenophon and Diodorus Siculus.
The setback was thought to be the result of treachery on the part of a fellow Spartan, Pasippidas, who was subsequently exiled from Sparta.
[4] Two years later, in 404 BC Eteonicus played an important role in the pivotal battle of Aegospotami that effectively ended the Peloponnesian War.
However, the accounts all agree on the total destruction of the Athenian fleet by Lysander, leading directly to the surrender of Athens.
As part of that campaign, Eteonicus was sent by Lysander with 10 triremes to overthrow Athenian power in the north which he was successful in doing.
[7] Eteonicus also has a small part in the story of the famous Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries who had marched into Persia to fight for Cyrus the Younger and were stranded there upon his death at the Battle of Cunaxa.
Upon their return to Ionia, Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap was worried about the Greek army ravaging his lands.
In response, Anaxibius, the Spartan general, tricked Xenophon, the commander of the Ten Thousand, into transporting his army across to Byzantium with a promise of employment.
However, Xenophon was able to persuade his troops of the folly inherent in defying Sparta at a time when the Spartans were dominating the Greek world in the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War.
The naval blockade was lifted by the Spartan fleet under Teleutias but the Athenians continued to besiege Aegina by land.