 "The Spartans", presumably the ephors, Gerousia or the kings, did not know what to do with the seemingly blank wax-tablet, until Queen Gorgo advised them to clear the wax off the tablet.She is described by David Kahn in his book The Codebreakers as one of the first female cryptanalysts whose name has been recorded.According to Plutarch, before the Battle of Thermopylae, knowing that her husband's death in battle was inevitable, she asked him what to do.