spartan sayings in greek

Its instructions were to launch the campaign if the person responsible for the decision considered it feasible. 1. As Plutarch explained and illustrated at some length in his Life of Lycurgus, to develop ‘the technique of expressing a range of ideas in just a few, spare words' was an important part of every Spartiate's upbringing. As Philip II of Macedon was conquering Greek city-states left and right, Sparta was left alone. Here is a top 10 list of the most epic Spartan o. When they said it did, he replied: ‘Very well, make yourselves gods first, and when you have achieved that, then I shall believe your claim that you will be able to make me a god too.’, 26. When asked why the best men prefer an honourable death to a life without honour, he said: ‘Because they regard the latter as the gift of Nature, and the former as being in their own hands.’, 15. One of them said: ‘I joined you as a fighting-man, not a herald.’ The second said: ‘I would be a better man for staying here.’ The third said: ‘I won't be behind these others, but first into battle.’, Lochagus, the father of Polyaenides and Seiron, when informed by somebody that one of his two sons was dead, said: ‘I have long been aware that he had to die.’, 1. He said to the man who, while giving necessary information to the ephors, used more than enough words: ‘Stranger, you meet the need, but at needless length.’, 3. When someone was asking him how they could conquer the Thracians, he said: ‘By making our doctor a general46 and our general a doctor.’, 4. In addition to appearing on several emblems, the quote is written in the first person on an iron arch over the class of 1893 memorial gate at the University of Pennsylvania. Found inside – Page 157There can be little doubt that , in Sparta's state ideology , considerable stress was placed on the child - bearing ... A section of Plutarch's work devoted to the sayings of Spartan females is dominated by fervent pronouncements about ... 7. But on the following day, when again informed that Cyrus was drinking and would not appear, he declared: ‘Surely my eagerness to obtain money ought not to be so great as my concern to do nothing unworthy of Sparta?’ So he departed to Ephesus after calling down many curses on those who had first been treated with contempt by barbarians and who had then taught them to behave arrogantly because of their wealth; and he swore to those with him that from the moment he arrived in Sparta he would make every effort to reconcile the Greeks, so that they might be more of a threat to the barbarians and would no longer require the resources of the latter to use against each other. Their reputation for self-discipline and self-denial made their way into the English language, but what the ancient Spartans were really like remains a source of debate among scholars, not least because they wrote little themselves. [note 3] In general, however, Spartans were expected to be men of few words, to hold rhetoric in disdain, and to stick to the point. Otherwise unknown). Once when the ephors said to him: ‘Take the young men and march against this man's country: he will personally conduct you to the acropolis,’ Agis son of Archidamus replied: ‘And how is it proper, ephors, for so many young men to trust this one man who is betraying his own country?’, 2.

When another person was inquiring why in their wars Spartiates confidently face danger, he said: ‘Because we practise proper respect for life, not fear of it like the rest of mankind.’, 6. He is originally from Dallas, Texas. Once he returned home, such great success and victories did not prompt him to make any changes in his personal habits and lifestyle. Since it was incredibly expensive, he said: ‘By the gods, with a spread like this what greedy characters the Persians were to chase after our barley-bread.’, 1. When somebody said that he was a wise man and one of those who search for virtue, Eudamidas said: ‘And when will he make use of it if he is still searching for it?’, 2.

Molon Labe is ancient Greek; translating to "come and take them." Found inside – Page 592370, Plutarch, Sayings of the Spartans 65.1 [Moralia 231f]). 46. When the Thebans were arguing with them about something, a Spartan said: “You should either have less pride or more power.” Source: Plutarch, Sayings of the Spartans 69.3 ... Since he did not, but was eager to know of one, Namertes declared: ‘Through misfortune.’, 1. As he was about to engage in the naval battle near the Arginusae Islands and the helmsman Hermon remarked to him that it would be a good idea to sail away because the Athenians had many more triremes, he said: ‘And what of that? ★. And without the others' knowledge he wrote on his hand the word ‘Victory' with the letters facing left. 48. The culture of the Spartan was based on state and military service's fidelity. The sayings are mostly intended to reflect what were considered excellent features of the Spartan character, and their value lies rather in the demonstration they offer of how Sparta's admirers from the fourth century onwards (Plutarch among them) liked to dream of her citizens in bygone days – bold, wise, just, free, unworldly. - Socrates (see more quotes by Socrates) 3. He would pitch his tent in the midst of his troops and had bedding of no better quality than anyone else. ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς-Η ΤΑΝ Η ΕΠΙ ΤΑΣ Molon Labe would probably make a better tattoo. The film 300 took more creative liberty with the past than that directors cut of Braveheart where Mel Gibson punches out King John wearing a mirrored tuxedo. It was the fault of the Greek gods, who with their arrogance, encouraged me to march onto your lands. When the latter said: ‘What's this?

•. When asked the extent of territory controlled by the Spartiates, he said: ‘As much as they may reach with their spears.’, 3. 74. When someone was remarking that he lived modestly although possessing adequate means, he said: ‘Yes, for it is well that reason, not passion, should govern the life of a man who is well-off.’, 1. After Diphridas brought him from home the message that he should immediately turn aside to invade Boeotia (something which he had planned to do – though later, when he was better prepared), he was not disobedient to the magistrates but sent for two of themoras8 on service near Corinth and entered Boeotia. When the Argives were disputing land boundaries with the Spartans and were maintaining that theirs was the fairer claim, he drew his sword and said: ‘The man who has this within his grasp argues best about land boundaries.’.

Found inside – Page 59(Sayings of Spartan Women, .f ) Another Spartan woman killed her son, who had deserted his post because he was unworthy ... It is striking that both Greek and Roman traditions assert that the Spartan mother could pass judgment on. Lycurgus. When some people were saying prior to the peril of Leuctra that this day would prove who was brave, Phoebidas remarked that a day which was able to prove who was brave was indeed valuable. Even though he was already in line to become king, 2 he complied, and remarked: ‘That's fine, for I shall show that it isn't positions which lend men distinction, but men who enhance positions.’, 7. When another doctor said to him: ‘You have become an old man,’ he said: ‘Yes, because I didn't employ you as my doctor.’. When a Persian inquired what type of constitution met with his greatest approval, he said: ‘Whichever gives brave men and cowards their due.’, 12. "The Spartans are the equal of any men when they fight as individuals; fighting together as a collective, they surpass all other men." Damaratus to Xerxes. 6. Key to abbreviations: sg = said to one person, pl = said to more than one person, m = said by men, f = said by women. A slave's life is all you understand, you know nothing of freedom. When Xerxes wrote to him: ‘It is possible for you not to fight the gods but to side with me and be monarch of Greece,’ he wrote back: ‘If you understood what is honourable in life, you would avoid lusting after what belongs to others.

Then, when the diviner gave him the liver, he placed it on the hand with the writing on it and held it there for a suitable period while appearing puzzled and pretending to be at a loss, until the marks of the letters should have stained the liver and been imprinted on it. The speech is a glorification of Athens, designed to stir the spirits of a state still at war, a monument to the eternal . The second of these is much the shorter, as well as being separated from the first by a brief compilation of material outlining Spartan customs. 51. He answered: ‘If you have bestowed any special benefit on him, execute him; but if not, expel him from your territory as someone completely lacking in good qualities.’, 2. 1. For if I die my country will not be worsted, but if I yielded to the enemy it would be.’ So after designating Cleander to succeed him as commander, he engaged in the naval battle and died fighting. As some vulgar character was insulting Cleomenes, he said: ‘Do you insult all of us with the intention that while defending ourselves we shouldn't find time to point out your faults?’, 10.

As someone was remarking that the enemy's numbers were substantial, Pedaritus said: ‘Then we shall win greater fame since we shall inflict higher casualties.’, 2. When someone was asking him why the Elders hear capital cases over several days, and why anyone should still be liable to a further trial even if acquitted, he said: ‘They take many days reaching a verdict because in capital cases errors cannot be rectified, while by law a person will have to remain liable for trial because according to this law the possibility of reaching better decisions would also be open.’17, When someone was asking why they do not collect money for the treasury, Anaxander son of Eurycrates said: ‘So that those who have become its custodians are not corrupted.’, To the man who was wondering why the ephors do not stand up to show respect to the kings, even though they are appointed to this office by the kings, Anaxilas said: ‘For the same reason that they are also ephors (‘overseers’).’18, The Spartan Androcleidas, who had a crippled leg, enlisted himself among the fighting men. When someone asked him why they deprive of their status those among them who discarded their shields, but not those who discarded their helmets and breastplates, he said: ‘Because they put on the latter for their own benefit, but their shields for the sake of the battle-line as a whole.’, 3. For this reason the Spartans become one of the most feared armies in ancient Greece. 3.

We present you the most influential philosophy quotes from Plato, Aristotle, Heraclitus, Thales, Xenophanes, Democritus.

15. Plutarch's interest in the saying of Spartans and others derives to a marked extent from his concern for the character of his subjects in the Lives. Here are some of the key maxims he tells us about. 4. Killed at the battle of Thermopylae against Xerxes), 1. Spartan Facts and Terminology. When someone was asking the reason why the Spartiates drank so sparingly, he said: ‘So that others may not make decisions on our behalf, but we may for others.’, 1. Oct 5, 2014. 16. 15. ‘But,’ he said, ‘won't I die more nobly here, battling manfully for Sparta?’ (He was over eighty years of age.) Found inside – Page 363Xenophon indicates that the Spartans were taller and stronger than other Greeks (Xenophon Lak. Pol. ... she replied: ''That is because we are the only ones who give birth to men'' (Plutarch Sayings of Spartan Women, Moralia 240e5; cf. His reaction was to inquire: ‘Is it on your orders that I have to do this, or on those of the gods?’ When the priest declared: ‘The gods,’ he said: ‘Then you move out of my way, and I'll tell them should they ask.’, 11. And since you wish me to adopt the best course, and the best course is the just one both in the case of a private person, and much more so in that of a ruler, I shall do what you wish; but as for what you are proposing, I shall decline.’, 1.

When a doctor was examining him and said: ‘You have nothing the matter with you,’ he said: ‘No. 71+ Famous Spartan Warrior Sayings & Quotes - theBrandBoy.Com

When someone said: ‘After your frequent victories over the Argives in their wars against you, why haven't you wiped them out?’, he replied: ‘We wouldn't wish to wipe them out, because we want sparring-partners for our young men.’, 18. Non timebo mala – “I will fear no evil.”. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.". Noticing a lame Spartan setting off to fight and looking for a horse, he said: ‘Don't you realize that war requires not men who flee, but those who stand their ground?’, 35. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch in a collection of Spartan sayings, Xerxes demanded the Greeks surrender their weapons.

In ancient Sparta, three Helot slaves run for their lives. Pursuing them are three hundred of their Spartan masters. 78. When somebody asked him to write to his friends in Asia so that he might gain justice there, he replied: ‘But my friends do what is right of their own accord, even without a letter from me.’, 55.

When he wanted to go to war against Persia with the aim of liberating the Greeks living in Asia, he consulted the oracle of Zeus at Dodona.

The most famous was Cicero (106-43 BC) who admired it along with the leadership of Leonidas.

We personally think it's a little unfair that pop culture has mainly portrayed the Spartans as a bunch of ass-kicking, throat-ripping slabs of beef.

Of the Sayings of Spartan Women the same may be said as of the Sayings of Spartans.It truly represents the work of Plutarch, and many of the sayings are repeated elsewhere in his writings; others perhaps in his writings that are now lost. He said to the man who asked why they wear their hair long: ‘This is the natural means of personal adornment, and it costs nothing.’. But this hypothesis is rendered less persuasive, among other reasons, by the presence of further sayings – not appearing in the relevant Life – interspersed among those that do occur in the Lives. Semper fidelis, commonly referred to as Semper fi, translates to “always faithful” or “always loyal.” Its first recorded use was in 1369, as the motto of a French town named Abbeville. Found insideTranslated by Frank Cole Babbitt ( 1931 ) Sayings of Spartans 221c 175 τίμοι μικρών πέρι με γάλα φροιμιάζ η ; όσον γάρ είη πράγμα , τοσούτος καιολόγος , ώχρήσαι Why so many words on a small topic ? As big as your subject be the words ... Quotes. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BCE, when the invading . Euboedas would not tolerate hearing some men praising someone else's wife, but declared that not a word should be said about a wife's character among those outside her family. When after his death he was found to be a poor man, those who had wooed his daughters left off. So when he entered the shrine of the oracle, he framed his question like this: ‘Apollo, is your opinion the same as your father's?’ When Apollo concurred, Agesilaus was selected and thus did go on the campaign. 1. When somebody was praising an orator for his ability to magnify small points, he said: ‘In my opinion it's not a good cobbler who fits large shoes on small feet.’, 4. When he discovered, after invading Arcadia, that the Eleans were aiding the Arcadians, he sent them a message: ‘Archidamus to the Eleans: Inaction is good.’, 7. "My men have become women, my women men" King Xerxes reaction to a Greek female commander fighting for the Persians who esacpted capture at the naval battle of Salamis by ramming and sinking . When someone was inquiring why they keep their laws about bravery unwritten, without setting them down and handing them to the young men to read, he said: ‘Because it's better for them to get used to acts of bravery rather than to study written documents.’, 2. When another person put the same question to him, his reply was: ‘Cities shouldn't be fortified with stones or timbers, but with the valour of their inhabitants.’. And when asked how he had been wounded, he said: ‘When my shield betrayed me.’, 3. The point is to depict Spartan women (always the object of horrified fascination on the part of other Greek males) as lacking even that most primeval of all instincts: the maternal instinct.

After his victory over the Medes at Plataea44 he gave orders that the Persian dinner which had been prepared beforehand should be served to his staff. When someone was saying that Sparta was preserved by her kings' talent for command, he said: ‘No, rather by her citizens' readiness to obey.’, 5. Our community welcomes everyone from around the world to discuss world history, historical periods, and themes in history - military history, archaeology, arts and culture, and history in books and movies. All rights reserved. To be sure, the explanation may be that whoever complied Sayings of Spartans did so after the appearance of the Lives, and was able to excerpt from them. His adviser Cleander said: ‘But I would certainly have accepted if I were you.’ To which Callicratidas replied: ‘I would have too, if I were you.’. Read. Shop performance & commemorative gear.

$24.75. Sparta: Famous quotes about Spartan life Reconstruction of Spartan food, from The Greeks documentary Inward-looking and self-sufficient, the Spartans were the most feared hoplites (infantrymen) in . I am not an Athenian nor a Greek but a citizen of the world Socrates If youre enjoying these quotes read our collection of Greek Philosopher quotes on ancient knowledge to motivate you. 2. To the man who was amazed at how modest his clothes and his meals were, and those of the other Spartans as well, he said: ‘Freedom is what we reap from this way of life, my friend.’, 23. King Philip tried once more to psych-out the Spartans. We are what we repeatedly do.

When the enemy, thanks to their huge numbers, were digging a trench around his camp and his ally Nectanabius demanded to make a sortie and do battle with them, he said that he would not obstruct the enemy in their wish to become equal to themselves. To the person who asked him what was the safest way for a king to maintain his rule, Theopompus said: ‘By permitting his friends to be properly frank, while so far as he is able not overlooking injuries to his subjects.’, 2. Things which attract slavish characters are alien to free men.’, 25. The thesis was that the kingship be removed from the Eurypontids and Agiads and be thrown open, and that the selection be made from among the best individuals, so that this privilege would be bestowed not upon Heracles' descendants but upon those who like Heracles were chosen for their merit (that being the reason why he too was raised to divine status). After many centuries, the quote was eventually shortened to “with it or on it.”. But he also discovered a pamphlet about the constitution written for Lysander. By the late fourth century Aristotle in his Rhetoric can mention ‘Laconic sayings’ as a distinct type of maxim which an orator will find useful. Another time he watched a mouse being pulled from its hole by a small boy. Still, the Spartans Myson of Chenae and Chilon of Sparta have traditionally been counted among the Seven Sages of Greece; both were famous for many laconic sayings.

444 BC - 371 BC.

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