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The Hobbit Hole XIX: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1329893/posts |
Posted on 12/20/2004 9:01:36 AM PST by ecurbh
New verse:
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Upon the hearth the fire is red, |
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Still round the corner there may wait |
Home is behind, the world ahead, |
OK... so google is my friend:
Points to Osage. Yes, was Spartans responsing to Persian order to 'drop their weapons'.
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In 480 BC, Xerxes King of Persia (son of Darius who was defeated in a prior attempt to take Greece) had landed in Greece and was in full preparation to invade Athens, the leader of the independent Greek city-states as part of his strategic plan to conquer all of Greece.
King Leonidas of Sparta (left) and another Greek city-state agreed to help stop the invading Persians, and marched with 300 hand-picked troops to Thermopylae on the north coast of Greece. Thermopylae was the best of three possible defensive areas in which Xerxes' invading army had to advance. This mountain gap along the coast was about 60 feet wide, and was the best location for a blocking action. Since the 300 knew they were going to die fighting against overwhelming force the first requirement was that each man had to have a son left behind.
When Leonidas was preparing to make his stand, a Persian envoy arrived. The envoy explained to Leonidas the futility of trying to resist the advance of the huge Persian army and demanded that the Spartans lay down their arms. Leonidas told Xerxes "MOLON LABE",or "Come And Get Them."
"Our archers are so numerous,"said the envoy, "that the flight of their arrows darkens the sun."
"So much the better,"replied Dienekes, a Spartan warrior, "for we shall fight them in the shade."
After three days of fighting and having killed countless numbers of Xerxes' elite troops, they were finally overrun after being betrayed by a traitor who showed the enemy another pass behind the defenders. King Leonidas and his Spartans were then killed to the last man in a final battle. Xerxes marched on and destroyed Athens.
However, the Spartans gallant defense gave the rest of Greece more time to mobilize and increased their morale and willingness to fight. The Persians now faced an united Greek army and navy, lead by Spartans, that destroyed his fleet at the Straits of Salamis and defeated his army at Plataea. Xerxes eventually withdrew back to Persia.
Today there is a plaque dedicated to those heroes at the site. It reads: "Go tell the Spartans, travelers passing by, that here, obedient to their laws we lie."The point of this true story is when anybody demands you to give up your guns, tell them "MOLON LABE". You may fall in the first fight, but many more will step into your place and a determined and organized people can do anything.
You just gotta love these guys...
molon labe means come and take them...
it was the Spartan King Leonidas' response to Darius' call for the Spartans to surrender their weapons and live...
this occured at Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans, and 1700 other greeks faced over 100,000 persians and beat the living $#!t out of 'em for three days...
Points to you too!
I can't help it. I had a publik skool edumacashun. And they *certainly* would never have included this... :-)
doh... Xerxes, not Darius... but... a bastige izzuh bastige...
And a Persian bastige at that. :-)
Quite a bit of history, the Spartan mothers would tell their sons, as they handed them their shields, "with it or on it" come home with shield or on it (as a casualty) but don't come home without it.
I learned that in school, sure, but it was the SF that made it stick... Jerry Pournelle references the Spartans quite often.
The 300 is right at the top of my list of great heroic military things.
Them was some mean mothers! ;o)
I've got a very similar poster on my bboard at the office.
Love that.
Hey there mister bear!!!
Hi Bear! Nice to see you!
So, what's new?
Yep, and they still fire it.
Congrats on the Sugar Bowl!
*snif* Well, it ain't over, but it ain't purty.
Actually Tech is playing a good game. It's just that Auburn is a whole lot gooder. If they beat us, and I think they're going to, I'd like to see 'em end up with the title.
Tech's had a great season. A lot better than expected.
Neverwinter Nights, heard it's good! Maybe you need more memory. Or fans. Or something.
I'm trying decide between AMD 64 and Intel Pentium 4 for my new computer. Want to start ordering parts next weekend.
When Rose and I built our computers ~2 years ago, we went with AMD Athlon CPUs. AMD is generally just as good (or better) than Intel, and cheaper to boot.
Get two, they're small.
go dual. :-)
My PC is old but still kickin' strong, and it's only got 1Ghz CPU's but there's two of 'em. I'm thinkin' about making a server out of it.
Anymore I wonder if it isn't better to put the money in the video card, vice the CPU. Lotsa video-intensive stuff out there.
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