Molon labe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Greek phrase Molōn labe! (Μολὼν λαβέ; pronunciation in Modern Greek [mo̞ˈlo̞n laˈve̞]), meaning "Come and take [them]!", is a classical expression of defiance reported by Plutarch, roughly corresponding to the modern equivalent English phrase "over my dead body".
Contents |
[edit] Grammar
The first word, μολών, is the aorist active participle (masculine, nominative, singular) of the Greek verb βλώσκω, meaning "having come."[1] Λαβέ is the aorist active imperative (second person singular) of the verb λαμβάνω, translated "take [them]."
The two words function together in a grammatical structure not present in English called the circumstantial participle.[2] Where English would put two main verbs in two independent clauses joined by a conjunction: "come and take", a strategy sometimes called paratactic, ancient Greek, which is far richer in participles, subordinates one to the other, a strategy called hypotactic: "coming take." The first action is turned into an adjective. The English speaker can understand it with a little thought, but he would never use it. In this structure the participle gives some circumstance attendant on the main verb: the coming.
Greek language has a nuance not present in English: aspect. The aorist participle is used to signify completed action, called the perfective aspect. Moreover, the action must be completed before the time of the main verb. The difference in meaning is subtle but significant: the English speaker is inviting his enemy to begin a process with two distinct acts or parts—coming and taking; the Greek speaker is telling his enemy that only after the act of coming is completed will he be able to take. In addition there is a subtle implication: in English "come and take it" implies that the enemy might not win the struggle—the outcome is uncertain; in Greek, the implication is that the outcome is certain—"after you have come here and defeated me, then it will be yours to take."
[edit] History
Μολὼν λαβέ was reportedly the defiant response of King Leonidas I of Sparta to Xerxes I of Persia at the onset of the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC). Xerxes, whose forces vastly outnumbered the Spartans and their allies, offered to spare the lives of Leonidas and his few thousand colleagues if they would only surrender and lay down their weapons.
Instead, the Spartans held Thermopylae for three days and, although they were ultimately wiped out, they inflicted serious damage upon the Persian army, and most importantly delayed its progress to Athens, essentially preventing the conquest of the Greek Peninsula.
The source for this quotation is Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica, 225c.11. This work may or may not be by Plutarch (ca. 46 - 127) himself, but it is included among the Moralia, a collection of works attributed to him but outside the collection of his most famous works, the Parallel Lives.
[edit] Modern usage
Molon labe has been repeated by many later generals and politicians in order to express an army's or nation's determination to not surrender without a battle. The motto ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ is on the emblem of the Greek First Army Corps,[3] and is also the unofficial moto of United States Special Operations Command Central Command (SOCCENT)[citation needed].
The phrase "Come and take it" was written on the personal flag of the Texan Revolutionaries at the Battle of Gonzales during the Texas War of Independence. It referred to the cannon that the citizens of Gonzales refused to turn over to General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
In the Anglo-American world, both the original Greek phrase and its English translation are often heard from pro-gun activists as a defence of the US constitutional right to keep and bear arms (see the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution) and as a challenge to those supporting firmer gun control laws.[2][3][4]. It began to appear on pro-RKBA web sites in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Molon labe has been recently used in the feature film 300 (and earlier comic book of the same name), in which the character of Leonidas can be heard speaking this famous line.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Refer to the Internet version of Liddell and Scott (the standard ancient Greek lexicon, which exists in many editions) on Perseus.com.
- ^ Different ways to phrase this name are in use. For simplicity, the one used here comes from Alston Hurd Chase and Henry Phillips Jr., A New Introduction to Greek, Lesson 21. Chase and Phillips is an elementary textbook on ancient Greek.
- ^ For the insignia with the motto on it see [1]
