SPARTA History (Spartan)

Sparta was the most formidable rival of Athens in ancient Greece. Sparta was a city-state, a race of warriors, known for their strength, courage, bravery and specifically their perseverance and endurance.
The adjective “Spartan” today is used to describe the character of the Spartans and any person showing the same qualities. By the word Spartan one can relate to hardy, courageous, undaunted by pain or misfortune.
Sparta was not a big city. More like a large group of straggling villages. Sparta prided itself on its courageous men, in contrast with Athens that placed great value on art and learning.
Spartan government was based on the principle that the life of all individuals belonged completely to the state, from the moment of birth. New-born children were inspected by the elders of the community, and the weak and sick children were ordered to be left outside to die. By doing this Sparta made sure that only the physically fit survived.
Children were raised under a rule of iron. At the age of 7, Spartan boys were removed from the control of their parents, and organized into small groups over which the strongest and bravest were made captains. Their living conditions were austere to say the least. Simple and scanty clothing, meager rations, public dormitories and hard beds were the order of the day.
They were drilled daily, in gymnastics and military exercises, and were taught to endure pain and hardship without complaining. They had to obey orders without question. It would appear as though they were purposefully not given sufficient food to eat, and were encouraged to make up the rest by stealing and pilfering for themselves. Not so much to promote dishonesty, but to create an understanding of self-survival.
A story often read is that of a Spartan boy who had stolen a fox, which he hid under his coat. When confronted he allowed the fox to gnaw at his flesh rather than to disclose his theft by crying out.
All male Spartans between 20 and 60 served in the army. They were allowed to marry but could not stay with their wives. They had to sleep and eat in public barracks.
Hardships by today’s standards were many. Possession of gold and silver was forbidden, only war songs were permitted and education was minimal. Even when they spoke, few words were used. Short and to the point, which gave rise to the word “laconic” derived from Laconia, the name of the district of which Sparta was the capital.
--To be continued…….
Image from Wikipedia, rest - bits and pieces from just about anywhere

Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die: Meaning and origin

These words are from the poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, after the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.
One of the most famous battles in the history of the British army was the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. This took place during the Crimean War in which Britain, France and Turkey were fighting against the Russians.
Balaclava was a small harbour town occupied by the Allied army, 8 miles to the southwest of the harbour city of Sevastopol. Balaclava was defended by lines of earthworks, built on the hills around the harbour.
On October 25, the Russians tried to break these lines. After defeating the Turks on the heights, they seized their guns and moved down into the plain. Here they attacked the British forces and were driven back across a low ridge of hills crossing the plain by the Heavy Brigade of cavalry.
Then, owing to a mistake in the giving of an order, the Light Brigade initiated a suicidal charge a mile and a half along a valley to capture some Russian guns. Tennyson referred to this valley as the “Valley of death” in his poem. More than 600 cavalry were involved of which more than half were killed, wounded or captured.

“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
Some one had blunder’d:
Theirs was not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the Valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

So, these words were written to do justice to the bravery of soldiers under orders, irrespective as to whether the orders were foolish or not.
Lots more interesting stuff on the details of the battle and analysis of the orders given, at Wikipedia.
Image from Wikipedia

Image : Having a Bad Day

 

This guy looks seriously peeved off

The Labors of Hercules: Ninth labor, the Belt (Girdle) of Hippolyte an Amazon Queen

Hippolyta was a warrior woman and one of the queens of the Amazons. Ares the god of war gave her a belt of armour. Some sources refer to a belt of leather and others to a golden girdle. Nevertheless, she wore this belt around her upper body and used it to secure her sword and spear.
I could not find much on what made the belt special, but it was important enough for Eurystheus to send Hercules off to find the belt and bring it back to him as a present for his daughter.
This was Hercules’ ninth labour.
Hercules did not undertake this task on his own, and a number of his Greek friends accompanied him, to help out if needed. The Amazon woman were well known for their bravery and fighting skills.
When Hercules arrived in the land of the Amazons their ship was peacefully welcomed by Hippolyta herself, who would have no problems in handing over the belt to Hercules as a gift of love.
This was not what Hera wanted. She then disguised herself as an Amazon woman and spread a rumour that Hercules and his men were there to kidnap queen Hippolyta. To protect their queen the Amazons donned their armour and went to her aid. When Hercules and his men saw the armed Amazons quickly approaching on horseback ready for war, he responded, and a fierce battle took place.
Other sources state that Hercules killed Hippolyta before a battle could take place, and took her belt and weapons from her body.
In any event, Hercules took the belt from her, and returned it to Eurystheus as a gift for his daughter Admete

List of the 12 labors and links to other Heracles posts on this blog here

EDIT on 5 November 2008
After doing the above post I felt that I had not really done justce to the occasion, but published anyway. My argument is to create an awareness and stimulate further reading and finding out.
I received this article from Arras and am posting it as well. Excellently written and really does justice to the occasion. Thank you Arras
Arras said...
The girdle was a symbol of office, like the ceremonial necklaces that mayors still wear today for their inaugurations and parades--a bit of regalia. The point of sending Herakles after it was, as with all the labours, to get him killed. Eurystheus was Hera's agent, and each labour was chosen not so much to test Herakles but to finish him off. The bait to lure him to his death was the promise of immortality if he could succeed at all of them--he may have been a demigod, but he was still fully mortal at the time.

The presumption in this case was that sending him into the Amazon capital to steal their regalia would be an impossible task. So far from home, surrounded by thousands of angry Amazons, he'd surely be slaughtered.

Hera's miscalculation in this case was that she expected Herakles to stupidly barge in and try to steal the girdle, which would have certainly been his undoing. Instead he and his companions were diplomatic and respectful of the Amazons and their customs, and were treated like guests--famed heroes from Athens (Theseus, the slayer of the Minotaur and future King of Athens was with him)--and this set a very different kind of tone.

Herakles and Hippolyte had great respect for one another, from one champion to another, and they hit it off. He explained to her the nature of his labour and what it required, and she willingly gave him the girdle as a token of her respect.

Hera, furious at this clever circumvention of her murderous plot, appeared among the Amazons as one of their number and incited them by claiming that Herakles and his men were about to kidnap the Queen. The Amazons rose up and attacked Herakles and his companions, accidentally killing Hippolyte when she got in the middle.

Badly outnumbered, the men fled to their ship, but they did not leave empty-handed. Herakles had the girdle he came for, and Theseus brought with him Hippolyte's sister Antiope, who had technically become Queen when Hippolyte died. Some versions of the story paint this as a love story, with Antiope having fallen for Theseus and agreeing to return to Athens with him, while others are clear about it as a trophy kidnapping. In any case, it was the event that would spark the Attic War, when the Amazons massed to attack Athens itself to rescue their Queen

National Geographic images of Camels in the Desert

An image received via email. At first glance it appears as though the dark shapes are the camels. Not so....the dark shapes are shadows, if you look carefully you can see the sun reflecting off the "real" camels. Amazing image. It must be extremely difficult to be a National Geographic photographer. The standard of images is amazing , and they still manage to get better and better.
This was considered one of the best images in 2005, taken by George Steinmetz. Took 3 years to get to me...

To Turn the Tables: Origin and meaning

What does it mean if you “(to) turn the tables on someone?”
A search on “turn the tables” resulted in more than six million hits. Without looking up formal definitions I read a bunch of articles related to turning the tables. All posts refer to changing or turning a situation around in such a manner that your current undesirable position is changed to a more desirable or advantageous position. Three broad areas of application can be found: -

Firstly, to turn a current situation around to the disadvantage someone else. To cause harm, revenge, payback, reprisal and vindictiveness are words that come to mind when reading this type of post. This appears to be the most popular application.

Secondly, where you can reverse a current situation, to gain an advantage by improving your own situation. A positive action. Sales are bad so you appoint better salesmen and increase advertising, resulting in better profitability. The tables were turned in that a negative situation was turned around into a positive situation.

Thirdly, where one looks at situation with a different perspective. In other words one would turn the tables around and view the situation as a competitor, client or another 3rd party to gain a better insight. Not often used, but one I like.

Origin of tables from Latin meaning board, with specific reference to board games. Board games have been around since 3000BC, and the “table” refers to those games like backgammon that have 4 tables on the board. To turn the tables would mean to turn the game around so that your side would be changed for that of your opponent.

Image from Wikipedia.

To be caught red-handed: Origin and meaning

To be caught red-handed means that you have been caught in the act of doing something illegal. No excuses or alibi’s can be used, as your transgression is obvious, visible and undeniable. Usually related to stealing, with the stolen goods in your possesion. Caught on CCTV robbing a store with your face clearly visible would be a good example.
To be caught in this way has a legal term “in flagrante delicto”, which loosely translated means “in the progressing misdeed”. Therefore you are caught while you are doing something you should not be doing.
The most common origin for the term red-handed is Scottish, (circa 1400ad), specifically related to poaching. In order to punish a poacher the legal system had to have undeniable proof the accused was guilty. After killing and skinning an animal, the poacher would have blood on his hands, and this would be the necessary proof required. Poacher was caught red hand, i.e. with blood on his hands.
This expression has evolved to re-handed.
Can one be caught red-handed if you are doing something legal?
If you are supposed to do something, for example, clean the garage, and you disappear to have a couple of beers somewhere in solitude. If the lady in your life comes looking for you and “catches” you loafing, have you been caught red-handed? The way I look at it, this is not possible, as all the definitions I can find refer to illegal activities.
Loafing is not an illegal activity; it could be considered a national pastime in some places I know of.

Hercules (Heracles), Fifth Labor : Cleaning the Augean Stables.

Labor number 5 was to clean the Augean stables. This was a particularly disgusting task given to Hercules by his cousin, King Eurystheus, to make good his sins. Hercules had succeeded in all his previous tasks and was beginning to earn the respect and loyalty of the ordinary people. This task was most probably set to humiliate or degrade him.
King Augeias was a very wealthy landowner, and had a massive stable with a very large number of stalls. He had a herd of cattle of about 3,000 head that he received as a divine gift. These cattle were immune to diseases, so cleaning out the stables for hygienic purposes was not on the list of things to do on any given day. Legend has it that the stables had not been cleaned for 30 years. A messy set up by all accounts.
Hercules duly arrived to do what had to be done, and negotiated a deal with Augeias that he would clean the stables within a day, for a 10th payment. He accepted, obviously thinking this could not be done.
So, Hercules went off and diverted the rivers Alpheius and Poneus through an opening he made in the stable wall. The water rushed through and all the accumulated waste drained out of a hole in the wall he had made on the other side. At the end of the day, the task was completed and the stables were cleaned.
At this point Augeias refused to pay, on account that this task had to be done without payment, as part of his debt to Eurystheus.
Other sources say that he refused to pay and Hercules summoned his son Phyleus to bear witness to his promise. He confirmed the deal was made and Phyleus was banished from the kingdom, and settled in Dulchium. Another version tells of a court case when his son testified against Augeias. In any event, Phyleus was banished and Hercules was a very angry man. He promised to return and exact vengeance at a later stage, which he did, and gave the Kingdom to his banished son.
The original labors were increased by one more, total 12, as this one, according to Eurystheus, did not count, as it had to be undertaken at no cost.
Image : Wikipedia

Silly Signs : Flying Lessons

Received via email, source unknown

What does a Bakers Dozen mean?, Origin and meaning

The meaning is the easy part, a set or group of thirteen.
Firstly, a dozen means a group or set of twelve. The word dozen appears to be from French, derived from the Latin for Duo (two) and Decem (ten).
The origin part of the 13.
Bread has been the basic food source for millions of people for a very long time. To cheat someone in providing bread was a very serious offence. Historically seen as stealing from the poor. Severe penalties were imposed on bakers who cheated ordinary people by supplying less than was promised. Punishment for offenders was harsh, even brutal. During ancient times a baker could have his ear or hands chopped off for this offence. The bottom line, don’t steal from the poor.
During English medieval times, bakers were regulated by a guild, “The Worshipful Company of Bakers.” The law that bakers had to deal with was the ‘Assize of Bread and Ale”. This law made provision for serious punishment for bread that was sold underweight. Not the number of loaves, but the weight. Floggings etc were the order of the day if less was provided than paid for. Still no reference to a 13 loaves, but this is still to come.
To make sure that they were not subject to floggings, bakers would add a little extra as a form of insurance against underweight. This was to ensure that the correct weight was provided, not the number of loaves. This extra portion was known as the “in bread” or “long measure” to avoid a “short measure”
The phrase “Bakers Dozen” appeared in writing a couple of hundred years later and meant 13 loaves instead of 12, in definition of the practice.
Bakers Dozen also known as a Long Dozen, or a Devils Dozen (unlucky thirteen).
If you want to be a wise ass in a conversation you can refer to a Bakers Dozen as 14, and cannot be proved wrong. There are references to 14 loaves as well. The extra bit provided was never defined, and it would appear as though some bakers even provided a bit on top of the extra.
Most probably those with a very low pain threshold.
But, there is also the story that maintains that the 13th loaf was the profit of the trader. He bought 12 and the 13th was his profit margin. Not many references to this though.
A further reference for the 13th loaf is to make up for shortfalls. Loaves stolen, quality control etc etc.
Image from Wikipedia

Egg of Columbus or Columbus’s Egg : Origin and meaning

I enjoyed this one. Again, I seem to be the last person in the world to find out about Columbus’s egg.
Anybody who has an enquiring mind and likes to try things out for himself will be able to relate to this concept.
But, before I get distracted and ramble off to other things, a definition of the meaning.
In an eggshell it means that no matter how much effort, brilliance, intelligence, hard work, perseverance or whatever one puts into creating or finding out something original, it appears to be easy, simple or mundane when you look at it afterwards, especially by other people who had no input or insight to that what was achieved.
Having spent many years in a research and development environment, I know what it is like to spend days or weeks, whatever, in getting to an answer. When you give feedback to the powers that be, the answer is simplified by oneself and does not always reflect the time, effort, frustrations that you put into the whole setup. Then you seem to always get someone who will tell you that the answer was evident. This usually after the fact, they are never around when the thinking part has to be done.
Origin. Obviously Christopher Columbus. The story goes like this. After finishing his journeys to the Americas and putting this continent on the map for the Europe, he was having a meal with his Spanish buddies back home. The comment was made by one of his friends or enemies that his achievements were not all that exceptional. Spain had a lot of talented sailors and generals, and given time anybody could have achieved what he had.
At this point he either asked for or took an egg and asked the guests to balance the egg on one of the points. All tried and none succeeded. The egg fell over, could not balance by itself. Then Columbus took the egg, tapped it until the shell cracked a bit, and flattened it. Now the egg could be placed on the table without falling over.
The moral of the story is once you know, or are shown, how to do something, it is easy. The difficult part is getting there.
Although it is evident that Columbus used this as an example, it is debatable whether he figured the egg example out by himself. The same example was quoted with Italian references to building a church some 15 years before Columbus’s extended lunch.
Image from, and more detail at Wikipedia

Origin and Meaning of Untying the Gordian Knot

What is a Gordian Knot?.
“The Gordian knot is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a bold stroke” (Wikipedia).
The origin dates back to the times long before Alexander the Great, (333 BC.) Pythia, (Macedonia), consisted of a bunch of small, poor kingdoms continuously fighting with each other. They were not unified and had no King. A sorry state of affairs. An oracle had decreed that when the time arrived for them to choose a king, the person to be chosen was he who arrived at the temple in an ox-cart (wagon).
One day while the priests were discussing the appointment of a King, a certain Gordius arrived in his ox-cart. Confirmation that he was the right person for the job came in the form of an eagle that landed on his cart at the same time. An oracle also decreed this sign. Now the oracles had been fulfilled, and he was promptly appointed King. By all accounts Gordius was not of royal blood, he was a peasant. Anyhow, he was made King, and one of the first things he did was to place his ox-cart at the temple of Zeus, in dedication.
Using cornel bark he tied the yoke of the wagon to a pole, securing it with an extremely complicated knot that was impossible to untie.
Many tried, but nobody could untie the knot, too difficult. The Alexander the Great arrived in Gordium and he tried his hand at untying the knot, but he too was unsuccessful. What he did was he took his sword and severed the rope with a single stroke. Problem solved.
There are numerous Internet articles on the knot and cord, analyzing possible physical characteristics. One interesting point is that the knot had no ends; the two ends spliced or weaved together. For the technically minded there are lots of articles.
The meaning of Alexander’s action? By cutting, and not untying the rope, Alexander had a “quick and dirty” solution to a difficult problem. An example of thinking “outside the box?”. Definitions often include words such as a sudden, harsh, single fast, and even brutal decision.
A further oracle decreed that the person who untied the knot would become the King of Persia. Alexander might not have solved the problem, but he did find a solution to the problem, and did become the King of Persia.
Image and definition from Wikipedia, rest of the stuff from more sources than I can recall.

Hercules’ First Labor, the killing of the Nemean Lion

Hercules’ first labor was to kill the Nemean Lion and present the skin to his cousin King Eurystheus. Where did this lion come from? Most quoted sources say that this beast was the offspring of the monsters Typhon and Echidna. Hera, Zeus’ wife, had the lion sent to the valley of Nemea. This monster terrorized the local population and made their lives miserable. Killing livestock and causing havoc in general.
The lion was enormous and the skin was so strong that spears or arrows could not penetrate it.
When he was 18 years old Hercules was sent to kill the lion and return the skin to King Eurystheus. This was the first of the original 10 labors that were later increased to 12.
So, off went Hercules to Nemea to find the lion. When he arrived at the town of Cleonae he made friends with a poor farm boy, one Molorchus. The arrangement was made that should Hercules succeed in his task they would both make a sacrifice to Zeus on his return. Should he not be successful then Molorchus would sacrifice himself to Hercules, the Hero. (Hercules had to return within 30 days)
There are different versions as to how the confrontation between Hercules and the lion took place. There is consensus in that he was unaware that the lion could not be killed by club or arrow, and had to find out the hard way.
The most popular version of the confrontation is that the lion lived in a cave with two entrances. Hercules sealed one entrance off and then confronted the lion in the cave, strangling it to death with is enormous strength. Little detail is given.
The other version, and the one I like, originated from the translations of Theocritus (300 BC). According to this source Hercules found and confronted the lion on open land. Two arrows bounced off the animal’s thick skin and fell to the ground. While he was setting up for his third attempt, and most probably wondering what was going on here, the lion attacked him. He managed to give the lion a good whacking over the head. The blow was so hard that it split his olive club, and dazed the animal for a moment. Hercules took the advantage and grabbed the lion from behind and lifted him up. He stood on the lion’s hind paws and used his knees to secure the middle part. From behind he put his arms around the neck and strangled him to death.
The next step was to skin the lion. This was impossible as no knife or stone could cut the skin. So what he did was to use the claws of the animal as a knife. Having skinned the animal he returned to Molorchus on the 30th day. Together they made a sacrifice to Zeus.
Then off he went to present the skin to his cousin. When Eurystheus saw him return he became very afraid. He was so scared by Hercules strength that he had a bronze jar made that was buried in the ground. And he used this as a hiding place from Hercules. Hercules kept the skin, and it became on of his trademarks. The skin as a cloak and the head as a helmet.
From then on Hercules was not allowed to enter the city gates and communicated with is cousin via an envoy.
The legend is that after the lion was slain,” Hera placed the lion amongst the stars as the constellation Leo”
Good place to start looking up on the Internet is Wikipedia. Use Hercules and Heracles for search purposes. Lots of interesting stuff to read, and form your own impressions.
Image from Wikipedia

Who or what is a Cynic?

What does it mean if you are a cynic?
I have often been called a cynic, and paid no attention to it. I have been called a lot of things in my life and a 'cynic' was definitely not considered bad enough to run off and find a psychiatrist specializing in the rehabilitation of cynics. If that is what I am, so be it.
Then today happened. The cynic label was thrown in my face, but with obvious malice. The whole thing started off by responding to a question as to my interpretation of the progress of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in sub Saharan Africa.
Anyway, the word cynic was used as bad word, something like that saying often seen that goes “ You say I am a bitch as if it is a bad thing” or words to that effect.
For clarification I went around looking for the book definition of a cynic and from a number sources, the following :-

A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
A Faultfinder (someone who is critical of the motives of others)

There are many, many more. One thing they all have in common is that they are all negative. So, a cynic by definition, is not a nice person, and by default that includes yours truly.
Anyhow, knowing that I am a nice guy when I want to be, I went off looking for a deeper meaning.
The first site I visited was Rons Modern Philosophies of a Cynic. These gems of wisdom I found there

-Work is accomplished by those employees who are still trying to reach their own levels of incompetence
-Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which a person can die.
-Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups
-If at first you don't succeed, destroy all the evidence that proves you tried
(Lots more at Rons site)
I can happily relate to all of these statements. So, if these “philosophies” are those of a cynic, then I am a very strong candidate for the Cynic club tie.
(To be continued........Posted instead of saving to draft...)

Funny stuff

Colin came home from the pub late one Friday evening stinking drunk, as he often did, and crept into bed beside his wife who was already asleep.
He gave her a peck on the cheek and fell asleep.
When he awoke he found a strange man standing at the end of his bed wearing a long flowing white robe.
"Who the hell are you?" Demanded Colin, "and what are you doing in my bedroom?"
The mysterious Man answered, "This isn't your bedroom and I ' m St Peter".
Colin was stunned "You mean I'm dead!!! That can't be, I have so much to live for, I haven't said goodbye to my family.... you've go t to send me back straight away".
St Peter replied "Yes, you can be reincarnated but there is a catch.We can only send you back as a dog or a hen.
"Colin was devastated, but knowing there was a farm not far from his house, he asked to be sent back as a hen.
A flash of light later he was covered in feathers and clucking around pecking the ground.
"This isn't so bad" he thought until he felt this strange feeling welling up inside him.The farmyard rooster strolled over and said, "So you're the new hen, how are you enjoying your first day here?"
"It's not so bad" replies Colin, "but I have this strange feeling inside like I ' m about to explode".
"You're ovulating" explained the rooster, "don't tell me you've never laid an egg before".
"Never" replies Colin
"Well just relax and let it happen"
And so he did and after a few uncomfortable seconds later, an egg pops out from under his tail. An immense feeling of relief swept over him and his emotions got the better of him as he experienced motherhood for the first time.
When he laid his second egg, the feeling of happiness was overwhelming and he knew that being reincarnated as a hen was the best thing that ever happened to him...ever!!!
The joy kept coming and as he was just about to lay his third egg he felt an enormous smack on the back of his head and heard his wife shouting
"Colin, wake up you drunken lout, you are crapping in the bed!!!"
Source unknown, received via email