# Any cool Greek sayings/battle cries?



## Darklance

The Romans had the always classy "For Glory And Honor!"

What cool sayings did the Greeks use?


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## shilsen

"Come back with your shield or on it."

I think that one was Spartan, but I'm not sure. It referred to the fact that someone fleeing battle would throw away his shield and someone killed in battle was usually carried back on his shield, so it would be the Hellenic version of "no retreat, no surrender".


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## Kaptain_Kantrip

None--it's all Greek to me!


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## Vhane

At least we'll be fighting in the shade.


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## CrazyMage

Ah, Vhane, you got to tell the whole story for full effect! 

According to Herodotus (7.226)  as the Greeks were fighting the Persians at Thermopylae, word came to them warning that  the Persians were so numerous that when they shot their arrows there were enough to block out the sun.  A Greek named Dianeces then commented "If the Persians hide the sun, the battle will be in shade rather than sunlight."

It's great quote, but you kind of need the context to fully appreciate the guts and toughness of these guys.

I thought that someone had written a book about this battle and that it was being made into a movie, which if true should make the opening of Gladiator look like a Sunday picnic.  (Don't get me wrong--that was an awesome battle too).


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## mmadsen

> I thought that someone had written a book about this battle and that it was being made into a movie, which if true should make the opening of Gladiator look like a Sunday picnic.  (Don't get me wrong--that was an awesome battle too).




Someone has written a book about Thermopylae.  It's called _Gates of Fire_, and they are making a movie out of it.  The book, by the way, was *excellent*.


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## CrazyMage

Hey, that's the book!  Thanks.  I will have to check it out.


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## adndgamer

I like this thread.   Love that "Well, at least we'll be fighting in the shade" quote 

My favorite latin quote (I know, not Greek...) is, "Audentes fortuna iuvat."  Which translates to "Fortune favors the brave."


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## Vhane

"He who has steel has bread." and

"Tis better to spend one day as a lion than a life as a lamb."

B. Mussolinni(sp)


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## Creeping Death

*Latin after the battle victory saying.*

Not Greek and not a battle cry but close enough.  This is in latin

Veni Vedi Veci

I came, I saw, I conquered.


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## Wormwood

*AERA!*
"Air". (Traditional Greek battle-cry. Sorta like "Bansai!")

*Molon Lave!*
"Come and get it!" (Leonidas, to the Persians)

*"Freedom or Death"*
(Battle cry of the 1821 Greek Revolution)

*Ochi.*
"No." (Greece's official reply to the Italian demand of surrender, WW2)

*"From this point on, we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like the Greeks"*
- Winston Churchill


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## Black Omega

And the so macho reply by Sparta to Alexander the Great when he was on his 'Conquer Greece' Tour.

Alexander:  If I enter Sparta, I will raze it to the ground.

Spartans:  If.

And on Alexander went to Argo, Sparta evidently could wait.Possibly non-historical but it's stayed with me from my years reading Greece History.


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## Darklone

*More!*

More more more !


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## Wulf Ratbane

"Never leave your buddy's behind!"


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## shilsen

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *"Never leave your buddy's behind!" *




I presume that's "Never leave your buddies behind". Unless you're referring to the famous "Legion of Love" (can't recall which city-state they came from - Thespis, maybe?) which consisted only of homosexuals, and encouraged pairs of lovers to join, since the assumption was that you were _really_ interested in protecting your partner. And considering that they were a remarkably effective fighting force, obviously never leaving your buddy's behind worked there 

And in keeping with the above, here is the famous battle-cry of Hector, which was unfortunately cut from the _Iliad_ due to Greek censorship:

"I got your Trojan right here!"


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## Eben

King Darius of Persia told the Scythians that it was folly to resist the might of Persia and to bring simple gifts of earth and water as symbols of submission.
Instead of the tokens of submission Darius                      received an unusual collection of symbolic gifts: a mouse, a frog, a bird, and five arrows.  Darius                                      pondered these and considered them positive signs of submission; the Scythians however, meant them to represent something entirely different.  The historian Herodotus records the alternative interpretation: "Unless the Persians fly away like birds, hide in the earth like mice, or leap into a lake like frogs, they will never see their homes again, but will die under our arrows."

quoted from: http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/


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## Tetsubo

I've seen a picture of a Greek lead sling bullet with the phrase, "Eat this" cast into it.


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## Florin

Well, having a Greek girlfriend, I can tell you some modern-day Greek um... battle cries...  

These are all translated into English because I have NO idea how to spell them.  

"I'll make you eat wood." -typical threat to children from mother

"You'll be meat in the pot." -another threat to children from mother

"Go f*** the Virgin Mary." -general curse

"Go f*** your Jesus Christ." -another curse

Of course, these could just be specific to her family, but I've heard them uttered in Greek a number of times.


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## Eben

The coolest Latin threath ever:

"Hannibal at portas"


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## willpax

*Some early Greek lyrics*

from Richard Latimore's _Greek Lyrics_
(these aren't exactly battler cries but might give you some idea of the tone and attitude some of the ancent Greeks had): 

from Archilochos (c.650 b.c. poet and mercenary): 

By spear is kneaded the bread I eat, by spear my Ismaric wine is won, which I drink, leaning on my spear. 

Some barbarian is waving my shield, since I was obliged to
leave that perfectly good piece of equipment behind
under a bush. But I got away, so what does it matter?
Let the shield go; I can buy another one equally good. 

I will make nothing better by crying, I will make nothing
worse by giving myself what entertainment I can. 

Glaukos, a solider of fortune's your friend as long as he's fighting. 

The fox knows many tricks, the hedgehog only one. 
One good one. 

One main thing I understand,
to come back with deadly evil at the man who does me wrong. 

From "Hybrias" (the name means "bully"):

My wealth is great; it is a spear and a sword, 
and the grand hairy shield to guard my body. 
With these I plow, with these I harvest, 
with these I tread the sweet vine from the grapevine, 
with these I am called master of the rabble. 
And they who dare not carry the spear and sword
and the grand hairy shield to guard their bodies, 
all these fall down before me, kiss my knee, hail me
their high king and master.


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## 'o Skoteinos

*looks at his sig*

"CHoorei 's ten naun* 'o CHaroon se kalei, su de kooluein anagesthai" (Lysistrata, verse somewhere around 600 IIRC)

"Go to the ship, Charon calls you, but you prevent him from going" Well that's a really bad translation, so I hope someone will correct me...simply said, it means: "die."

From a translation I've found:



> _from http://www.tkline.freeserve.co.uk/Webworks/Website/LYSISTRATA.htm_
> 605 Lysistrata: Need anything else? No? Well? Hop on the boat, then!
> 
> (Puts hand to her ear)
> 
> Hear that? It’s Charon calling you. Go on! Hop it! What’s holding you back? Cark it, you old kook!


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## D'karr

*You Forgot*

SPOON!!!! 


Oops, sorry I thought you said geek battle cries.


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## trimeulose

Bree Yark- goblin for hey stupid

Ok you can die

I fart in your general direction

Your mother was a hampster and your father smelt of elder berries

as to not offend anyone, S*** it

Cocked locked and ready to rock

ASDF!!!!!!!!!


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## Henrix

trimeulose said:
			
		

> *
> Your mother was a hampster and your father smelt of elder berries
> *




Is that greek? I thought it was french!


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## Heretic Apostate

shilsen said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I presume that's "Never leave your buddies behind". Unless you're referring to the famous "Legion of Love" (can't recall which city-state they came from - Thespis, maybe?) which consisted only of homosexuals, and encouraged pairs of lovers to join, since the assumption was that you were really interested in protecting your partner. And considering that they were a remarkably effective fighting force, obviously never leaving your buddy's behind worked there
> 
> And in keeping with the above, here is the famous battle-cry of Hector, which was unfortunately cut from the Iliad due to Greek censorship:
> 
> "I got your Trojan right here!" *




Not quite accurate.  It's the Sacred Band of Thebes.  Pretty much, yes, it was a homosexual organization.  The *city* wasn't gay.  The people in the band were gay.  The idea was that you'd be ashamed to retreat, when your lover was watching.

Yadda yadda yadda.  'nuf said.


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## Strider The Ranger

*Cool threats*

Hey these aren't greek, one's Roman and the other is from The Three Musketeers

1. "Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal." The caution given by the Praetorian Guard to Julius Caesar if I'm correct.

2. Cardinal's Men (Gentlemen of the Sword): "Drop your weapons, and perhaps we'll let you live"
Athos: "Impossible"
Porthos: "Unthinkable"
Aramis: "Unlikely"

The second I love...its especially great when the PCs are good roleplayers and have that swashbuckling flair!


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## Klaus

The following is still engraved at the Thermopylae, in Greece, and is still quite legible to this day:

O xein angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tede
keinetha tois keinon rhemasi peithomenoi.

Which roughly translates to:

Tell the Spartans, o strangers that walk by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lay.

These are the verses composed by the greek poet Simonides on the day a memorial was held in honor of the 300 Spartans that fell with King Leonidas while facing the Persians.

It's still chilling after 2,500 years, and it can be found in the awesome novel Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield. Highly recommended.

From another Greek, Alexander the Great, upon taking Egypt. He faced the heavens and proclaimed:
"See my work, o Mighty One, and despair."


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## Wulf Ratbane

Klaus said:
			
		

> *From another Greek, Alexander the Great, upon taking Egypt. He faced the heavens and proclaimed:
> "See my work, o Mighty One, and despair." *




Ooh, man, that's good. I might have to borrow that one for myself!


Wulf


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## Darklance

"Hannibal at portas"
Whats this translate into?

Great thread!


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## mmadsen

> From another Greek, Alexander the Great, upon taking Egypt. He faced the heavens and proclaimed:
> "See my work, o Mighty One, and despair."




I can't let that one go by without bringing out everyone's favorite poem:

Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'


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## Henrix

Darklance said:
			
		

> *"Hannibal at portas"
> Whats this translate into?
> *




Hannibal but the gates?  

(Sorry!)

Hannibal ad portas - Hannibal at the gates


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## Voadam

*Not Greek at all*

"Right. Charge!"

King Arthur


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## CRGreathouse

mmadsen said:
			
		

> *I can't let that one go by without bringing out everyone's favorite poem:*




I love Ozymandias - it still gives me chills every time I read it.


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## Hedgemage

The historian Herodotus wrote many wonderful sayings, though they were mostly more philosophical than related to battle.

One of my favourites goes something like:

"The fox has many tricks, but the hedgehog has but one.  One good one."

It means that a single effective strategy like the hedgehog's spiny ball defense is better than a multitude of half-baked ideas.

Here's a link! http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.html


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## edbonny

For the Feta!


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## shilsen

Heretic Apostate said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Not quite accurate.  It's the Sacred Band of Thebes.  Pretty much, yes, it was a homosexual organization.  The city wasn't gay.  The people in the band were gay.  The idea was that you'd be ashamed to retreat, when your lover was watching.
> 
> Yadda yadda yadda.  'nuf said. *




Thanks for the catch. The Legion of Love was a colloquial term used for them. And you weren't paying attention - I didn't claim the city/state as a whole was gay. Big logistical problems if that happened


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## Skarp Hedin

*Greek bullywug war cries?*

Brekekekex koax koax!

That's what the frogs say in Aristophanes' play, The Frogs.  Not a war cry, but it'd sound good coming from the bullywugs.


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## Florin

Neorxnawang said:
			
		

> *For the Feta! *




*rofl*  My girlfriend'll love that one!


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