If you have been following my posts, I am now just posting the first 10 stanzas so that you may read them together and enjoy the poem without the history.
Stanza 11 will be up soon.
The Isles of Greece - Stanzas 1 - 10
The isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho* loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos* rose, and Phoebus* sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set.
The Scian* and the Teian* muse,
The hero's harp*, the lover's lute*,
Have found the fame your shores refuse;
Their place of birth alone is mute
To sounds which echo further west
Than your sires' 'Islands of the Blest.'
The mountains look on Marathon*—
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dream'd that Greece might still be free;
For standing on the Persians' grave*,
I could not deem myself a slave.
A king sate on the rocky brow
Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis*;
And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations;—all were his!
He counted them at break of day—
And when the sun set where were they?
And where are they? and where art thou,
My country? On thy voiceless shore
The heroic lay is tuneless now—
The heroic bosom beats no more!
And must thy lyre, so long divine,
Degenerate into hands like mine?
'Tis something, in the dearth of fame,
Though link'd among a fetter'd race,
To feel at least a patriot's shame,
Even as I sing, suffuse my face;
For what is left the poet here?
For Greeks a blush—for Greece a tear.
Must we but weep o'er days more blest?
Must we but blush?—Our fathers bled.
Earth! render back from out thy breast
A remnant of our Spartan* dead!
Of the three hundred grant but three,
To make a new Thermopylae*!
What, silent still? and silent all?
Ah! no;—the voices of the dead
Sound like a distant torrent's fall,
And answer, 'Let one living head,
But one arise,—we come, we come!'
'Tis but the living who are dumb.
In vain—in vain: strike other chords;
Fill high the cup with Samian* wine!
Leave battles to the Turkish hordes*,
And shed the blood of Scio's vine*!
Hark! rising to the ignoble call—
How answers each bold Bacchanal*!
You have the Pyrrhic* dance as yet,
Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone?
Of two such lessons, why forget
The nobler and the manlier one?
You have the letters Cadmus* gave—
Think ye he meant them for a slave?
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Isles of Greece – Stanza 10
Stanza 10
You have the Pyrrhic* dance as yet,
Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone?
Of two such lessons, why forget
The nobler and the manlier one?
You have the letters Cadmus* gave—
Think ye he meant them for a slave?
In short - for those who do not want too much history -
- Lord Byron is hitting at the men of Greece by reminding them that although the Pyrrhic dance is still performed, the more manly and noble Phalanx formation which led to many Greek victories has been forgotten.
- He follows this by reminding his fellow Greeks again that when they were given the alphabet by Cadmus, he did not expect them to be slaves, he thought he was giving it to those who were worthy of it.
And now for the detailed history -
*Pyrrhic Dance –
A general name for dance in armor that is known generally as "Pyrrhiche" (Pyrrhic dance).
These martial dances are part of the basic military education in both Athens and Sparta accompanied by the sound of a flute.
The four divisions were,
- the podism or footing a quick motion such as might be required for overtaking the enemy (or for fleeing from him)
- the Xiphism, or sham fight
- the Kosmos with very high leaping or vaulting a training for the jumping of ditches or walls
- the Tetracomos a square figure with slow majestic measure.
There are variations of these armed dances and different origins:
In Athens, pyrrhic dance contests were held at the Panathenaia festival. These dances were associated with Athena who was considered the inventor of the dance.
According to Cretan mythology the Kouretes protected the infant Zeus from Kronos making noise with their shields and were assumed to be the inventors of this dance in armour. One of these Kouretes, was Pyrrhikos. In Creta there was an associated Kouretes armed dance with swords.
1035. ... The Idæi Dactyli found Iron in mount Ida in Crete, and worked it into armour and iron tools, and thereby gave a start to the trades of smiths and armourers in Europe; and by singing and dancing in their armour, and keeping time by striking upon one another's armour with their swords, they brought in Music and Poetry; and at the same time they nursed up the Cretan Jupiter in a cave of the same mountain, dancing about him in their armour. Sir Isaac Newton
One other possible mythological origin of the name: Pyrrhus (known also as Neoptolemos) (a son of Achilles).
The Pyrrhic dance was performed in different ways at various times and in various countries, for it was by no means confined to the Doric* states (Doric - The inhabitants of the Peloponnese in southern Greece were called the Dorians and the dialect they spoke was called Doric.)
Plato describes it as rapid movements of the body in the way in which missiles and blows from weapons were avoided, and also the mode in which the enemy was attacked. In the non-Doric states it was probably not practised as training for war, but only as a mimetic dance.
*The Greek phalanx was a column formation of heavy infantry carrying long spears, or pikes, and swords.
The pikes were six to twelve feet long, much longer than spears of the past.
Men in the phalanx carried a round shield called a hoplon, from which the infantry took their name, hoplites.
The hoplites wore metal armor on their chests, forearms, and shins at least, plus a metal helmet that covered the head down to the neck.
The addition of armor classified the hoplites as heavy infantry, as opposed to light infantry that wore little or no armor.
A typical phalanx unit was ten men across the front rank and ten men deep, but many such units were combined into one larger unit.
*The Pyrrhic War initially started as a minor conflict between Rome and the city of Tarentum over a naval treaty violation by one of the Roman consuls. Tarentum had, however, lent aid to the Greek ruler Pyrrhus of Epirus in his conflict with Corcyra, and requested military aid from Epirus. Pyrrhus honored his obligation to Tarentum and joined the complex series of conflicts involving Tarentum, the Romans, Samnites, Etruscans, and Thurii (as well as other cities of Magna Graecia).
To further complicate historical analysis of the conflict, Pyrrhus also involved himself in the internal political conflicts of Sicily, as well as the Sicilian struggle against Carthaginian dominance.
Pyrrhus' involvement in the regional conflicts of Sicily reduced the Carthaginian influence in Sicily drastically. In Italy, his involvement seems to have been mostly ineffectual but had long term implications. The Pyrrhic war proved both that the states of ancient Greece had essentially become incapable of defending the independent colonies of Magna Graecia and that the Roman legions were capable of competing with the armies of the Hellenistic kingdoms — the dominant Mediterranean powers of the time.
This opened the way for Roman dominance over the city states of Magna Graecia and advanced the Roman consolidation of power in Italy greatly. Rome's proven record in international military conflicts would also aid its resolve in its rivalry with Carthage, which was eventually to culminate in the Punic Wars. Linguistically, the Pyrrhic War is the source of the expression "Pyrrhic victory," a term for a victory won at too high a cost.
It is attributed to Pyrrhus himself by Plutarch, who described Pyrrhus' reaction to the report of a victorious battle:
The two armies separated; and we are told that Pyrrhus said to one who was congratulating him on his victory, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined."
The patchwork of Italian and Sicilian cultures and nations had resulted in an ongoing web of conflicts and territory changes, which many would argue had seen a steady expansion of Roman influence over Italy.
Rome was, however, a "local Italian concern", never having tried its hand in the larger international affairs of the Mediterranean, nor pitted its military strength against any of the dominant Greek cultures.
The Pyrrhic war would change both of these facts.
*Cadmus, legendary founder of Thebes, was not a Greek by birth, but a Phoenician who brought the alphabet to Boeotia, a part of ancient Greece where he started the Theban royal family familiar to us from Greek tragedy.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Isles of Greece – Stanza 9
Stanza 9
In vain—in vain: strike other chords;
Fill high the cup with Samian* wine!
Leave battles to the Turkish hordes*,
And shed the blood of Scio's vine*!
Hark! rising to the ignoble (without honour) call—
How answers each bold Bacchanal*!
My observations and historical references to stanza 9 –
*Samian –
refers to all things from Samos, another island of Greece, and birthplace of many Gods as well as Pythagoras (remember the Pythagoras Theorem in Geometry?) and Aesop (Remember Aesop’s Fables?) and many others.
A Brief history in relation to the poet’s reference.
From 1453 with the fall of Constantinople until the revolution in 1821 Greece was under the rule of the Ottoman Turks. (thus - Leave battles to the Turkish hordes*,)
During the Greek National Revolution of 1821 the few Ottoman (Turkish), residents of Samos abandoned the island which remained independent until the end of the revolution, thanks to the efforts of the Greek fleet which successively fought the continuous attempts of the Ottoman (Turkish) and Egyptian fleet to take possession of it.
In 1912, during the Balkan wars, the revolted residents of Samos achieved to fight the Ottomans and declare their incorporation to the Greek state on the 11th of November 1912.
*Scio’s vine -
Scio is the modern name of Chios, in the AEgean Sea.
And shed the blood of Scio's vine*! –
A plea to the people of Scio to join in the revolution.
With the Greek revolution of 1821, the inhabitants of Chios were roused by Lykourgos Logothetis of Samos who led his army to fight a Turkish garrison. (*Turkish Hordes)
When the Sultan heard what happened, he sent his fleet in Chios to punish the inhabitants for participating in the revolution.
On the 30th of March 1822, 7000 Turk soldiers under the command of Kara Ali Pasha disembarked on Chios and slaughtered 25000 of its inhabitants and forced almost twice that number of people into slavery.
On the night of June 6th 1822, Kanaris, a Greek admiral, freedom fighter and politician avenged the Chios massacre, by killing the Turkish Admiral Kara Ali Pasha.
The massacre of Chios increased the sympathy of the rest of Europe and the growth of Philhellenism.
After the massacre, Victor Hugo wrote his wonderful poem "Enfant de Chios" and Delacroix painted Le Massacre de Chios, which can be admired in the Louvre Museum. The first refugees started to return to Chios in 1832.
On the 11th of November 1912, the island of Chios was finally liberated and reunited with the newly built Greek State.
Bacchanals (mythology) –
Bacchus and Dionysus are interchangeable names of the same deity.
Bakchos was his common Greek name and his followers were called Bacchoi. He was conceived in a sexual relationship between Zeus and the mortal, Semele, daughter of Cadmus, King of the Greek city of Thebes.
During Dionysus’ travels when people rejected his worship he could be a god of cruel retribution.
Dionysus traveled with a very unique entourage of Bacchanalia creatures and associates:
Silenus - the oldest of Satyrs was Dionysus’ debauched mentor and most frequent companion.
Pan – was a pastoral deity who made flocks fertile so appropriately he had horns, legs and ears of a goat. Although he was physically unattractive, he had amorous tendency to seduce nymphs. He could be mischievous and sometimes ill tempered often frightening unwary forest travelers. He was known for playing his reed pan flute and for blowing into a conch shell. When he blew the conch shell the sound emitted created so much anxiety and agitation that our word panic is derived from Pan.
Maenads or Bacchantes –
were the most fearsome in the bacchanal retinue. They were mortal wild- haired women followers who roamed mountains and forests adorned in ivy and animal skins waving the thyrsos (reed tipped with pine cone).
Satyrs, Sileni, fauns, centaurs –
were forest participants in the Bacchanal. Satyrs were sensuous creatures usually part man part goat (hooves, horns, ears, tail) who danced, played music and certainly knew how to party. Ancient Greek and Romans depicted them as ugly with beards, snub noses and bulging foreheads.
Sileni -
were similar to satyrs, but were older and often had either horse or goat legs horns, ears, and tail.
Fauns -
were gentler, handsome young males with discrete horns and goat ears, tail and usually human legs. They were the most attractive of the group and popular in sculpture.
Centaurs -
sometimes in Bacchanalia were creatures with the head and torso of a man and body of a horse.
Nymphs –
were beautiful maiden-creatures who in habited, the sea, rivers, woods, trees, meadows and mountains as followers of various deities. (this is from where the English term nymphomania is derived)
All in all these were a wild mix of people and creatures led by Dionysus, son of Zeus, who was known as a very strong God of retribution.
In the early Christian Era, Eastern Roman Emperor, Theodosius II (401 – 450CE) by law ended the bacchanal and all Dionysian worship. This led to persecution of the Bacchoi (members) which forced the Cult to go underground, later to reemerge even stronger. Their descendents and followers are who Byron is calling on.
Byron’s poem is included in a variety of pre-war literature written to bring awareness about these issues and the ones to follow, to the world.
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Isles of Greece – Stanza 8
Stanza 8
What, silent still? and silent all?
Ah! no;—the voices of the dead
Sound like a distant torrent's fall,
And answer, 'Let one living head,
But one arise,—we come, we come!'
'Tis but the living who are dumb.
My observations on Stanza 8 –
Byron goes on a disappointed and angry outburst about the lack of action prior to this point in history, this is a perspective he shared with the members of the Resistance. How could our ancestors have fought and died so courageously for our freedom yet we seem unable to?
The martyrs of ancient Greece would still return were they able to, -
'Let one living head,
But one arise,
- to die again for their land, they would gladly lay their lives down once again, it is the living people of Greece who do not realize that they have it in them.
‘“we come, we come!” Tis but the living who are dumb.’
His anger may seem out of place when one considers the events that did occur and how heroically the Revolution was fought by men, women and children; but it is important to understand that Byron wrote this poem in 1819 and it was published in 1821, the first year of the official Revolution.
What, silent still? and silent all?
Ah! no;—the voices of the dead
Sound like a distant torrent's fall,
And answer, 'Let one living head,
But one arise,—we come, we come!'
'Tis but the living who are dumb.
My observations on Stanza 8 –
Byron goes on a disappointed and angry outburst about the lack of action prior to this point in history, this is a perspective he shared with the members of the Resistance. How could our ancestors have fought and died so courageously for our freedom yet we seem unable to?
The martyrs of ancient Greece would still return were they able to, -
'Let one living head,
But one arise,
- to die again for their land, they would gladly lay their lives down once again, it is the living people of Greece who do not realize that they have it in them.
‘“we come, we come!” Tis but the living who are dumb.’
His anger may seem out of place when one considers the events that did occur and how heroically the Revolution was fought by men, women and children; but it is important to understand that Byron wrote this poem in 1819 and it was published in 1821, the first year of the official Revolution.
The movie 300
Just finished watching this awesome pic 300, the historical depiction of a stand taken by 300 Spartans v/s Xerxes (persian King) and his 100000+ men in The Battle of Thermopylae. The battle lasted 3 days.
Am still in the grieving and mourning process.
To know more go watch the film, 'cause I'm not telling!
.jpg)
The Isles of Greece – Stanzas 6 and 7
Again, I could not do these 2 stanzas separately because they deal with the same event in history, The Battle of Thermopylae.
Here, I have also split the stanzas at places, because I felt that was the only way to do it.
Stanza 6.
'Tis something, in the dearth (scarcity) of fame,
Though link'd among a fetter'd (chained, tied down, restrained) race,
To feel at least a patriot's shame,
Even as I sing, suffuse my face;
My understanding - His shame fills his mind and thoughts even as he writes this, seeing as he considers himself a true Greek patriot.
For what is left the poet here?
For Greeks a blush—for Greece a tear.
Me - Because he does not know what else to do, except grieve over the loss of the majesty of Greece. Again his helplessness and angst is stressed here. I do not know about everyone else here, but I feel his pain and I share in his anguish, if only for the duration of my working on this poem. I am sure I will forget, move on to other things, but, as of right now, my feelings are real, I find myself in the past, standing alongside the poet, hoping there was something more I could do.
End of Stanza 6.
Stanza 7.
Must we but weep o'er days more blest?
Must we but blush?—Our fathers bled.
Me - And here again, we see his anger and his pride. We (the poet, the people of Greece, and I, because as of this moment I feel I am right there with them, please forgive me, but that’s just the way it is) must not sit here and weep over our past heroes, they were after all our forefathers, we have their blood running through our veins as well. We will fight back just as they did.
Earth! render back from out thy breast
A remnant of our Spartan* dead!
Of the three hundred grant but three,
To make a new Thermopylae*!
Me - He calls out to his fellow Greeks, reminding them of the battle of Thermopylae, where Xerxes with 1,00,000 men were stumped by 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas. (See notes on The Battle of Thermopylae); saying even if 3 of them would be amongst the warriors today, that would suffice.
End of Stanza 7.
The History behind this.
Thermopylae: The famous battle of Thermopylae was the effort of the Spartans, lead by their King Leonidas, to slow down the Persians.
The significance of this battle is the amazing dedication and determination of the 300 Spartans who cleverly positioned themselves at the tight passage of Thermopylae where the Persians could only get through few at a time.
Though vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Persian advance until a defector informed the Persians of an alternate route, leading to the defeat of the Greek army and the sacking of Athens.
The Spartans lost this battle and it is said that the sun was hidden by the storm of arrows but the Spartans sacrifice will never be forgotten in Greece.
These verses also remind me of a song children sing at national celebrations of the 1821 Revolution- when Byron fought with the Greeks-
it says in rough translation:
"Oh 300 arise and come back to us again, and see how much alike you your children are".
In the days of Byron, the Greeks again unite to honor freedom with the same courage. This battle also significantly slowed down and weakened the Persian army, which was a tremendous help in the ensuing Battle of Salamis (stanzas 4 and 5), where, ultimately the Persians were defeated.
Now, if you watch the film 300 you should be blown away by it; amazing movie, and after knowing the history behind it, all the more so.
Am going to do that tonight itself.
For understanding the history in relation to the poem, what you have read thus far will suffice.
However, if you truly want to know about how the events took place in detail, read on. It's almost story like, and very readable.
Background of The Battle of Thermopylae.
Xerxes I, king of Persia, had been preparing for years to continue the war against the Greeks started by his father Darius. In 484 BC the army and navy of Xerxes arrived in Asia Minor and built a bridge of ships across the Hellespont at Abydos to march his troops across.
According to Herodotus, Xerxes had over five million men,
while
the poet Simonides estimated three million;
Herodotus also wrote that the army drank entire rivers and ate the food supplies of entire cities.
While these are clearly exaggerations, it is clear the Greeks were enormously outnumbered.
An alliance of Greek city-states was quickly formed, headed by the militaristic Sparta, whose supremely disciplined warriors were trained from birth to be amongst the best soldiers in the world at that time.
The Spartan soldiers had mastered the phalanx formation - essentially a tight wall of overlapping shields.
The Greek states held back from sending the full force of their armies, however, citing religious reasons. Fearing an uprising of their huge slave population, and fearful of going to war before the conclusion of the Carneia festival, the deeply superstitious Spartans contributed only a small force of 300 hoplites, hand-picked and commanded by King Leonidas.
Knowing the likely outcome of the battle, Leonidas selected his men on one simple criterion: he took only men who had fathered sons that were old enough to take over the family responsibilities of their fathers.
Because of its defensible terrain, the mountain pass of Thermopylae, also known as the "Hot Gates", was chosen as the site of battle. At the time it consisted of a pass so narrow, two chariots could barely move abreast – on one side stood the sheer side of the mountain, while the other was a cliff drop into the sea. Along the path was a series of three "gates," and at the center gate a short wall was hastily erected by the Greek army to aid in their defense. It was here in the August of 480 BC that an army of some 7000 Greeks, led by 300 Spartans, stood to receive the full force of the Persian army, numbering perhaps some forty times its size.
See Map of Thermopylae.
Also see Battle layout of Persian invasion led by XERXES into Greece.
Xerxes did not believe such a small force would oppose him, and gave the Greeks three to four days to retreat.
The Persians were initially astounded upon seeing the Spartans oiling themselves and performing calisthenics, not understanding its ritual significance, performed by men with the resolution to fight to the end.
Meanwhile, the Persian army was growing restless, and Xerxes sent his troops into the pass with hellish results. The Persians, with arrows and short spears, could not break through the long spears of the Greek hoplites' phalanx. Enormous casualties were sustained by the Persians as the disciplined Spartans orchestrated a series of feint retreats, followed by a quick turn back into formation.
Greek morale was high.
Herodotus wrote that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows blotted out the sun, he remarked with characteristically laconic prose, "So much the better, we shall fight in the shade."
The 6000 Greeks defending the pass slew the Persians in a similar manner on the second day of battle, fighting in a relay manner. After watching his troops fall before the Greeks, Xerxes decided to send his legendary Immortals, so named for their fierce fighting and impenetrable line. Whenever one would fall, another would quickly fill the gap in the ranks. However, even the Immortals lacked the power to break the Spartan phalanx.
After the second day a Greek named Ephialtes defected to the Persians and informed Xerxes of a separate path through Thermopylae.
The pass was defended by the other 1000 Greeks, from Phocis, who had been placed there when the Greeks learned of the alternate route just before the battle, but they were not expecting to engage the Persians. The Phocians offered a brief resistance before fleeing, and the Persians advanced unopposed.
Leonidas then realized that further fighting would be futile. On August 11 he dismissed all but the 300 Spartans.
A contingent of Thespians, led by Demophilus, stayed as well in a suicidal effort to delay the advance. Leonidas also had a force of Thebans, but after some fighting they defected to the Persians.
Although the Greeks killed many Persians, including two of Xerxes' brothers, Leonidas was eventually killed, along with all 300 of his men.
The last Spartans were killed by a barrage of arrows after fighting fanatically to recover their king's body, having been driven back into the narrowest part of the pass onto a small hill.
There is an epitaph on a monument at site of the battle with Simonides's epigram, which can be found in Herodotus's work The Histories, to the Spartans, which to keep the poetic context can be translated as:
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie
or more literally as:
Oh foreigner, tell the Lacedaemonians that here we lie, obeying those words.
Another translation (by Michael Dodson, 1951) captures the spirit of enduring service to the state which was taught to all Spartan warriors:
Friend, tell the Spartans that on this hill we lie obedient to them still.
Aftermath
While a technical victory for the Persians, the enormous casualties caused by a few thousand Greeks was a significant blow to the Persian army.
Likewise, it significantly boosted the resolve of the Greeks to face the Persian onslaught.
The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium was a draw, whereupon the Greek (or more accurately, Athenian) navy retreated.
The Persians had control of the Aegean Sea and all of Greece as far south as Attica; the Spartans prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth and the Peloponnese, while Xerxes sacked Athens, whose inhabitants had already fled to Salamis Island.
In September the Greeks defeated the Persians at the naval Battle of Salamis, which led to the rapid retreat of Xerxes. (see stanzas 4 and 5).
The remaining Persian army, left under the charge of Mardonius, was defeated at Plataea by a combined Greek army again led by the Spartans, under the regent Pausanias.
The Persians, never to return to Greece, were soon to fall under the shadow of Alexander the Great.
Legends:
The legend of Thermopylae, as told by Herodotus, has it that Sparta consulted the Oracle at Delphi before setting out to meet the Persian army. The Oracle is said to have made the following prophecy in hexameter verse:
“O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon!
Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus,
Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country
Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.
He cannot be withstood by the courage of bulls nor of lions,
Strive as they may; he is mighty as Jove; there is naught that shall stay him,
Till he have got for his prey your king, or your glorious city.”
In essence, the Oracle's warning was that either Sparta would be conquered and left in ruins, or one of her two hereditary kings must sacrifice his life to save her.
And now if you see the film, more power to you.
Here, I have also split the stanzas at places, because I felt that was the only way to do it.
Stanza 6.
'Tis something, in the dearth (scarcity) of fame,
Though link'd among a fetter'd (chained, tied down, restrained) race,
To feel at least a patriot's shame,
Even as I sing, suffuse my face;
My understanding - His shame fills his mind and thoughts even as he writes this, seeing as he considers himself a true Greek patriot.
For what is left the poet here?
For Greeks a blush—for Greece a tear.
Me - Because he does not know what else to do, except grieve over the loss of the majesty of Greece. Again his helplessness and angst is stressed here. I do not know about everyone else here, but I feel his pain and I share in his anguish, if only for the duration of my working on this poem. I am sure I will forget, move on to other things, but, as of right now, my feelings are real, I find myself in the past, standing alongside the poet, hoping there was something more I could do.
End of Stanza 6.
Stanza 7.
Must we but weep o'er days more blest?
Must we but blush?—Our fathers bled.
Me - And here again, we see his anger and his pride. We (the poet, the people of Greece, and I, because as of this moment I feel I am right there with them, please forgive me, but that’s just the way it is) must not sit here and weep over our past heroes, they were after all our forefathers, we have their blood running through our veins as well. We will fight back just as they did.
Earth! render back from out thy breast
A remnant of our Spartan* dead!
Of the three hundred grant but three,
To make a new Thermopylae*!
Me - He calls out to his fellow Greeks, reminding them of the battle of Thermopylae, where Xerxes with 1,00,000 men were stumped by 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas. (See notes on The Battle of Thermopylae); saying even if 3 of them would be amongst the warriors today, that would suffice.
End of Stanza 7.
The History behind this.
Thermopylae: The famous battle of Thermopylae was the effort of the Spartans, lead by their King Leonidas, to slow down the Persians.
The significance of this battle is the amazing dedication and determination of the 300 Spartans who cleverly positioned themselves at the tight passage of Thermopylae where the Persians could only get through few at a time.
Though vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Persian advance until a defector informed the Persians of an alternate route, leading to the defeat of the Greek army and the sacking of Athens.
The Spartans lost this battle and it is said that the sun was hidden by the storm of arrows but the Spartans sacrifice will never be forgotten in Greece.
These verses also remind me of a song children sing at national celebrations of the 1821 Revolution- when Byron fought with the Greeks-
it says in rough translation:
"Oh 300 arise and come back to us again, and see how much alike you your children are".
In the days of Byron, the Greeks again unite to honor freedom with the same courage. This battle also significantly slowed down and weakened the Persian army, which was a tremendous help in the ensuing Battle of Salamis (stanzas 4 and 5), where, ultimately the Persians were defeated.
Now, if you watch the film 300 you should be blown away by it; amazing movie, and after knowing the history behind it, all the more so.
Am going to do that tonight itself.
For understanding the history in relation to the poem, what you have read thus far will suffice.
However, if you truly want to know about how the events took place in detail, read on. It's almost story like, and very readable.
Background of The Battle of Thermopylae.
Xerxes I, king of Persia, had been preparing for years to continue the war against the Greeks started by his father Darius. In 484 BC the army and navy of Xerxes arrived in Asia Minor and built a bridge of ships across the Hellespont at Abydos to march his troops across.
According to Herodotus, Xerxes had over five million men,
while
the poet Simonides estimated three million;
Herodotus also wrote that the army drank entire rivers and ate the food supplies of entire cities.
While these are clearly exaggerations, it is clear the Greeks were enormously outnumbered.
An alliance of Greek city-states was quickly formed, headed by the militaristic Sparta, whose supremely disciplined warriors were trained from birth to be amongst the best soldiers in the world at that time.
The Spartan soldiers had mastered the phalanx formation - essentially a tight wall of overlapping shields.
The Greek states held back from sending the full force of their armies, however, citing religious reasons. Fearing an uprising of their huge slave population, and fearful of going to war before the conclusion of the Carneia festival, the deeply superstitious Spartans contributed only a small force of 300 hoplites, hand-picked and commanded by King Leonidas.
Knowing the likely outcome of the battle, Leonidas selected his men on one simple criterion: he took only men who had fathered sons that were old enough to take over the family responsibilities of their fathers.
Because of its defensible terrain, the mountain pass of Thermopylae, also known as the "Hot Gates", was chosen as the site of battle. At the time it consisted of a pass so narrow, two chariots could barely move abreast – on one side stood the sheer side of the mountain, while the other was a cliff drop into the sea. Along the path was a series of three "gates," and at the center gate a short wall was hastily erected by the Greek army to aid in their defense. It was here in the August of 480 BC that an army of some 7000 Greeks, led by 300 Spartans, stood to receive the full force of the Persian army, numbering perhaps some forty times its size.
See Map of Thermopylae.
Also see Battle layout of Persian invasion led by XERXES into Greece.
Xerxes did not believe such a small force would oppose him, and gave the Greeks three to four days to retreat.
The Persians were initially astounded upon seeing the Spartans oiling themselves and performing calisthenics, not understanding its ritual significance, performed by men with the resolution to fight to the end.
Meanwhile, the Persian army was growing restless, and Xerxes sent his troops into the pass with hellish results. The Persians, with arrows and short spears, could not break through the long spears of the Greek hoplites' phalanx. Enormous casualties were sustained by the Persians as the disciplined Spartans orchestrated a series of feint retreats, followed by a quick turn back into formation.
Greek morale was high.
Herodotus wrote that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows blotted out the sun, he remarked with characteristically laconic prose, "So much the better, we shall fight in the shade."
The 6000 Greeks defending the pass slew the Persians in a similar manner on the second day of battle, fighting in a relay manner. After watching his troops fall before the Greeks, Xerxes decided to send his legendary Immortals, so named for their fierce fighting and impenetrable line. Whenever one would fall, another would quickly fill the gap in the ranks. However, even the Immortals lacked the power to break the Spartan phalanx.
After the second day a Greek named Ephialtes defected to the Persians and informed Xerxes of a separate path through Thermopylae.
The pass was defended by the other 1000 Greeks, from Phocis, who had been placed there when the Greeks learned of the alternate route just before the battle, but they were not expecting to engage the Persians. The Phocians offered a brief resistance before fleeing, and the Persians advanced unopposed.
Leonidas then realized that further fighting would be futile. On August 11 he dismissed all but the 300 Spartans.
A contingent of Thespians, led by Demophilus, stayed as well in a suicidal effort to delay the advance. Leonidas also had a force of Thebans, but after some fighting they defected to the Persians.
Although the Greeks killed many Persians, including two of Xerxes' brothers, Leonidas was eventually killed, along with all 300 of his men.
The last Spartans were killed by a barrage of arrows after fighting fanatically to recover their king's body, having been driven back into the narrowest part of the pass onto a small hill.
There is an epitaph on a monument at site of the battle with Simonides's epigram, which can be found in Herodotus's work The Histories, to the Spartans, which to keep the poetic context can be translated as:
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie
or more literally as:
Oh foreigner, tell the Lacedaemonians that here we lie, obeying those words.
Another translation (by Michael Dodson, 1951) captures the spirit of enduring service to the state which was taught to all Spartan warriors:
Friend, tell the Spartans that on this hill we lie obedient to them still.
Aftermath
While a technical victory for the Persians, the enormous casualties caused by a few thousand Greeks was a significant blow to the Persian army.
Likewise, it significantly boosted the resolve of the Greeks to face the Persian onslaught.
The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium was a draw, whereupon the Greek (or more accurately, Athenian) navy retreated.
The Persians had control of the Aegean Sea and all of Greece as far south as Attica; the Spartans prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth and the Peloponnese, while Xerxes sacked Athens, whose inhabitants had already fled to Salamis Island.
In September the Greeks defeated the Persians at the naval Battle of Salamis, which led to the rapid retreat of Xerxes. (see stanzas 4 and 5).
The remaining Persian army, left under the charge of Mardonius, was defeated at Plataea by a combined Greek army again led by the Spartans, under the regent Pausanias.
The Persians, never to return to Greece, were soon to fall under the shadow of Alexander the Great.
Legends:
The legend of Thermopylae, as told by Herodotus, has it that Sparta consulted the Oracle at Delphi before setting out to meet the Persian army. The Oracle is said to have made the following prophecy in hexameter verse:
“O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon!
Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus,
Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country
Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.
He cannot be withstood by the courage of bulls nor of lions,
Strive as they may; he is mighty as Jove; there is naught that shall stay him,
Till he have got for his prey your king, or your glorious city.”
In essence, the Oracle's warning was that either Sparta would be conquered and left in ruins, or one of her two hereditary kings must sacrifice his life to save her.
And now if you see the film, more power to you.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Isles of Greece – Stanzas 4 and 5.
I could not do these 2 stanzas separately because they deal with the same event in history, The Battle of Salamis.
A king* sate on the rocky brow
Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis*;
And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations;—all were his!
He counted them at break of day—
And when the sun set where were they?
And where are they? and where art thou,
My country? On thy voiceless shore
The heroic lay is tuneless now—
The heroic bosom beats no more!
And must thy lyre, so long divine,
Degenerate into hands like mine?
*The King referred to by Byron was *King Xerxes who sat on the rocks and watched as the Greek Navy led by King Themistocles fought and won one of the most epic battles of Greece (see pic); *The Battle of Salamis, in which he overpowered and forced back the Persian fleet led by Xerses.
This was the 2nd time the Persians had declared war with Greece, The first one being the battle of Marathon in which King Darius, Xerxes’s father led the Persians.
The gap between the 2 was 20 years.
Xerxes raised an army of over 100,000 men (an astronomical figure in the ancient world). He kept his army close to the coast and supplied by sea. To ensure he kept his sea lanes opened, he had a fleet of over 1200 battleships outfitted for this adventure. The Persian fleet had to destroy the Greek Navy if they were to gain supremacy. This set the stage for the battle of Salamis.
The aftermath of Salamis left the Athenians the greatest naval power in the Mediterranean.
Xerxes comes down to Western History as the man who entered Greece with over 100,000 men and more than 1200 ships only to be stymied by the cunning and courage of the Greeks.
Thus:
“And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations;—all were his!
He counted them at break of day—
And when the sun set where were they?”
- Refers to the plight of Xerxes whose 1200 ships were overpowered and he was left with unbearable losses.
And so again the poet calls out to the Greeks reminding them of these heroes, urging Greece forward; and at the same time showing regret that if a small man such as he would be left the job of taking such culture, art, music, poetry and tradition as that of the Greeks and keeping it alive, it would be a shame, because no one could capture the essence of Greece and do justice to it, not even he; he would fail miserably. Here again, the panic, the sadness of the poet is very strongly visible as is his frustration and at not being able to do anything, except watch as Greece was torn apart piece by piece.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The Isles of Greece - Stanza 3
The mountains look on Marathon*—
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dream'd that Greece might still be free;
For standing on the Persians' grave*,
I could not deem myself a slave.
* Marathon: The small town and area of Marathon is located about thirty minutes away from the northern city borders of modern day Athens. It is a significant location due
to the battle of Marathon, where the outnumbered Athenians cleverly defeated the invading Persian army. Also, it is the starting point of the original Marathon race, which follows the path believed to be run by the messenger of the Athenian army to declare the victory over the Persians to the rest of the city.
* Persians' grave: In Marathon lies the tomb of the Athenians lost in this battle which he refers to as The Persians' grave because it was the Persians who killed them. Lord Byron is referring to the battle of Marathon where Miltiadis, the Athenian general, managed to surround the Persians and save Athens from invasion. Byron cannot deem himself a slave as he stands here, no one can, he feels protected by its history. And he shows a flicker of hope, that maybe there was a chance that Greece may regain its freedom.
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dream'd that Greece might still be free;
For standing on the Persians' grave*,
I could not deem myself a slave.
* Marathon: The small town and area of Marathon is located about thirty minutes away from the northern city borders of modern day Athens. It is a significant location due
to the battle of Marathon, where the outnumbered Athenians cleverly defeated the invading Persian army. Also, it is the starting point of the original Marathon race, which follows the path believed to be run by the messenger of the Athenian army to declare the victory over the Persians to the rest of the city.
* Persians' grave: In Marathon lies the tomb of the Athenians lost in this battle which he refers to as The Persians' grave because it was the Persians who killed them. Lord Byron is referring to the battle of Marathon where Miltiadis, the Athenian general, managed to surround the Persians and save Athens from invasion. Byron cannot deem himself a slave as he stands here, no one can, he feels protected by its history. And he shows a flicker of hope, that maybe there was a chance that Greece may regain its freedom.
Friday, February 19, 2010
The Isles of Greece - Stanza 2
The Scian* and the Teian* muse,
The hero's harp*, the lover's lute*,
Have found the fame your shores refuse;
Their place of birth alone is mute
To sounds which echo further west
Than your sires' 'Islands of the Blest.'
*The Scian Muse – refers to the Cean poet. Simonides, of Ceos
*The Teian Muse –
refers to Anacreon, a native of Teion, in Paphlagonia, Greece, a remarkable poet at the time.
*The Hero’s harp - An aeolian harp or wind harp is a stringed instrument played by the wind. It is named after the Greek god of wind, Aeolus. "It is usually a long, narrow, shallow box with soundholes and 10 or 12 strings strung lengthwise between two bridges. The strings are the same length but different thicknesses and are all tuned to the same pitch; the wind makes them vibrate in successively higher harmonics. It was intended to be played not by human hands, but by the God of Wind himself. Its melodies and harmonies were not those chosen by humans, but were held to be the improvisations of Nature itself.
*The lover's lute - refers to the flute, which in greek mythology was created by the God of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music - PAN, he made the lute from a reed in the water.
Pan was depicted as a man with the horns, legs and tail of a goat, and with thick beard, snub nose and pointed ears. He used the lute to play music to attract nymphs. Hence lover's lute.
Even though invaders did their best to destroy all music, art, beliefs of the Greek people, these found recognition in places further west than they could reach; and did not die out, as was the plan. All that they (invaders) succeeded in doing was destroying the places where these poets and instruments originated from. I detected a feeling of pride in the poet when he wrote this, almost as if it were his own victory. I don't know why, but it's just a feeling that I got and I felt proud and emotional too.
The hero's harp*, the lover's lute*,
Have found the fame your shores refuse;
Their place of birth alone is mute
To sounds which echo further west
Than your sires' 'Islands of the Blest.'
*The Scian Muse – refers to the Cean poet. Simonides, of Ceos
*The Teian Muse –
refers to Anacreon, a native of Teion, in Paphlagonia, Greece, a remarkable poet at the time.
*The Hero’s harp - An aeolian harp or wind harp is a stringed instrument played by the wind. It is named after the Greek god of wind, Aeolus. "It is usually a long, narrow, shallow box with soundholes and 10 or 12 strings strung lengthwise between two bridges. The strings are the same length but different thicknesses and are all tuned to the same pitch; the wind makes them vibrate in successively higher harmonics. It was intended to be played not by human hands, but by the God of Wind himself. Its melodies and harmonies were not those chosen by humans, but were held to be the improvisations of Nature itself.
*The lover's lute - refers to the flute, which in greek mythology was created by the God of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music - PAN, he made the lute from a reed in the water.
Pan was depicted as a man with the horns, legs and tail of a goat, and with thick beard, snub nose and pointed ears. He used the lute to play music to attract nymphs. Hence lover's lute.
Even though invaders did their best to destroy all music, art, beliefs of the Greek people, these found recognition in places further west than they could reach; and did not die out, as was the plan. All that they (invaders) succeeded in doing was destroying the places where these poets and instruments originated from. I detected a feeling of pride in the poet when he wrote this, almost as if it were his own victory. I don't know why, but it's just a feeling that I got and I felt proud and emotional too.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
More pics related to Isles of Greece - Stanza 1
In all these pics, notice how the heads of the Gods and Goddesses have been chopped off.
Phew, need a break, that was hard work, signing off now. 2nd stanza follows tomorrow. I hope you like.
The Isles of Greece - Stanza 1
The isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho* loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos* rose, and Phoebus* sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set.
* Sappho - was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the canonical list of nine lyric poets. The bulk of her poetry, which was well-known and greatly admired throughout antiquity, has been lost, but her immense reputation has endured through surviving fragments. The adjectives deriving from her name and place of birth (Sapphic and Lesbian) came to be associated with female homosexuality.
* Delos - As the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, the twin offspring of Zeus by Leto, the Greek island of Delos was a major sacred site for the ancient Greeks, second in importance only to Delphi. When Leto was discovered to be pregnant, Zeus' jealous wife Hera banished her from the earth, but Poseidon took pity on her and provided Delos as a place for her to give birth in peace. At its height, the sacred island was covered in a variety of temples and sanctuaries dedicated to a variety of gods. Today, it is a fascinating archaeological site located just two miles from Mykonos. The Ionians colonized Delos around 1000 BC and made it their religious capital. The island was so sacred that, at one point, no one was allowed to be born or to die there - those about to do either were rushed off to the nearby islet of Rinia. A great festival, the Delia, was hosted here in honor of Apollo, Artemis and Leto.
The Decline and Destruction of Delos
In 88 BC Mithridates, the king of Pontus attacked the unfortified island as part of a revolt against Roman rule. The entire population of 20,000 was killed or sold into slavery. A Roman legate built defensive walls around the city in 66 BC, but by then Delos was on its way out. It was gradually abandoned in the centuries that followed. In the 2nd century AD, Pausanius recorded that it was inhabited only by the temple guards. Delos was never forgotten, however, which meant further destruction and looting by the successive rulers of the area - pirates, Knights of St. John, Venetians, Turks - as well as its neighbors Mykonos and Tinos. In the 17th century, Sir Kenelm Digby removed some marbles from Delos for the collection of Charles I. Formal excavation work began in 1872 by the French School of Archaeology, which still continues today. The island is still uninhabited except for the French archaeologists and site guardians.
* Phoebus - is the Latin form of Greek = "Shining-one", a byname used in classical mythology for either the god Apollo, or the god Helios, or the sun, generally. Classical Latin poets also used Phoebus as a byname for the sun-god, whence common references in later European poetry to Phoebus and his "winged chariot" as a metaphor for the sun. In AD 362, in the Delphic Pythia's last prophecy, she said to Oribasius of Pergamum (personal physician of the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate) "Report to the emperor, fallen is the splendid hall, Phoebus no longer has his house. Neither the prophesying laurel nor the well will talk anymore, silent also the babbling water." Phoebus was also referred to as the God of enlightenment.
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set.
Greece has Mediterranean climate, so it is never too cold, always bright and sunny - thus eternal summer covers all of Greece's history, which now lies in ruins from which we can only imagine how the country looked in its days of Glory. So, all except their sun, is set. Everything's gone.
Where burning Sappho* loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos* rose, and Phoebus* sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set.
* Sappho - was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the canonical list of nine lyric poets. The bulk of her poetry, which was well-known and greatly admired throughout antiquity, has been lost, but her immense reputation has endured through surviving fragments. The adjectives deriving from her name and place of birth (Sapphic and Lesbian) came to be associated with female homosexuality.
* Delos - As the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, the twin offspring of Zeus by Leto, the Greek island of Delos was a major sacred site for the ancient Greeks, second in importance only to Delphi. When Leto was discovered to be pregnant, Zeus' jealous wife Hera banished her from the earth, but Poseidon took pity on her and provided Delos as a place for her to give birth in peace. At its height, the sacred island was covered in a variety of temples and sanctuaries dedicated to a variety of gods. Today, it is a fascinating archaeological site located just two miles from Mykonos. The Ionians colonized Delos around 1000 BC and made it their religious capital. The island was so sacred that, at one point, no one was allowed to be born or to die there - those about to do either were rushed off to the nearby islet of Rinia. A great festival, the Delia, was hosted here in honor of Apollo, Artemis and Leto.
The Decline and Destruction of Delos
In 88 BC Mithridates, the king of Pontus attacked the unfortified island as part of a revolt against Roman rule. The entire population of 20,000 was killed or sold into slavery. A Roman legate built defensive walls around the city in 66 BC, but by then Delos was on its way out. It was gradually abandoned in the centuries that followed. In the 2nd century AD, Pausanius recorded that it was inhabited only by the temple guards. Delos was never forgotten, however, which meant further destruction and looting by the successive rulers of the area - pirates, Knights of St. John, Venetians, Turks - as well as its neighbors Mykonos and Tinos. In the 17th century, Sir Kenelm Digby removed some marbles from Delos for the collection of Charles I. Formal excavation work began in 1872 by the French School of Archaeology, which still continues today. The island is still uninhabited except for the French archaeologists and site guardians.
* Phoebus - is the Latin form of Greek = "Shining-one", a byname used in classical mythology for either the god Apollo, or the god Helios, or the sun, generally. Classical Latin poets also used Phoebus as a byname for the sun-god, whence common references in later European poetry to Phoebus and his "winged chariot" as a metaphor for the sun. In AD 362, in the Delphic Pythia's last prophecy, she said to Oribasius of Pergamum (personal physician of the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate) "Report to the emperor, fallen is the splendid hall, Phoebus no longer has his house. Neither the prophesying laurel nor the well will talk anymore, silent also the babbling water." Phoebus was also referred to as the God of enlightenment.
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set.
Greece has Mediterranean climate, so it is never too cold, always bright and sunny - thus eternal summer covers all of Greece's history, which now lies in ruins from which we can only imagine how the country looked in its days of Glory. So, all except their sun, is set. Everything's gone.
The Isles of Greece by Lord (George Gordon) Byron - The poem, the poet, the history and my interpretation of the same.
Friends,
In the following days, I will be putting a verse by verse account of a poem I found deeply engrossing and inspiring. I am into history and historical plays, movies, books, poetry, and for now I am into Greece, Rome and Egypt in a very big way. I loved this poem because Lord Byron truly felt for the Greek people and it shows in his poetry. Also, he has managed to sum up a lot of Greek historical events and their Gods in 13 stanzas. Seeing as Greece has a very long history, doing this is no mean feat. In the event that I begin to bore you, feel free to leave, I just felt that I had to share this, so am doing so.
Apart from the usual history about Byron, the fact that he was promiscuous, fathered a few illegitimate brats here and there, was pretty darned rich and got himself a Cambridge education among a few others; after which he went got himself the title Lord and went into politics, then fell from power by sleeping with his half sister and since that, had to flee his home country, and blah, blah, blah; there is something I find very interesting in his actions. It seems to me that he was a disturbed person (well that one is obvious, but, wait there is more), because he was unable to understand what he was meant to do with his life. I think he found his true calling when he reached Greece, because maybe that's when he actually found a purpose to his life. He is considered a hero in Greece. Till his dying day, he actively supported Greece with money and would have even fought in active combat for her, had he not died of a fever first.
Or you could just say he was a lying, cheating, old fart and extremely dim-witted at that, to eventually land up in a war zone and get himself killed, and we could leave it at that.
But, wouldn't you agree that my way romanticizes the poet and makes his work more interesting? And I will believe that my version is true and will stand by it always, because it makes sense to me.
I will go with the first stanza of the poem after this.
Ode to a pregnant 'un
Mah skirts're in a twirl, ah'm happy as the worl',
Mah frien's bringin' in a girl -
Or is she?
Ye Gods! 'Tis true tha' Ah dunno -
Yet, maybe 'tis just so-
Ya, maybe Ah dunno,
That she is a he?
All Ah know 'n that's for sure,
Worl's blest, more than before,
Ya, this Ah know for sure-
'Coz mah frien's bringing in a baybee,
Cute as cute can be,
Will sit her on mah knee,
Sing him a lullabee,
This blest baybee.
Mah frien's bringin' in a girl -
Or is she?
Ye Gods! 'Tis true tha' Ah dunno -
Yet, maybe 'tis just so-
Ya, maybe Ah dunno,
That she is a he?
All Ah know 'n that's for sure,
Worl's blest, more than before,
Ya, this Ah know for sure-
'Coz mah frien's bringing in a baybee,
Cute as cute can be,
Will sit her on mah knee,
Sing him a lullabee,
This blest baybee.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
