ON BRAVERY AND SENSITIVENESS

 ON BRAVERY AND SENSITIVENESS

From Telis on Sensitiveness: Therefore, no one should grieve for the death of either his friend or his child, since he should not grieve for his own death. Or do you not consider those to be cowards who accept their death without dignity and without courage? Or should not the lofty and brave face his death with cheerfulness, just as Socrates did, without displeasure and indignation? Or does anyone consider the death of another worse than his own? Or does he not love and cherish himself the same as anyone else? But every man also praises the women of Laconia for their cheerfulness. One of them, who learned that her son had been saved and had moved away from his enemies, wrote: "A bad rumor has spread against you. So either deny it or else do not appear before me again." This Lacaena did not write, as a woman from Attica would have written if she learned that her child had been saved: "Well done, my child, for saving me from my enemies." Lacaena's phrase "or else do not appear before me again" means "hang yourself." Another Lacaena, when her herald announced that her child had been killed in battle, asked him: "Yes, but how did he show himself in battle? He said to her, "You young man, my mother." And she said: "My child, for this I gave birth to you, so that you may be useful and helpful to Sparta." For as Socrates said: "Mother and father, and of all other ancestors, the Fatherland is more honorable than all." Mother Lacaena neither cried nor said that she had suffered a terrible thing, but on the contrary, as soon as she heard that he had been killed, she praised him with all her heart. And again, how great in generosity was Lacaena! That is, when her children fled from the battle and appeared before her, "where" did she say to them, "did you come fleeing?" Or did you come to hide here, from where you came out? And she lifted her dress and showed them her belly.The Spartan mother, when her son was leaving for a campaign, used to say the well-known phrase: "or tán oi epí tas" Which means: "Either you will bear her victorious (the shield) or they will bear you dead on it", that is, "We will either conquer or we will die". The well-known phrase is attributed to the legendary queen of Sparta, Gorgo. However, the Spartans did not see their children dead with greater pleasure, as long as they showed good spirits in battle. Neither life nor death is beautiful. It is beautiful to make both of these beautiful. Commentary: 1/Today's mothers and fathers do everything they can to prevent their child from doing their duty to their homeland. 2/ In the materialistic era we live in, only money and the pleasures of the flesh have value. Patriotism has declined compared to previous generations 3/ The Greek, when that time comes and the homeland is in danger, will rush like a lion and like a tiger to tear the enemy apart. The heroic spirit, the free spirit, the spirit nests in the soul of every Greek 4/ Especially today when Greece, Cyprus and Europe are threatened by the Islamofascism of Turkey. Young people must be trained in weapons and educated in wisdom and the EU countries must arm themselves and close their borders to illegal immigrants. The greatest danger to the EU is not Russia but the revisionist and expansionist Turkey. Its participation in the EU Defense Planning is a big mistake (30/6/25) *Amphiktyon, Lieutenant General (retd) Konstantinos Konstantinidis Author, Member of the Greek Literary Societyamphiktyon@gmail.comhttp://amphiktyon.blogspot.com/http://amphiktyon.org Anyone who wishes to be deleted should return this with the indication "deletion" "in accordance with article 14 of law 2672/98