Molon labe

Molon labe ( ancient Greek μολὼν λαβέ ( Molon Labe ), AltGr debate. [ Molɔ ː n labe ], neugr. [ Molon lave ] ), is an ancient Greek phrase. Translated into German Molon labe means as much as " Come and get ' ( it to you )! "

μολών ( Molon ) is the aorist participle active of βλώσκειν ( blōskein ) - come and means " came (being ) ." λαβέ ( labe ) is the aorist active imperative (2nd person singular) of λαμβάνειν ( lambanein ) - take and means " ( you ) take " in narrative form ( aorist ). The object " them" ( the weapons) can be omitted in Ancient Greek. Both words form a hypotactic construction without a conjunction: "Came (being ), take " - " Come here and then they take it. "

History

With " Molon Labe " is King Leonidas I of Sparta at the Battle of Thermopylae to the invitation Xerxes I of Persia, to lay down their weapons, have responded. This is evident from the report of Plutarch. Xerxes, whose army of the Greeks was greatly outnumbered, offered to Leonidas and his troops to spare their lives if they give up and laid down their arms.

However, the Spartans did not address these claims, but held the position against the Persians for three days. Although they were eventually defeated, they added the Persian army to serious damage and delayed their advance to Athens much what the Greeks gave an advantage. This allowed the Greeks win the battle against the invading Persians in the end.

At Thermopylae today is a monument to Leonidas and his comrades. Under the statue of Leonidas ' is the famous saying " Molon Labe " engraved.

Modern Times

The term is used to make the determination clearly not giving up without a fight.

" Molon labe " is now the motto of U.S. groups that do not want to leave their right to take possession of arms. It appears on the websites of weapons activists since the late 1990s. In the U.S., both the Greek sentence and its English translation, " Come and take them! " Often belonged tags of arms lobbyists who defend the Second Amendment.

The first corps of the Greek armed forces also bears the phrase " Molon labe " as a motto, as well as the Special Operations Command Central, the armed forces of the United States.