Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.
Sto caricando le informazioni... The Olympian (2008)di E.S. Kraay
Nessuno Sto caricando le informazioni...
Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
In the 75th Olympiad by Greek reckoning, the strongest, fastest, quickest and most agile men in Hellas gathered at Olympia to celebrate life through athletic competition. That same year, 480 BCE by our reckoning, the Persian Emprie ruled the known world save for that small peninsula dominated by a dozen democratic city-states. To avenge the defeat of his father on the plain of Marathon 10 years earlier, Xerxes, the Great King amassed an army a million men strong to bring these free states to heel.Amid the cheering crowds, the sweat, dust and blood on the Elisian fields of friendly strife, and threatened by the impending clash of armies with the fate of Western Civilization in the balance, two men, one a boxer, the other a poet, come to the revelation that the true worth of a man is based on more than what he does for himself.The Olympian explores a little known reason why only 300 Spartans faced a million men in the Thermopylae Pass, and stands as tribute to those extraordinary warriors who waged a battle that saved Western culture. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Discussioni correntiNessuno
Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... VotoMedia:
|
Tell them in Lacedaemon [Sparta], passer-by / That here, obedient to their laws, we lie
Epitaph at Thermopylae commemorating the 300 Spartans who died there in defense of Hellas, trying to repel the army of Xerxes and attributed to Simonides, the poet. A gripping, thoughtful story of what truly makes a human being....
To a group from Thasos and Egypt Simonides tells the story of Theagenes [Theo] of Thasos, Olympic champion boxer and his trip accompanying Theo to Thermopylae, where Theo wishes to fight the Spartan boxing champion, Lampis; Theo felt he had left Olympia before their match to answer the call of his countrymen and was a coward for doing so and not facing Theo in the Games. When Simonides and Theo arrive at Thermopylae, they witness the end of the battle. The Spartans' example of courage and selflessness teaches them the deeper values of life and to live their life for others, instead of their individual arrogance and self-aggrandizement. Each honors the fallen in his own way.
Good cover art: now I can imagine this bronze statue of the "Hellenistic Boxer" as being one of Theo.
http://artsnap.org/wp-content/uploads...
Despite a few proofing errors, this is a story to remember for its insight and not a gory, bloody recounting of the battle. We don't know whether in history, Simonides was actually at the scene and was an eyewitness, but it's a fascinating speculation to think so. Our negative stereotype of a Spartan was absent from the story for the most part. ( )