A tiny fly on my shield? I get close enough to show it.
The Spartans, Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans, Anonymous 41 (234c)
A tiny fly on my shield? I get close enough to show it.
The Spartans, Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans, Anonymous 41 (234c)
The source
"A tiny fly on my shield? I get close enough to show it." The Spartans said it in Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans, Anonymous 41 (234c). Translated from the original Greek by Spartan Surfers.
"οὕτω γὰρ τοῖς πολεμίοις πλησίον προσέρχομαι, ὥστε τὸ ἐπίσημον ἡλίκον ἐστὶν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ὁρᾶσθαι."Original Greek, Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans, Anonymous 41 (234c). Greek: Bernardakis 1889 (Teubner) via Perseus.
Who said it
The Spartans (8th–4th century BC). Laconic sayings from Lycurgus, Leonidas, Dienekes and the mothers of Sparta, recorded by Herodotus and Plutarch.
Questions
- Who said "A tiny fly on my shield? I get close enough to show it."?
- The Spartans (8th–4th century BC). Source: Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans, Anonymous 41 (234c).
- What is the original Greek?
- οὕτω γὰρ τοῖς πολεμίοις πλησίον προσέρχομαι, ὥστε τὸ ἐπίσημον ἡλίκον ἐστὶν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ὁρᾶσθαι. Translated from the original Greek by Spartan Surfers.
Filed under Grit.
Wear the Spartans
Blot out the sun? Good. We'll fight in the shade.
Dienekes, Herodotus, Histories 7.226
from$46
With it or on it.
Spartan mother, Plutarch, Sayings of Spartan Women 241f
from$46
Sword too short? Take one step closer.
Spartan mother, Plutarch, Sayings of Spartan Women, Anonymous 18 (241f)
from$46
They're close? Then so are we.
Leonidas, Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans, Leonidas 7 (225b)
from$46
More from The Spartans
- With it or on it.Plutarch, Sayings of Spartan Women 241f
- Come and take them.Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans 225c
- Blot out the sun? Good. We'll fight in the shade.Herodotus, Histories 7.226
- If.Plutarch, On Talkativeness 511a
- Fortify people, not walls.Epictetus, Fragment 45
- You gave me a violent young man. I give you back a good citizen.Epictetus, Fragment 67