Molon Labe

μολὼν λαβέ, pronounced moˈLON laˈVE, and sometimes written in the modern age as ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ or Molon Labe is a truly classical and laconic expression of defiance reportedly spoken by Sparta’s King Leonidas I in response to to Xerxes I of Persia’s demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae. It means simply, “Come and take them!”

Molon Labe - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ - μολὼν λαβέ - Come and Take Them
Molon Labe – ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ – μολὼν λαβέ – Come And Take Them

No matter the orthography, the sentiment is clear and is as true, right, and applicable in the America of 2013 as it was in the Greece of 480 BC. 2493 years don’t change anything of meaning.

The same “offer” is being made to Americans today. Our lives in exchange for our ability to defend both those lives and the liberties that make those lives the lives of free men and women. And the same response must be given to our modern day Xerxes, Obama and to his coterie of Liberal and Progressive gun-grabbers.

Come and take them - Molon Labe – ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ – μολὼν λαβέ Come And Take Them…If You Can

We, the People, the true-born sons and daughters of America, have not rendered offerings of earth and water to our domestic enemies and we are not subject to- or subservient to them.

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23 Responses to “Molon Labe”

  1. Granny Grunch Says:

    How do you get this here electical machine to type in Greek???

  2. jonolan Says:

    What do you mean?

  3. Granny Grunch Says:

    In the above article there there are Greek words. Somehow,if one knows how to do it, we can type in Greek……or probably in any language. And why would DHS order 7000 “AR15s” with selector switches…they ain’t AR15s. Anyone with a little bit of imagination can see something baaaaaad this way comes…..

  4. jonolan Says:

    i just switched fonts, Granny, that’s all on my PC’s end. I did, however have to change my blog database’s character set from UTF-8 to utf8_general_ci to keep WordPress from screwing it up.

  5. Granny Grunch Says:

    Yep..no doubt about it…its all Greek to me. Now if you want to harness a couple of Belgian Brownings to 3 gang plow………

  6. jonolan Says:

    😆 Push comes to shove and I can hitch them myself, though I prefer a reversible plow if I must plow but I really prefer a harrow. It screws with soil less.

  7. Granny Grunch Says:

    Yep..but we must plow first then smooth out the furrows with the harrow.Holy cow..a dirt dobber blog…were you 4H or FFA????

  8. jonolan Says:

    I don’t favor plowing first if I can get away without doing it. I worked on too many soil surveys and saw the soil compaction effects of repeated plowing.

    As to 4H or FFA – Neither, I got into farming do to my grandfather having been a farmer and still do rather extensive gardening despite living in Brooklyn. I just use different techniques.

  9. Granny Grunch Says:

    Been away from the fields for a looong time….do myou know they got some kind of new technique called contour plowing????

  10. jonolan Says:

    😆 That ain’t new. They started that in the 1930s in areas with hills and such. It cuts down on soil erosion.

  11. Granny Grunch Says:

    Yep…a looooong time. I bet your going to tell me farmers have to pasturize their OWN milk now days……..

  12. jonolan Says:

    Nope. I don’t know nearly enough about the dairy industry to comment upon it that way. Now, if we want to talk beef cattle – especially White Faced Angus – that’s a different story.

  13. Granny Grunch Says:

    I don’t think anyone ever heard of a Black Angus ..definitely no White Face type. Some farmers were starting to raise herefords but I don’t think they caught on too well…this was upstate NY

  14. jonolan Says:

    Angus, both Black and Red, got pretty popular in the US beef industry and they’re real good in wetter climates and bottom land. The White faced ones, also called brockles and baldies, are the result of X-breeding Angus with Herefords, Simmental, or similar breeds.

  15. Sarah Says:

    Come and get them. There is a parallel between today’s situation and the situation in ancient sparta. The main difference is that the Leonidas and his 300 were fighting for land, family etc. Μολὼν λαβέ, was used not necessarily used about the weapons. Those guys were sacrificing their lives. No one would be willing to do such thing today about this issue.

  16. Gary Says:

    Hello,

    I really like your Molon Labe graphic with the Greek Helmet and the American Flag in it. Do you have a high resolution version? I want to use it for my background on my computer.

  17. jonolan Says:

    Thank you but, sadly, I don’t have a larger or higher resolution version of the image.

  18. Katherine Says:

    Molon labe has been repeated by many later generals and politicians in order to express an army’s or nation’s determination not to surrender. The motto ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ is on the emblem of the Greek First Army Corps,and is also the motto of United States Special Operations Command Central.The expression “Come and take it” was a slogan in the Texas Revolution. I really like your graphic with the Greek Helmet and American flag in it. Thanks for sharing.

  19. Barnes Jessica Says:

    It is quite amusing to see that Molon Labe,a classical expression of defiance created in 480 B.C. is again gaining popularity among people in 20th and 21st century.Thank you for sharing the meaning and the history of this phrase in detail.The symbol with the flag picture looks quite colourful and attractive.

  20. jonolan Says:

    Thanks! I’m glad you liked it and it is somewhat amusing. It’s also poignant though since Americans are forced to apply this phrase and the thoughts behind it to our own government and large segments of the population.

  21. Katherine Says:

    I had read about Molon Labe somewhere, but did not have much idea about it. After I read this blog, I got some idea about. I am really glad you shared this blog and that I read it. Good to know that there is some blog I can refer to on this subject.

  22. Henderson Brooke Says:

    The pronunciation ‘Molon Labe’ is quite different yet very entertaining.It is difficult to believe that such a classy phrase/word has a profound meaning as ‘the expression of defiance’,was spoken by Sparta kings centuries ago and it has such a deep impact over the Americans and their lives.The graphic image of Molon Labe looks awesome.

  23. Rebecca King Says:

    I remember coming across this word Molon Labe somewhere but could not recollect where and as I went on reading your post,it suddenly striked to me that I have seen the stone inscribed MOLON LABE at Leonidas Monument in my last visit to Greece.In fact my tour guide had briefed us about King Leonidas of Sparta,the wars and the history.Your post brought all of my old memories back.This information is very much enlightening to the readers,learners of Greek and American history.

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