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[chupasart]

full text is

go tell the spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie

   thanks

[wings]

Ω ξείν', αγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ότι τήδε κείμεθα τοις κείνων ρήμασι πειθόμενοι.

http://gym-platan.chan.sch.gr/...ianwars/hotgates/text_doc3.htm

By Simonides (http://plato-dialogues.org/tools/char/simonide.htm)

In Greek Polytonic the phrase appears as:

Ὢ ξείν’, ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῆδε κείμεθα τοὶς κείνων ρήμασι πειθόμενοι.

(in the upper case) Ω ΞΕΙΝ', ΑΓΓΕΛΛΕΙΝ ΛΑΚΕΔΑΙΜΟΝΙΟΙΣ ΟΤΙ ΤΗΔΕ ΚΕΙΜΕΘΑ ΤΟΙΣ ΚΕΙΝΩΝ ΡΗΜΑΣΙ ΠΕΙΘΟΜΕΝΟΙ.

[ThePatriot]

Does anyone have a link to the full English text of the document that wings so helpfully posted?  Is the phrase in question part of a larger work of Simonides reproduced on that site, or is the text there merely discussing Simonides piece?  I ask because I've been looking for more of Simonides epigrams from Thermopylae, and haven't found much information.   Thanks so much.

[wings]

The epigrams written in the usual dialect of elegy, Ionic with an epic colouring, were intended partly for public and partly for private monuments. There is strength and sublimity in the former, with a simplicity that is almost statuesque, and a complete mastery over the rhythm and forms of elegiac expression. Those on the heroes of Marathon and the Battle of Thermopylae are the most celebrated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simonides_of_Ceos


You can read about Simonides in this Wikipedia article.

According to Britannica, an EPIGRAM is a:
Short poem treating concisely, pointedly, and often satirically a single thought or event and often ending with a witticism or ingenious turn of thought.

By extension, the term applies to a terse, sage, or witty (often paradoxical) saying, usually in the form of a generalization.


Thus, the epigrams do not belong to longer works of poetry but appear independently on certain sites under certain circumstances. Wikipedia again answers your very question:

Ancient Greek
The epigram originated in Greece as a form for inscription on a monument or grave, hence the word 'epigram' from the Greek words meaning 'to write on'. Epigrams were thus much shorter than lyric poetry which developed from forms designed for performance accompanied by musical instruments.

One such monument inscription is Simonides's epitaph for the Spartan dead after the Battle of Thermopylae,which can be found in Herodotus' work The Histories (7.228), to the Spartans:

ὦ ξεῖν', ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε
(O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti täde/
κείμεθα τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.
keimetha tois keinon rhämasi peithomenoi.)
Which to keep the poetic context can be translated as:
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by
that here, obedient to their laws we lie
or more literally as:
Oh foreigner, tell the Lacedaemonians
that here we lie, obeying those words.
Epigrams were not defined by their subject matter, however. The largest surviving collection, the Greek Anthology, contains poems on love, inscriptions dedicating gifts to the gods, moral or philosophical advice, and invective. Nor were epigrams required to be witty (though many, especially invectives and satirical ones, were). The defining characteristics of an epigram were its length, often restricted to a single couplet, and its meter, almost always the elegiac couplet.

Many noted Greek writers composed epigrams, including some, who, like Plato, Solon and Aeschylus, were more famous for their work in other genres. The 'Anthology' contains examples from very early Greek history all the way into the Byzantine period, and even some examples by Christians. Epigrams were also written by women and other members of the less privileged classes. Nicarchus and Martial are two epigrammatists from the first century AD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigram

[banned1]

Have a look at this as well: http://www.aoidoi.org/texts/simonides/531.php

[ThePatriot]

Thank you both.