Re: hungerstrikers in Greece

? "Kat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ?????? ??? ??????
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, gogu
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
> >Ancient Greeks were considering anyone non Greek as a "foreigner".
> >They also considered as a Greek, anyone who had Greek education and was
> >acting as a Greek.
> >"Ellines isin i tis Ellhnikis pedias metehondes". (phonetic)
> >The notion of the race was of no importance to the Greeks. Intellect and
> >education was what mattered...


> Did Athenians consider Spartans Greek?
> Their societies were very
> different from each other, weren't they?


Yes but Athenians *never* denied that Spartans were Hellenes!
Spartans always took part at the Olympics and as we know only Greeks could
participate to the Olympics!
They have also fought many times with the other Greeks against common
enemies.
They were for instance the majority of those who heroically died in
Thermopylae fighting against Persians! Leonidas and his 300 magnificent!

In May 334 B.C when Alexander the Great defeated the Persians at the
Granikos river battle, he sent to Athens 300 armors writing: "Alexandros
Fillipou and all the Greeks -except Laecedemonians- from the barbarians who
live in Asia"! It was the first major battle of Hellenism that
Laecedemonians (=Spartans) missed. They could not accept another Greek
(Alexander) having the first saying and them below him... Proud people.

As a matter of fact Spartans were Dorian, one of the three major Greek
phylae. (Achaeans, Dorian and Ionians).

rgrds

PS
     There is a very beautiful poem by Kavafy with the title: "Plin
Lakedemonion" (=except Laecedemonians). You can find it in English, too.


-- 
E' mai possibile, oh porco di un cane, che le avventure in codesto reame
debban risolversi tutte con grandi puttane!
F.d.A

> -- 
>  >Kat<   Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should
relax
>          and get used to the idea  -   Robert A. Heinlein