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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Athens had all the writers, so we only hear their side of the story.
"An Aeolian people, the Boeotians were originally from Thessaly. The soil of Boeotia was fertile, excellent for both crops and pasture, and contained various minerals; the Boeotians excelled as farmers. They were also noted for music, poetry, political innovations, and military competence. Boeotia emerged as a significant Greek state about 600 BC. At that time, Thebes, the chief city, succeeded in forming the Boeotian League, a confederation of 14 city-states, including Orchomenus and Thespiae. Hostile relations between the Boeotian League and Athens finally led to a general conflict, which culminated in an Athenian victory (457 BC) and the destruction of the confederation. In 447 BC the Boeotians led a successful revolt against Athens, and the confederation was reestablished. The Boeotian League sided with Sparta during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). In 424 BC the Boeotian army inflicted a severe defeat on the Athenians at Delium. The Theban general Epaminondas led the army of the Boeotian League to a decisive victory over the army of Sparta at Leuctra in 371 BC. From that time until 338 BC, when King Philip II of Macedonia defeated a combined army of Thebans and Athenians at Chaeronea, Boeotia ruled Greece. The destruction of Thebes by Alexander the Great ended the political power of the republic."
Remember what Epaminondas achieved.
"Boeotia," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725 |
By the way, I remember a childhood story of a little boy named Epandimondas, who took everything quite literally (to the point of being ridiculous).
Do you all remember such a character, and was he named after the Greek hero?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear CB: How well I remember the Aesop fable Epaminondas. I named a psychiatri
syndrome after him, for character disorders who cleverly misconstrued instructions
given them to defeat the purpose thereof. I'm going to see if I can find the original
instead of trying to remember the details.Edit: I found it, forgive me, it's a bit long:
THE STORY OF EPAMINONDAS AND HIS AUNTIE[1]
[1] A Southern nonsense tale.
Epaminondas used to go to see his Auntie
'most every day, and she nearly always
gave him something to take home to his
Mammy.
One day she gave him a big piece of cake;
nice, yellow, rich gold-cake.
Epaminondas took it in his fist and held
it all scrunched up tight, like this, and
came along home. By the time he got home
there wasn't anything left but a fistful of
crumbs. His Mammy said,--
"What you got there, Epaminondas?"
"Cake, Mammy," said Epaminondas.
"Cake!" said his Mammy. "Epaminondas,
you ain't got the sense you was born
with! That's no way to carry cake. The
way to carry cake is to wrap it all up nice
in some leaves and put it in your hat, and
put your hat on your head, and come along
home. You hear me, Epaminondas?"
"Yes, Mammy," said Epaminondas.
Next day Epaminondas went to see his
Auntie, and she gave him a pound of
butter for his Mammy; fine, fresh, sweet
butter.
Epaminondas wrapped it up in leaves
and put it in his hat, and put his hat on his
head, and came along home. It was a very
hot day. Pretty soon the butter began to
melt. It melted, and melted, and as it
melted it ran down Epaminondas' forehead;
then it ran over his face, and in his
ears, and down his neck. When he got
home, all the butter Epaminondas had was
ON HIM. His Mammy looked at him, and
then she said,--
"Law's sake! Epaminondas, what you
got in your hat?"
"Butter, Mammy," said Epaminondas;
"Auntie gave it to me."
"Butter!" said his Mammy. "Epaminondas,
you ain't got the sense you was
born with! Don't you know that's no way
to carry butter? The way to carry butter
is to wrap it up in some leaves and take
it down to the brook, and cool it in the
water, and cool it in the water, and cool
it in the water, and then take it on
your hands, careful, and bring it along
home."
"Yes, Mammy," said Epaminondas.
By and by, another day, Epaminondas
went to see his Auntie again, and this time
she gave him a little new puppy-dog to
take home.
Epaminondas put it in some leaves and
took it down to the brook; and there he
cooled it in the water, and cooled it in the
water, and cooled it in the water; then he
took it in his hands and came along home.
When he got home, the puppy-dog was
dead. His Mammy looked at it, and she
said,--
"Law's sake! Epaminondas, what you
got there?"
"A puppy-dog, Mammy," said Epaminondas.
"A PUPPY-DOG!" said his Mammy. "My
gracious sakes alive, Epaminondas, you
ain't got the sense you was born with!
That ain't the way to carry a puppy-dog!
The way to carry a puppy-dog is to take a
long piece of string and tie one end of it
round the puppy-dog's neck and put the
puppy-dog on the ground, and take hold
of the other end of the string and come
along home, like this."
"All right, Mammy," said Epaminondas.
Next day, Epaminondas went to see his
Auntie again, and when he came to go
home she gave him a loaf of bread to carry
to his Mammy; a brown, fresh, crusty loaf
of bread.
So Epaminondas tied a string around the
end of the loaf and took hold of the end of
the string and came along home, like this.
(Imitate dragging something along the
ground.) When he got home his Mammy
looked at the thing on the end of the string,
and she said,--
"My laws a-massy! Epaminondas, what
you got on the end of that string?"
"Bread, Mammy," said Epaminondas;
"Auntie gave it to me."
"Bread!!!" said his Mammy. "O
Epaminondas, Epaminondas, you ain't got the
sense you was born with; you never did
have the sense you was born with; you
never will have the sense you was born
with! Now I ain't gwine tell you any more
ways to bring truck home. And don't you
go see your Auntie, neither. I'll go see
her my own self. But I'll just tell you one
thing, Epaminondas! You see these here
six mince pies I done make? You see how
I done set 'em on the doorstep to cool?
Well, now, you hear me, Epaminondas,
YOU BE CAREFUL HOW YOU STEP ON THOSE PIES!"
"Yes, Mammy," said Epaminondas.
Then Epaminondas' Mammy put on
her bonnet and her shawl and took a basket
in her hand and went away to see
Auntie. The six mince pies sat cooling in
a row on the doorstep.
And then,--and then,--Epaminondas
WAS careful how he stepped on those
pies!
He stepped (imitate)--right--in--
the--middle--of--every--one.
. . . . . . . .
And, do you know, children, nobody knows
what happened next! The person who told
me the story didn't know; nobody knows.
But you can guess.
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725 |
Thank you, Bill! That was it! My sister and I still refer to it now and then, to be funny. Post the link if you still have it handy. 
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