Spartan
Digital - mixed media
12/02/2008
Spartan
“ę tan ę epi tas” which translated meant “either this or upon this”. This is what a Spartan mother told her son as she gave him a shield and sent him off to war, a more complete translation would be “Bring back the shield or come home dead on it”. As cold hearted as this may sound, dishonor was worse than death in the life of a Spartan. Spartans lived for only one thing, The State; Sparta or (Lacedaemia) in ancient times. This is why the Lambda or L shows up on a large number of Spartan shields.