A Hypothetical Spartan WuFlu Response

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Australian poet, Helot, Laconia, Plague, poem, poetry, sonnet, Sparta, Spartan, Spenserian sonnet

𝐀 𝐇𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐮𝐅𝐥𝐮 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞

Two kings of Sparta must deliberate.
For o’er Laconia a plague has spread.
The Helots cry: “Act now, or it’s too late!
Before the kingdom’s littered with our dead!”
Now Sparta by its kings is wisely led —
They know the present danger, it is clear;
But how to act? What message must be spread?
Their kings the Spartans worship and revere;
So which course must the kings of Sparta steer?
The Spartans, till their last breath they will fight,
And for the fallen never shed a tear.
What can be said to those who know not fright?

Upon a proclamation they agree:
“Good luck.” the kings declare — laconically.

— D.N. O’Brien

Early Years of the Archidamian War

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Ancient Greece, Athenian walls, Athens, Attica, Australian poet, Corona virus crisis, 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐫, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Sparta, Spartans, The Peloponnesian War, Wuhan Virus

𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐫

The Spartans stone the walls and shout:
“Athenians, come fight! Come out!
We raise no walls; we fear no foes,
And our contempt for you, it grows!”

Athenians are in lock-down.
They singly stroll about the town.
They hear the Spartans call outside.
Behind their walls they safely hide.

The blackened ground no longer yields,
As Spartans burn Athenian fields.
The silver and the gold run out.
Athenians begin to doubt.

These are the early years of war.
There are much crueler years in store.
The Spartans very soon take wing;
But they’ll be marching back in spring.

— D.N. O’Brien

The Melian Dialogue

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Ancient Greece, Athenian Empire, Athens, Delian League, Greece, Italian sonnet, Melos, Peloponnesian League, Petrarchan sonnet, poem, poetry, Siege of Melos, sonnet, Sparta, Spartan, Spenserian sonnet, The Cyclades, The Melian Debate, The Melian Dialogue, The Peloponnese, The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides

The Melian Dialogue

Now Melians, consider what we ask:
Swear loyalty to us and none shall die.
For what’s transpired we’ll not take you to task;
But now surrender, lest our arrows fly.
Athenians – surrender? – tell us why?
Our city, in this war it takes no side,
Though it is true to Sparta we’ve a tie.
But you, so mighty – can it be denied
That Melos could not swell the Spartan tide?
We won’t accept your claimed neutrality,
For Spartan ships, your harbour they have plied.
We’ll have no truck with weak morality –
To conquer you is right; it would be wrong
To spare you – Athens must be seen as strong!

Would you alarm the other neutral states?
Will they not think it’s Athens they must fear?
Our friends and allies know we hold them dear.
Not one, we think, disloyalty contemplates;
To Sparta they will not open their gates.
But island states that are to Sparta near,
Towards which may those Spartan triremes steer;
Their destinies we’ll not leave to the Fates.
It would be shameful were we not to fight!
Oh no, not shameful – you would surely lose.
We are the stronger – you would all be slain.
But we believe there is a chance despite
Your strength, and so we feel that we must choose
To stand and fight – perhaps a victory gain!

The Spartans too will come to our defence.
Self-interested Spartans fight to win
A victory for you? – they have more sense!
They will, we think, for Spartans are our kin.
With them we share our ways – our discipline.
And too, the gods are on our side – we’ll fight!
The Spartans would not spread their ships so thin.
Our navy would put such a force to flight.
The gods will watch as weakness yields to might.
So one last time we ask you – make your choice.
Think of your people – make the one that’s right.
We men of Melos answer with one voice:
Return to Athens, tell them we’ll not yield!
Oh foolish Melos! – now your fate is sealed.

The Melian Dialogue

Spartan Facebook

Tags

FaceBook, poem, poetry, Sparta, Spartan

If Sparta had a Facebook ‘twould be best
To keep one’s comments brief and not to jest.
No selfies and no pictures of the wife;
Post one of those and you’d be banned for life.
There’d be no friends – no postings meant to please,
Just taunts on statuses to enemies:
That if they chose to fight and not to yield,
Their fates and their accounts would soon be sealed;
A stated clear intent to bash and biff;
Responses to these threats of simply: “If?”