"The answer is, they were my kin and country. I set down my life with gladness, and would do it again a hundred times, for Leonidas, for Dienekes and Alexandros and Polynikes, for Rooster and Suicide, for Arete and Diomache, Bruxious and my own mother and father, my wife and children. I and every man there were never more free then when we gave freely obedience to those harsh laws which take life and give it back again." page: 413 12/3/08
I can relate to this thought. I see my friends as my "kin" I suppose. I cannot describe how grateful and lucky I feel to have them with me. I'd die for them but do not get me wrong. I'd live for them too. :) They are the people I look forward to seeing everyday, the people that know me well. I guess in a funny sort of way they are the family I got to pick!!! Also I could understand him through this quote. These people have become his precious people, the people he wishes to protect. Just as I have mine he has his. By now he has seen many fall and now they are all he has. They are what he must live for now. We as humans find comfort in other and we so often seem to forget that without the people we love life has no meaning. To live you need a reason and we take for granted our reasons to live. It's sad but true. We forget because we are so wrapped up in our lives to notice. Maybe he and I do share some of the same thoughts. I never thought I could relate to a boy. Well, there's a first for everything right!?
"Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie."
Can. You. Say. DEEP. This quote fascinated me mainly because of the thoughts it provoked in this little brain of mine! To me it seemed to say that even though the Spartans fell they were never forgotten. That is an epic way to be remembered!!! In all seriousness though, this quote made me think of all the things I believe in that were originally found long ago. It's crazy to think that many of the things we say and use in our society today are influenced by things or races in the past. It is also amazing that we are still telling stories that were originally spoken so long ago as well. As cheesy as this may sound I felt that after reading this the story of the battle of Thermopylae lives on in everyone aware of this book. It was a fitting end to a book such as this. I'm rather curious to know how Pressfield managed to end it all so smoothly after telling the story with a new light though. Maybe one day I'll come to understand how and why he ended his story in this way. The guess I'm making now is that he wanted us to finish this book and still be thinking of the Spartans. If there is one thing I can tell you for sure it's this, if that was his goal he has succeeded.
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