Bret Devereaux

He's now saying an Athenian would fit in today, no problem, because I guess we're not a warrior culture. Meanwhile, Aeschylus, the most successful playwright of his entire generation would like you to know one thing about him, just one, in his epitaph:

"Beneath this stone lies Aeschylus, son of Euphorion, the Athenian, who perished in the wheat-bearing land of Gela; of his noble prowess the grove of Marathon can speak, and the long-haired Persian knows it well" But sure, Athenians aren't warriors. Go on.

"Athens was a sea port open to the world" Whoa, whoa. The Piraeus was a sea port. Athens is inland. C'mon, that's not a hard one. Throw a qualifier in there. Athens is about as much a port city as Rome.

What the Spartan *would* be appalled by is that we all have jobs and thus live like slaves in his eyes. Somehow that doesn't come up. I wonder why?

1) And we made it...halfway through video 4 before Molon Labe came out. Sigh. 2) He pronounces molon with the same second syllable like 'Mulan.' It's not μολόν, it's μολών. The second O is long. mol-OWN lah-BAY. Pretty sure my Greek 1 prof. would have boxed my ears for that.

Also, can we please point out that for all of Leonidas' reported wit, Xerxes did exactly that - having come (and killed Leonidas) he took their weapons. It's a lot less badass when you realize Xerxes probably responded with the Persian equivalent of, "mmm...kay."

OUCH. "Maybe 70-100 years after Themopylae...King Philip...father of Alexander"... Uh. Try 150 years.