These Greeks are Son of ... Lycurgus!

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In a museum there is a rock carved in a bad way, without any adornment, with a phrase that is thousands of years old and says: "We do not need walls: we have the chest of our citizens". It is in Sparta, Greek city of 10 thousand inhabitants, in the middle of rough mountains, and with a history that bristles the skin.

"Hard people". Those two words define them. Sparta had no army. Sparta was an army. If a child was born weak, it was thrown by some rocks. There were no tears. If he was strong, he was bathed in wine and since then he slept on his father's shield, so that he could infuse the courage of the fight. At age 7, the children slept on rushes, in community dormitories, and could only sleep on a bed again when they turned 60.

Any form of art that was not military was prohibited. Songs, paintings and sculptures, should enhance their status as combatants. Men could only get married at the age of 30. And when they went to war, the wives and mothers sang a hymn that said: "Bring the shield tied or bring you lying on it." The explanation was that the shield was the same size as the soldier and, it was firmly tied to his arm, in such a way that he could not throw it into the fight, if he intended to flee. That way he had to go on until victory or death. If he had it tied he had won. If he died, the same shield served him as a coffin.

That lifestyle made them hard and rejected luxury and eloquence. As Sparta belonged to the region of Laconia, they created the so-called laconic style: that is, the one that uses few words. On some occasion Alexander the Great defeated them in a battle, he announced that he would visit the city and asked to be well received. The official response was: "No".

And all this bravery begins with Lycurgus, a ruler who proposed the most severe and implacable laws and customs. When some protested, Lycurgus said: "Accept the laws while I meditate on them. After we return, we can discuss them and we can change them." Then Lycurgus left for a nearby island to starve himself to death. He never returned, never could discuss anything, and everyone respected his word: the laws were intact.

Let us hope that this hardness of the Spartan Greeks will be resurrected and made evident in the face of the international pressures they will face. Already, for the time being, some children of Lycurgus learned again to say "No".

On the other hand, the best sacrifices in chess are those in which we have to say yes:

1: DxT!, DxD; 2: P7T and nothing to do

This story was originally written by my friend Ramiro Díez in Diario EL TELÉGRAFO under the following address: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/columnistas/1/estos-griegos-son-unos-hijos-de-licurgo If you are going to use it, please quote our source and place a link to the original note. www.eltelegrafo.com.ec