Spartan Heart

Spartan Heart: ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning; Their fighters drink the rivers up, their shafts benight the air. And he that stands will die for nought, and home there's no returning. The Spartans on the sea-wet rock sat down and combed their hair. -A.E. Housman, from "The Oracles"

  Life happens for all of us. When our skies darken and we can only see despair and hopelessness, what is our alternative; where can we turn? Hopefully, we can find support and love from family. But even with loving support, there is still another place we need to seek. This is a place of power. This is within us; within our heart and spirit. In this regard, the ancient Spartans are excellent mentors for us to emulate. Their philosophy may guide us and help us achieve a strong heart, a strong mind and a powerful spirit. Accordingly, there were three primary maxims followed by the Spartans: Know Thyself (gnothi sauton), Nothing too Much (meden agan) and Keep the Measure. It is little known that these three maxims are attributed to the Greek Philosopher Chilon of Sparta. These 'teachings' were inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at the ancient oracle site of Delphi. These three form the foundational heart of the famous and mysterious E of Delphi. E is Zeus’ epsilon and “was over the tall gateway entrance to Apollo’s temple at Delphi, signifying divine breath or prophecy.”[i]  

 

Know Thyself (gnothi sauton)

Knowing ourselves means recognizing, first and foremost, that we are Divine Human Beings. Our divine spark interpenetrates our humanness—body, mind and spirit. The Absolute interpenetrates the Relative. This is the first step in knowing ourselves and realizing that each of us is a microcosm of the macrocosm.

‘Know thyself’ means that we must consciously devote ourselves to the understanding of our own nature and to the improvement or purification of our body, mind and soul. With this maxim, the Spartans embraced a life philosophy of: to know, to dare, to do and to be silent (non-chattering mind and mouth).

Nothing too Much (meden agan)

This maxim, meden agan, is based on the Greek sôphrosunê, which means moderation, self-control, soundness of mind, and harmonia. Metaphorically, harmonia is a blending of the opposites of Fire (Absolute/Heaven) and Water (Relative/Earth) that results in harmony and an Oneness of Self. The fundamental idea of the blending of opposites is “to achieve a harmonious state, the proper mixture, the solution, which frees us to see the right way. In action it is finding the middle way, taking the right action (which may be inaction).”[ii] It takes courage and self-control to blend opposites. This is the blending of light and dark, which we may visually experience at dawn and dusk. This maxim will help us achieve a strong mind. It is through moderation and self-control that we are able to cleanse our mind of ‘passions.’[iii] In this manner, we achieve a well-balanced and harmonious mind. In Greek mythology, this concept corresponds to “Harmonia, which is usually translated as ‘harmony,’ but means any union in which the parts form a seamless whole while retaining their distinct identities. Harmonia is the daughter of sea-born Aphrodite and fiery Ares, whom Empedocles[iv] identified with Love and Strife, the two primary cosmic forces, which bring about all change in the universe. Pythagoras[v] likewise said that cosmic Harmonia is born of the union of Love and Strife. She reconciles all oppositions.”[vi]

 

Keep the Measure

Keep the Measure may be traced to the ancient Pythagoreans and to Apollo himself as he was the god of measure, science, philosophy, and in general of the higher intellectual activities. It refers to the interpenetrative unity of diversity of creation. According to Philolaus, the Pythagorean, “Essence in itself escapes man. He knows only the things of this world in which the finite combines with the infinite. And how can he know them? for between things and himself there is a harmony and relation, a common principle; and this principle is given them by the One who gives to them along with their very essence, measure and intelligibility. It is the common measure between subject and object….”[vii] Keep the measure relates to the relationship of self (subject) to other (object) with the primary one being microcosm (Relative) to Macrocosm (Absolute). It is the realization that we are ‘Perfect in our Imperfections which make us Perfect.’[viii] Once we awaken our spark within, we live the measure of all things by keeping the proper measure and relationship between us and all other things and by knowing and living our divineness and by recognizing the divine spark (the Absolute) within the Relative of creation (terrestrial and celestial Mother Nature).

Warrior Philosopher Training

"Ω ξείν αγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις, ότι τήδε κείμεθα, τοις κείνων ρήμασι πειθόμενοι"

"Oh stranger tell the Lacedaemonians, that we lie here, obedient to their laws"

The three maxims above along with intensive body/mind physical training, experiential spiritual exercises and various esoteric concepts such as the “beast within’ are part of our Warrior Philosopher Training Programs. These are conducted within the Continental United States and during our Spirit of the Warrior-Philosopher Journeys.

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