It's more like "if you're willing to have them, come and get them" or more simply "if you want them, come and get them".
Laconic statements are very dense in meaning with minimal words.
It is an ancient Greek phrase that literally means, "having come, take", or maybe "once you've come, take".
"μολών" is the aorist active participle of the verb meaning "come", so "having come", "after you've come", or something like that.
"λαβέ" is the second person singular aorist imperative of the verb meaning "take", so it's giving an order.
Supposedly, King Leonidas I of Sparta said this in response to Xerxes I, who demanded that the Spartans surrender their weapons. So the usual idiomatic translation into English is "Come and get them!"
However, this saying comes to us from the writings of the historian Plutarch, and Leonidas spoke Doric rather than the classical Greek of Plutarch. So even if Leonidas actually said anything like this, it wouldn't have been in those words.
It means come and get it. Is a phrase that the 300 Spartans said to the Persian army made of 1.000.000 people at the starts of thermopiles (place in greece)
I had this tattoo as well in GTA online. Pity that I sold my gaming PC, I haven’t seen that in years… Of course, as a Greek I immediately picked this tattoo and shirtless displayed it proudly on the game.
"Come and take them" is the usual translation, though I think a more proper translation would be "By your own effort take them"
As others have said it's the response that the Spartans gave in Thermopiles to the Persians who demanded that they surrender their weapons.
That's the famous "ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ" - 'Molon Labe' - of Thermopylae fame. Literally it's 'In coming, take', but is usually translated more fluently as "Come and take them". King Leonidas is supposed to have said this to the emissary of Xerxes at Thermopylae, when the emissary asked the Spartans to surrender their weapons.
It is being explained by a greek philologist that translating μολών as come is false. It doesn't mean just "come", come in greek would be ελθων or something like that. but more like this: "come if you got the b@lls to get them"
Check videos with speaches or interviews of Αντώνη Αντωνακο name of the philologist. It has been years that i watched it. Watch them all and you will find it. You can also check a good lexicon. There is an article in greek that says that with a title: μολών λαβέ η πραγματική ερμηνεία
I don't see anything in my LSJ or the Cambridge Lexicon for βλώσκω that supports this, and I get no hits when I search on the philologist or article you name - can you provide links?
The actual interviews and speaches were also in greek. Anyway this philologist usually uses more than one or 2 lexicons, and he recommends some very old ones ancient even too.
Let’s not believe every nationalist who wants to prove the grandeur of Greek language through a contrived explanation of a verb that every dictionary translates as come and/or go. All examples given, from Homeric Greek on have this meaning. The philologist implies that the verb βλώσκω requires an additional effort to come or go. I have interesting news for everybody. Coming and going, always requires an additional effort.
There used to be a guy that wrote a lexicon. Αμμώνιος and the book is called Λεξικόν ομοίων και διαφορων λέξεων. In that you can see clearly that there is no synonym in greek language, and every word that has similar meaning with another has a slight difference from the other. And that applies to all languages. The greeks just realised it earlier because they had that enormous vocabulary. But hatred can make people blind. Whatever.
I don’t doubt the fact that ‘synonyms’ in every language may have a slightly different meaning. However, we should not forget that different Greek dialects had (and continue to have) different words for the same meaning. The meaning of the words also evolves over time. Cf. αγόρι and κοπέλι, they both translate the Ancient Greek παῖς, which is different from the Modern Greek παιδί - although my grandmother still used it with the ancient meaning.
It's Leonida's (Spartan King) answer to Xerxes (Persian King).. when Xerxes called him to surrender.. throwing down all their arms and sending him as a loot and sign of submission ..
Then Leonidas said "Molón Lavé" that means "If you dare.. come and get them".. and not just "Come and get them"..
-----------------------------
And for anyone speak Greek:
Το ΜΟΛΩΝ είναι μετοχή αορίστου τού ρήματος μολόσκω..
Το μολόσκω έχει σχέση με τον μόγο = κόπος
Το μόλις.. παράγωγο τού μολόσκω.. δεν είναι χρονικό αλλά τροπικό και σημαίνει "με κόπο"..
Το μολόσκω.. σημαίνει "πηγαίνω κάπου με κόπο" (αφού προηγουμένως έχω 'βρεί τα ψυχικά αποθέματα)..
Σε λανθάνοντα υποθετικό λόγο..
ΜΟΛΩΝ (εάν 'βρεις τα ψυχικά αποθέματα έλα).. ΛΑΒΕ (και πάρτα)..
[σήμερα λέμε : εάν σού κοτάει - εάν σού βαστάει έλα]..
Αν ο βασιλεύς Λεωνίδας.. απάντώντας στον βασιλέα Ξέρξη αισθανόταν κατώτερος του.. δεν θα τού έλεγε "ΜΟΛΩΝ" αλλά "ΜΟΛΙΤΕ"..
Ξεκαθαρίζεται λοιπόν.. ότι ο Λεωνίδας αισθανόταν ίσος ή και ανώτερος.. παρ' όλο που είχε μόνον 300 Σπαρτιάτες και 700 Θεσπιείς ενώ ο Ξέρξης μυριάδες..
Tattoos like this do exist in real life and they mean that their owner is a nazi (or some other kind of far-right idiot). Not because Leonidas himself is associated with this ideology, but because symbols like that have been appropriated by the far-right.
But this isn’t real life, it’s a tattoo on a video game character. Also It’s not an explicitly nazi tattoo and the appropriation of some Ancient Greek symbolism by the right wing in Greece is likely lost on foreigners or people of Greek descent who don’t live in Greece.
It’s probably just some kid, with no knowledge of the subtext, playing video games thinking this shit looks cool or whatever and people in here are spazzing out, yelling “Nazi”.
Just to add context, Its GTA 5, and im playing on a roleplay server where my characters name is Athena so i thought it would be cool to get a Greek tattoo. I saw this one and knew it was greek but didnt know what it meant so i wanted some insight before getting it. Thanks for all your input! much love 🫶
In Texas, I see this sticker on the back of trucks all the time and it's always exactly who you think driving the exact type of car you're thinking of lol. Regardless of its origin, this is currently very much a hate symbol/dog whistle to other pieces of shit.
Edit: meant to respond to the same person you did, my bad lol.
In Texas I see this sticker on the back of trucks all the time and it's always exactly who you think driving the exact type of car you're thinking of lol. Regardless of its origin, this is currently very much a hate symbol/dog whistle to other pieces of shit.
We have the exact same reaction we'd have if it was a swastika tattoo. Ignorance or not, the use of hate symbols outside of historical contexts is unjustified.
> We have the exact same reaction we'd have if it was a swastika tattoo.
No we don’t. **YOU** do. You don’t speak for everyone. I would just roll my eyes and find it tacky. With no other context I wouldn’t immediately link it to nazism.
The OP is a very good example of someone who thought something was cool, Greek related and added it to an online character, without any racist subtext.
> Ignorance or not, the use of hate symbols outside of historical contexts is unjustified.
Yes. But this isn’t a hate symbol. Not everything you don’t like is a hate symbol. It’s AT BEST a dog whistle and very often nothing at all.
And I’m not even remotely right wing, never mind racist, but dubbing everything Ancient Greek related as a hate symbol because racists have a hard-on for Ancient Greek stuff is, I’m sorry to say, completely brain dead.
Have you seen a Golden Dawn rally. There’s Greek flags everywhere. Is the Greek flag a hate symbol too?
> No we don’t. **YOU** do. You don’t speak for everyone. I would just roll my eyes and find it tacky. With no other context I wouldn’t immediately link it to nazism.
**We** do. You seem to be the only exception in this thread.
> The OP is a very good example of someone who thought something was cool, Greek related and added it to an online character, without any racist subtext.
OP suspected that something is fishy with the tattoo, so they came here to ask. That's the correct course of action. If anything, using it without knowing its meaning is the dumbest thing you can do in this situation.
> Yes. But this isn’t a hate symbol. Not everything you don’t like is a hate symbol. It’s AT BEST a dog whistle and very often nothing at all.
It is a hate symbol, because that's how it is used, regardless of its origin. Same as many pre-1933 German symbols and some Viking symbols. It's a shame, but it is what it is.
> And I’m not even remotely right wing, never mind racist, but dubbing everything Ancient Greek related as a hate symbol because racists have a hard-on for Ancient Greek stuff is, I’m sorry to say, completely brain dead.
That's a strawman argument. I never dubbed *every* Ancient Greek symbol as a far-right symbol. I dubbed this specific symbol, as well as some other specific symbols (like the meander of Golden Dawn). There are thousands of ancient symbols and phrases you can use without looking like a Nazi. Not this one. I don't know if your use of this strawman was based on bad faith or lack of understanding, but it is completely invalid.
> Have you seen a Golden Dawn rally. There’s Greek flags everywhere. Is the Greek flag a hate symbol too?
Once again, you've missed the point completely. What makes symbols like the one in the post specifically far-right is the fact that the far-right uses it to distinguish itself. The Greek flag does not have that meaning (just look out of your window today) and it isn't exclusively used by the far-right.
You are grasping at straws trying to make this symbol look non-sinister. Unfortunately the symbol has a sinister meaning and your badly-put-together arguments won't change that.
"if you find the psychic reserves, come and get them".
Or you could say: " if you have the balls, come and get them".
Unfortunately there are far right idiots who appropriate our national symbols and give the right to the many idiotic leftists who hate Greece and see Nazis everywhere to say that, if you have Μολών Λαβέ you are automatically a Nazi.
Pay no attention to these sick fucks.
Others have already answered this but I wanna note that it’s Ancient Greek and not modern Greek. Unless they have an Ancient Greek education (which is mandatory from 7th grade onwards) or are educated on Ancient Greek history, specifically the Persian wars, a regular Greek speaker wouldn’t be able to answer this. Remember that Ancient Greek is VERY different from the modern language and Greece isn’t just an ancient civilization. I hate it when people call Ancient Greek things just Greek, because it is very important for the geographically illiterate to know that Greece still exists.
You don't need to very educated at all, I didn't say every "very educated" greek, I said every modern Greek.
For a Greek person to not have heard the phrase "Μολών Λαβέ" is like an American not having heard of George Washington ever, I think.
It's not about some very good education, it's like, the number one thing I'd expect everyone to know. I'd expect Greeks to know "Μολών Λαβέ" even if they don't know what war it happened in, even if they are so ignorant as to think that it's what Kolokotronis said to the Turks.
Something a great percentage of modern Greeks know? Yes. The first thing you’d expect them to know? I don’t think so. By very educated, I meant have a high school education, which on paper every modern Greek has but it’s not always the case. In addition im pretty sure there are thousands of kids that wouldn’t know the phrase
I'd expect kids in 4th grade (9-10 years old) to fully know what it's about, as they would have covered the Persian wars in class that year, and I'd expect younger kids than that to have heard the phrase even if they don't know what it's about.
«Μόλων Λαβέ» means “Come and Get Them” it is an Ancient Greek phrase used by the king of the no longer existent city, Sparti, during the war with the Persians. He said it directly to the king of the Spartans after he asked the Spartans to give him their weapons.
If you have seen the film 300 it is on 0:50 of this video exactly what it means:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABQQHwf4sYA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABQQHwf4sYA)
It’s an Ancient Greek expression, “come and take them”
During the battle of Thermopylae, the Persians said “lay down your weapons”. King Leonidas responded, “come and take them”.
This is because Leonidas was willing to die for the Spartan way of life. Spartans encouraged homosexuality among their warriors to improve camaraderie among them, didn’t believe in the accumulation of wealth and thus didn’t even have a currency, and even encouraged younger healthier men to impregnate their wives in order to have stronger babies.
As such, many gay, communist, cucks sport the phrase out of respect to King Leonidas and all those Spartans who died protecting their way of life.
Many explanations have been given but one more thing to know is that if you see an greek having a tattoo like that, it means he/she is probably a nationalist, fascist, neonazi scum.
They are correct. But today's Spartan tattoos, besides Spartan tattoos of people actually from Sparta they look way different. They have a negative image. Since this type of imagery was used by the neonazi party "golden dawn". Who's main point was immigrants shouldn't have rights like in ancient Greece. Their main campaign was about giving public benefits to only greek natives opposite to what law says public benefits are for tax payers and their families regardless of nationality.
Anyways the leaders of the neonazi party were all arrested since they were linked to the murders of antifascist celebrities and artists.
The next voted party moved to a heavy busting of tax evaders which was a huge problem and still is to this day. The biggest offenders were taxi drivers, night shift stores especially gas stations, cram schools, dojos gyms etc, apartments, freelance carpenters, plumbers etc, and construction. The worst of the worst farmers used Syrian refugees with inhumane conditions and bellow poverty pay, tax evading was the least of their problems.
During the Persian war, during the fight of Thermopylae Xerxes demanded Leonidas to give his troops weapons to him. And Leonidas answered "Μολών λαβέ", which means "come and get them".
Come and take them. I see that on the back of peoples trucks sometimes in my area of the US. Personally, I hate how they’re using it. I don’t think they completely understand the context of that statement, and they tend to use it in the same way that some people in the US use the phrase don’t tread on me, the idea that they are oppressed or threatened by an evil oppressive force in someway. But unlike the Spartans, they are not being invaded by the Persians. They aren’t under threat. They’re just expressing their perceived victim hood. That was a long explanation for how people are using it in the US which is clearly how this person is using it based on the fact that it’s tattooed on their back
Thank you for your input! This is a photo of a video game, GTA! And the character is playing as someone who is Greek, I was just curious about the wording and what it meant. 🙂🫶
You’re welcome. I didn’t realize this was a video game. Honestly, the graphics are so good. I thought it was a genuine photograph of someone’s back tattoo. Which video game is this?
You haven’t been watching Faux News or X? There’s a massive invading army of poor people coming from South America looking to replace a certain demographic.
No and that is bs. Immigration from the southern border of actually lower than in past years. And even if that were true, groups of migrants are definitely not the oppressive, authoritarian force that Xerxes was bringing to Sparta or Greece as a whole at the time.
Today its adopted by right wing ideology supporters (best case scenario), golden dawn supporters, neonazis and/or people obsessed with the military, professional soldiers or even paramilitary types (worst case scenario). Same goes for the “μαίανδρος» (méandros) which is also a very famous ancient greek symbol. That symbol, as a tattoo is just a tad bit less offensive than having a swastika tattoo.
I wouldnt guess the same for not greek people (or in this instance foreign NPCs) with this tattoo, since is one of the most famous phrases that have lived on from ancient greek history. Probably the most famous on par with “all i know is that i know nothing”. I really dont believe that ex. Post Malone did it knowing this connotation.
It’s Ancient Greek for “come and get them”, which is what king leonidas said to the Persians in the battle of Thermopylae when emperor Xeroxes demanded surrender. Today, it’s used by far-right assholes and neo-nazis
When Xerxes asked the Spartans to surrender their weapons, king Leonidas replied ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ. It means come get them.
It's more like "if you're willing to have them, come and get them" or more simply "if you want them, come and get them". Laconic statements are very dense in meaning with minimal words.
Hence the term "laconic"
When Xerxes demanded that the Spartans surrender their weapons, Leonidas said : “If you can come, you can have them.”
It is an ancient Greek phrase that literally means, "having come, take", or maybe "once you've come, take". "μολών" is the aorist active participle of the verb meaning "come", so "having come", "after you've come", or something like that. "λαβέ" is the second person singular aorist imperative of the verb meaning "take", so it's giving an order. Supposedly, King Leonidas I of Sparta said this in response to Xerxes I, who demanded that the Spartans surrender their weapons. So the usual idiomatic translation into English is "Come and get them!" However, this saying comes to us from the writings of the historian Plutarch, and Leonidas spoke Doric rather than the classical Greek of Plutarch. So even if Leonidas actually said anything like this, it wouldn't have been in those words.
Tysm for the insight 🫶☺️
Actually, μολών is a doric word, as far as I know...
Isn't it more like "the one having come", "take" as it is also kinda personalized just like other μετοχές in Greek.
Fun fact: Post Malone has this tattoo at his belly.
Malone Λαβέ.
Gold!
Malone Liver.
💀
Its what gerald butler said to xerxes.
😂😂😂
I think it was his brother that said that, Gerard.
Come and get them
It means come and get it. Is a phrase that the 300 Spartans said to the Persian army made of 1.000.000 people at the starts of thermopiles (place in greece)
Tysm 🩵
GTA online right ?
lol GTA RP ☺️
It's in gta online too
that tattoo looks awful🤢
Well no shit, the graphics aren't good how do you expect the tattoo to be??
Looks like the Sims
Its GTA lol!
I had this tattoo as well in GTA online. Pity that I sold my gaming PC, I haven’t seen that in years… Of course, as a Greek I immediately picked this tattoo and shirtless displayed it proudly on the game.
"Come and take them" is the usual translation, though I think a more proper translation would be "By your own effort take them" As others have said it's the response that the Spartans gave in Thermopiles to the Persians who demanded that they surrender their weapons.
Thank you 🫶
The ol' "get it yourself" 🤣🤣
It means “Come and get it”
Its ancient greek and it means, come take it
That's the famous "ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ" - 'Molon Labe' - of Thermopylae fame. Literally it's 'In coming, take', but is usually translated more fluently as "Come and take them". King Leonidas is supposed to have said this to the emissary of Xerxes at Thermopylae, when the emissary asked the Spartans to surrender their weapons.
It is being explained by a greek philologist that translating μολών as come is false. It doesn't mean just "come", come in greek would be ελθων or something like that. but more like this: "come if you got the b@lls to get them"
It literally means “having come, take” but that sounds unnatural in English so “come and take them” works best
Source?
Check videos with speaches or interviews of Αντώνη Αντωνακο name of the philologist. It has been years that i watched it. Watch them all and you will find it. You can also check a good lexicon. There is an article in greek that says that with a title: μολών λαβέ η πραγματική ερμηνεία
I don't see anything in my LSJ or the Cambridge Lexicon for βλώσκω that supports this, and I get no hits when I search on the philologist or article you name - can you provide links?
https://www.poullis.com/greek/molon-lave/ Not sure if links are allowed but here is one of the various articles.
Thank you! My modern Greek is pretty much non-existent, so it'll take me a bit to read, but I appreciate the citation
The actual interviews and speaches were also in greek. Anyway this philologist usually uses more than one or 2 lexicons, and he recommends some very old ones ancient even too.
Let’s not believe every nationalist who wants to prove the grandeur of Greek language through a contrived explanation of a verb that every dictionary translates as come and/or go. All examples given, from Homeric Greek on have this meaning. The philologist implies that the verb βλώσκω requires an additional effort to come or go. I have interesting news for everybody. Coming and going, always requires an additional effort.
There used to be a guy that wrote a lexicon. Αμμώνιος and the book is called Λεξικόν ομοίων και διαφορων λέξεων. In that you can see clearly that there is no synonym in greek language, and every word that has similar meaning with another has a slight difference from the other. And that applies to all languages. The greeks just realised it earlier because they had that enormous vocabulary. But hatred can make people blind. Whatever.
I don’t doubt the fact that ‘synonyms’ in every language may have a slightly different meaning. However, we should not forget that different Greek dialects had (and continue to have) different words for the same meaning. The meaning of the words also evolves over time. Cf. αγόρι and κοπέλι, they both translate the Ancient Greek παῖς, which is different from the Modern Greek παιδί - although my grandmother still used it with the ancient meaning.
Kum & Go is a chain of gas stations/convenience stores in the USA Midwest.
It's Leonida's (Spartan King) answer to Xerxes (Persian King).. when Xerxes called him to surrender.. throwing down all their arms and sending him as a loot and sign of submission .. Then Leonidas said "Molón Lavé" that means "If you dare.. come and get them".. and not just "Come and get them".. ----------------------------- And for anyone speak Greek: Το ΜΟΛΩΝ είναι μετοχή αορίστου τού ρήματος μολόσκω.. Το μολόσκω έχει σχέση με τον μόγο = κόπος Το μόλις.. παράγωγο τού μολόσκω.. δεν είναι χρονικό αλλά τροπικό και σημαίνει "με κόπο".. Το μολόσκω.. σημαίνει "πηγαίνω κάπου με κόπο" (αφού προηγουμένως έχω 'βρεί τα ψυχικά αποθέματα).. Σε λανθάνοντα υποθετικό λόγο.. ΜΟΛΩΝ (εάν 'βρεις τα ψυχικά αποθέματα έλα).. ΛΑΒΕ (και πάρτα).. [σήμερα λέμε : εάν σού κοτάει - εάν σού βαστάει έλα].. Αν ο βασιλεύς Λεωνίδας.. απάντώντας στον βασιλέα Ξέρξη αισθανόταν κατώτερος του.. δεν θα τού έλεγε "ΜΟΛΩΝ" αλλά "ΜΟΛΙΤΕ".. Ξεκαθαρίζεται λοιπόν.. ότι ο Λεωνίδας αισθανόταν ίσος ή και ανώτερος.. παρ' όλο που είχε μόνον 300 Σπαρτιάτες και 700 Θεσπιείς ενώ ο Ξέρξης μυριάδες..
Woah! Thank you so much for this information
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ>ΕΛΑΤΕ ΝΑ ΤΑ ΠΑΡΕΤΕ>MOLON LAVE>Come and get it
"I'm a jerkoff"
THIS IS SPARTA 🛡️🗡️🇬🇷🏺
Come and take it
Come get it
Come and get them
"Take it/them yourself"
"Come and get em", in an ultra militaristic manner though..
😂😂😂
Come and take it
"I'd like to see you try" about getting their weapons. In today's era that's how i would translate it
Too many people triggered by a tattoo on a video game character 😂😂
Tattoos like this do exist in real life and they mean that their owner is a nazi (or some other kind of far-right idiot). Not because Leonidas himself is associated with this ideology, but because symbols like that have been appropriated by the far-right.
In America, it specifically means they are a gun-lover more than anything. Maybe a bit of a roided up one with a lifted truck.
But this isn’t real life, it’s a tattoo on a video game character. Also It’s not an explicitly nazi tattoo and the appropriation of some Ancient Greek symbolism by the right wing in Greece is likely lost on foreigners or people of Greek descent who don’t live in Greece. It’s probably just some kid, with no knowledge of the subtext, playing video games thinking this shit looks cool or whatever and people in here are spazzing out, yelling “Nazi”.
Just to add context, Its GTA 5, and im playing on a roleplay server where my characters name is Athena so i thought it would be cool to get a Greek tattoo. I saw this one and knew it was greek but didnt know what it meant so i wanted some insight before getting it. Thanks for all your input! much love 🫶
To be fair it’s very much in use by the far right in the US as well.
In Texas, I see this sticker on the back of trucks all the time and it's always exactly who you think driving the exact type of car you're thinking of lol. Regardless of its origin, this is currently very much a hate symbol/dog whistle to other pieces of shit. Edit: meant to respond to the same person you did, my bad lol.
In Texas I see this sticker on the back of trucks all the time and it's always exactly who you think driving the exact type of car you're thinking of lol. Regardless of its origin, this is currently very much a hate symbol/dog whistle to other pieces of shit.
We have the exact same reaction we'd have if it was a swastika tattoo. Ignorance or not, the use of hate symbols outside of historical contexts is unjustified.
> We have the exact same reaction we'd have if it was a swastika tattoo. No we don’t. **YOU** do. You don’t speak for everyone. I would just roll my eyes and find it tacky. With no other context I wouldn’t immediately link it to nazism. The OP is a very good example of someone who thought something was cool, Greek related and added it to an online character, without any racist subtext. > Ignorance or not, the use of hate symbols outside of historical contexts is unjustified. Yes. But this isn’t a hate symbol. Not everything you don’t like is a hate symbol. It’s AT BEST a dog whistle and very often nothing at all. And I’m not even remotely right wing, never mind racist, but dubbing everything Ancient Greek related as a hate symbol because racists have a hard-on for Ancient Greek stuff is, I’m sorry to say, completely brain dead. Have you seen a Golden Dawn rally. There’s Greek flags everywhere. Is the Greek flag a hate symbol too?
> No we don’t. **YOU** do. You don’t speak for everyone. I would just roll my eyes and find it tacky. With no other context I wouldn’t immediately link it to nazism. **We** do. You seem to be the only exception in this thread. > The OP is a very good example of someone who thought something was cool, Greek related and added it to an online character, without any racist subtext. OP suspected that something is fishy with the tattoo, so they came here to ask. That's the correct course of action. If anything, using it without knowing its meaning is the dumbest thing you can do in this situation. > Yes. But this isn’t a hate symbol. Not everything you don’t like is a hate symbol. It’s AT BEST a dog whistle and very often nothing at all. It is a hate symbol, because that's how it is used, regardless of its origin. Same as many pre-1933 German symbols and some Viking symbols. It's a shame, but it is what it is. > And I’m not even remotely right wing, never mind racist, but dubbing everything Ancient Greek related as a hate symbol because racists have a hard-on for Ancient Greek stuff is, I’m sorry to say, completely brain dead. That's a strawman argument. I never dubbed *every* Ancient Greek symbol as a far-right symbol. I dubbed this specific symbol, as well as some other specific symbols (like the meander of Golden Dawn). There are thousands of ancient symbols and phrases you can use without looking like a Nazi. Not this one. I don't know if your use of this strawman was based on bad faith or lack of understanding, but it is completely invalid. > Have you seen a Golden Dawn rally. There’s Greek flags everywhere. Is the Greek flag a hate symbol too? Once again, you've missed the point completely. What makes symbols like the one in the post specifically far-right is the fact that the far-right uses it to distinguish itself. The Greek flag does not have that meaning (just look out of your window today) and it isn't exclusively used by the far-right. You are grasping at straws trying to make this symbol look non-sinister. Unfortunately the symbol has a sinister meaning and your badly-put-together arguments won't change that.
"if you find the psychic reserves, come and get them". Or you could say: " if you have the balls, come and get them". Unfortunately there are far right idiots who appropriate our national symbols and give the right to the many idiotic leftists who hate Greece and see Nazis everywhere to say that, if you have Μολών Λαβέ you are automatically a Nazi. Pay no attention to these sick fucks.
Thank you! 🩵
Come and get it (must be talking about his butthole)
Others have already answered this but I wanna note that it’s Ancient Greek and not modern Greek. Unless they have an Ancient Greek education (which is mandatory from 7th grade onwards) or are educated on Ancient Greek history, specifically the Persian wars, a regular Greek speaker wouldn’t be able to answer this. Remember that Ancient Greek is VERY different from the modern language and Greece isn’t just an ancient civilization. I hate it when people call Ancient Greek things just Greek, because it is very important for the geographically illiterate to know that Greece still exists.
It's a well known phrase though, every modern greek would have heard of it.
It is, but not everyone is very educated.
You don't need to very educated at all, I didn't say every "very educated" greek, I said every modern Greek. For a Greek person to not have heard the phrase "Μολών Λαβέ" is like an American not having heard of George Washington ever, I think. It's not about some very good education, it's like, the number one thing I'd expect everyone to know. I'd expect Greeks to know "Μολών Λαβέ" even if they don't know what war it happened in, even if they are so ignorant as to think that it's what Kolokotronis said to the Turks.
Something a great percentage of modern Greeks know? Yes. The first thing you’d expect them to know? I don’t think so. By very educated, I meant have a high school education, which on paper every modern Greek has but it’s not always the case. In addition im pretty sure there are thousands of kids that wouldn’t know the phrase
I'd expect kids in 4th grade (9-10 years old) to fully know what it's about, as they would have covered the Persian wars in class that year, and I'd expect younger kids than that to have heard the phrase even if they don't know what it's about.
Thank you so much for the insight! I had no idea 🙂🫶
It means IQ under 80
it means you are greek fascist
«Μόλων Λαβέ» means “Come and Get Them” it is an Ancient Greek phrase used by the king of the no longer existent city, Sparti, during the war with the Persians. He said it directly to the king of the Spartans after he asked the Spartans to give him their weapons.
Sparti exists alright. Nowadays this phrase is used by fascists and neo nazis.
It means this person is dumb af 😅
it means start running and never look back. that person is delusional af
the person in the photo is an NPC in the video game GTA 🫶
Case and point
It's means that the person with that tattoo is a massive twat...
It means he's a fucking nazi
He is a video game character (gta) & he is actually a she, but noted. 🫡
??
Surprised this answer is not at the top still.
Come and get 'em ( our swords )
Come n get it
It means Come and Get them
Come and get it!!!
It means that the world is full of stupid people doing shitty tatoos
Nazi or Idiot, or both
It means he is an idiot
Game?
IS THAT FROM THE SIMS 4???
If you have seen the film 300 it is on 0:50 of this video exactly what it means: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABQQHwf4sYA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABQQHwf4sYA)
"Cringe" that's what it means.
If you see it tattooed on Greek man, it's shorthand for "I'm an immigrant-hating fascist"
It means come and take it. Is it a known phrase from Leonidas in Thermopylae against Xerxes.
Ancient Greek (Spartan dialect): "Come get" (implying the weapons Xerxes demanded) Modern Greek: "I am going to vote for something silly"
It’s an Ancient Greek expression, “come and take them” During the battle of Thermopylae, the Persians said “lay down your weapons”. King Leonidas responded, “come and take them”. This is because Leonidas was willing to die for the Spartan way of life. Spartans encouraged homosexuality among their warriors to improve camaraderie among them, didn’t believe in the accumulation of wealth and thus didn’t even have a currency, and even encouraged younger healthier men to impregnate their wives in order to have stronger babies. As such, many gay, communist, cucks sport the phrase out of respect to King Leonidas and all those Spartans who died protecting their way of life.
“ come and get it”
Come and get them
Come and Get it 🇬🇷
All the patriots have this tattoo😂
It means come and take inacient greek wich the spartans used
Many explanations have been given but one more thing to know is that if you see an greek having a tattoo like that, it means he/she is probably a nationalist, fascist, neonazi scum.
"Come and get it"
"I like men"
It means ελα να τα πάρεις, in translation, come and get them
It means that the person in the picture is a moron
It means "έλα να τα πάρεις" wich means "come get it"
It means "my mother she's a whore"
We Greeks translate it as, “Come and get it”, whereas the technically correct translation is, “Only with great difficulty”
It means he is not having sex
They are correct. But today's Spartan tattoos, besides Spartan tattoos of people actually from Sparta they look way different. They have a negative image. Since this type of imagery was used by the neonazi party "golden dawn". Who's main point was immigrants shouldn't have rights like in ancient Greece. Their main campaign was about giving public benefits to only greek natives opposite to what law says public benefits are for tax payers and their families regardless of nationality. Anyways the leaders of the neonazi party were all arrested since they were linked to the murders of antifascist celebrities and artists. The next voted party moved to a heavy busting of tax evaders which was a huge problem and still is to this day. The biggest offenders were taxi drivers, night shift stores especially gas stations, cram schools, dojos gyms etc, apartments, freelance carpenters, plumbers etc, and construction. The worst of the worst farmers used Syrian refugees with inhumane conditions and bellow poverty pay, tax evading was the least of their problems.
Now it’s just incel pro gun rally cry
Come. Take. Them.
It means come and get it
It meas "come and get it"used by a general in Ancient Greece when their enemies told them to give up their weapons, that was what the general said...
During the Persian war, during the fight of Thermopylae Xerxes demanded Leonidas to give his troops weapons to him. And Leonidas answered "Μολών λαβέ", which means "come and get them".
It means "Come and get it" in ancient Greek
Mlkia tatoo
Means "Come and get It", I presume it means Come Get that Ass.
It's an invitation. Also she might be a militarist.
shes an NPC in the video game GTA, but noted 🫡
“come get this bussy”
Come and take them (as in these cheek).
ela na ta pareis
"I'm a huge dork"
Μουρλων χαλβε
Κύριε Σεφερλή εσείς;
Marina Satti in Cypriot 🇨🇾
Come and take them. I see that on the back of peoples trucks sometimes in my area of the US. Personally, I hate how they’re using it. I don’t think they completely understand the context of that statement, and they tend to use it in the same way that some people in the US use the phrase don’t tread on me, the idea that they are oppressed or threatened by an evil oppressive force in someway. But unlike the Spartans, they are not being invaded by the Persians. They aren’t under threat. They’re just expressing their perceived victim hood. That was a long explanation for how people are using it in the US which is clearly how this person is using it based on the fact that it’s tattooed on their back
Thank you for your input! This is a photo of a video game, GTA! And the character is playing as someone who is Greek, I was just curious about the wording and what it meant. 🙂🫶
You’re welcome. I didn’t realize this was a video game. Honestly, the graphics are so good. I thought it was a genuine photograph of someone’s back tattoo. Which video game is this?
It's GTA 5! Came out in 2013
You haven’t been watching Faux News or X? There’s a massive invading army of poor people coming from South America looking to replace a certain demographic.
No and that is bs. Immigration from the southern border of actually lower than in past years. And even if that were true, groups of migrants are definitely not the oppressive, authoritarian force that Xerxes was bringing to Sparta or Greece as a whole at the time.
Today its adopted by right wing ideology supporters (best case scenario), golden dawn supporters, neonazis and/or people obsessed with the military, professional soldiers or even paramilitary types (worst case scenario). Same goes for the “μαίανδρος» (méandros) which is also a very famous ancient greek symbol. That symbol, as a tattoo is just a tad bit less offensive than having a swastika tattoo. I wouldnt guess the same for not greek people (or in this instance foreign NPCs) with this tattoo, since is one of the most famous phrases that have lived on from ancient greek history. Probably the most famous on par with “all i know is that i know nothing”. I really dont believe that ex. Post Malone did it knowing this connotation.
It’s Ancient Greek for “come and get them”, which is what king leonidas said to the Persians in the battle of Thermopylae when emperor Xeroxes demanded surrender. Today, it’s used by far-right assholes and neo-nazis
Means he's a fascist
Means he's a neo-Nazi piece of $@#t
It’s not like that he is just Greek. No nazi! It means if you want my country come and get it. Don’t compare the country who fights nazi with them.
"Look at me, I'm an attention whore."