Blue-check angry at Rep. Buck’s ‘come and take it’ tweet gets a history lesson

Well, for author Myke Cole, this was a “pathetic, loser’s cry” because the quote, attributed to the Spartan King Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae, was eventually killed by the Persian King Xerxes:

I’d remind Congressman Buck that when this saying was supposedly uttered by King Leonidas in 480 BC, King Xerxes crushed him, butchered his army, and took his weapons.

μολὼν λαβέ (come and take) is a pathetic, loser’s cry.

Maybe, I don’t know, read a book one of these days. https://t.co/6PMaBEsCWG

— Myke Cole (@MykeCole) March 6, 2020

Others defended Cole, like this tweet adding that Americans who used that phrase against England and Mexico also lost those battles:

Similarly, historic uses of this phrase (in 1778 and 1831) did not end well for those uttering it, with the British and Mexican Armies coming and taking them in 1779 and 1836, respectively https://t.co/OaAPG5p2JK

— Angry Staff Officer (@pptsapper) March 6, 2020

Um, if these folks want to tell gun owners to “read a book one of these days,” maybe *they* should finish the book first? Just a thought:

However, the Persians, British, & Mexicans all lost the war. https://t.co/Ddy9CCUu1m

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) March 6, 2020

We’ll help them out:

Myke Cole missed the point entirely. Leonidas most likely didn't expect to beat Xerxes at Thermopylae, so whether μολὼν λαβέ is associated with victory or not is irrelevant. What IS relevant is that said challenge was a rallying cry for a militarized constitutional monarchy …

— Φοίβος (@P_Lazaridis) March 6, 2020

… whose existence was predicated on the majority of that state's population being brutally enslaved. Far from enjoying any of the constitutional rights the Omoioi enjoyed, the Lacedaemonian helots had war ritually declared on them on annual basis so that there would be no …

— Φοίβος (@P_Lazaridis) March 6, 2020

And:

Seems to be an intent missunderstanding being made here…”come and take it!” is not a cry of you will never win…but a cry of you will be fought if you try and I am willing to die (political or actual)…so you better be as well.

— quietlife4me (@quietlife4me) March 6, 2020

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