There are two aspects of a quote: its meaning and its context. In many cases, the meaning is the goal and can stand on its own. However, there is also context to these quotes which, if you just grab them for their meaning, may net you some strange results. I am fully aware that many people won't really care if the context makes the quote not quite work, but all the same, a little research for something important can save you from some smirks, snark, and side eye down the road. I will look at two examples from our present day.
When the 9/11 memorial museum chose a quotation to emblazon their wall, they chose a line from Book IX of Vergil's Aeneid:
Nulla dies uuquam memori vos eximet aevo.
Which means "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."
This is a quite beautiful sentiment, and it is understandable why the meaning of this line would be chosen for such a monument. However, the troubling aspect of the context is that the "you" in that quote refers to two Trojan warriors who launched a surprise attack on their enemies, killing many while they slept before they themselves died. With context, the quote would seem to apply more aptly to the attackers on 9/11 rather than the victims, although that is not the intent.
Another odd use of a re-purposed ancient quote comes from American gun-rights supporters who have taken to using the phrase μολών λαβέ (or if you prefer the capitals: ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ) as a motto. This phrase, which translates as "Come and take them" is the line ascribed to Leonidas in response to Xerxes demand that the Spartans lay down their weapons. And again, by meaning alone it is easy to see why they like this expression.
However, as a group that espouses to defend a democratic right as a means of protection from their government, the context is at cross purposes. Sparta was a totalitarian state who had enslaved an entire country. These slaves, the Helots, were treated cruelly and humiliated; each year Sparta declared war on its Helots so that any Spartan could kill them without fear of reprisal. Much like the Antebellum South, Helots outnumbered Spartans by as much as 7:1 and so rigorous measures were taken to ensure Helot compliance. This statement was also made to the foreign ruler of an invading army, not from a Spartan to his own ruler, something that most likely would have ended very badly and very painfully for that Spartan. This was no democratic society upheld and defended by virtue of its armed citizens, it was a group of elites who used their weapons to subjugate the lower classes to support their own way of life.
In short, quotes are something whose meaning often resonates with us. Their context, however, adds something to the meaning that might make it odd to use for the purpose it is employed for its meaning alone. However there is no quotation police that is going to force you to change the way you use the quote, but by the same token I am free to roll my eyes at anyone tattooing quotes on themselves that don't quite mean what they think they mean.
When the 9/11 memorial museum chose a quotation to emblazon their wall, they chose a line from Book IX of Vergil's Aeneid:
Nulla dies uuquam memori vos eximet aevo.
Which means "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."
This is a quite beautiful sentiment, and it is understandable why the meaning of this line would be chosen for such a monument. However, the troubling aspect of the context is that the "you" in that quote refers to two Trojan warriors who launched a surprise attack on their enemies, killing many while they slept before they themselves died. With context, the quote would seem to apply more aptly to the attackers on 9/11 rather than the victims, although that is not the intent.
Another odd use of a re-purposed ancient quote comes from American gun-rights supporters who have taken to using the phrase μολών λαβέ (or if you prefer the capitals: ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ) as a motto. This phrase, which translates as "Come and take them" is the line ascribed to Leonidas in response to Xerxes demand that the Spartans lay down their weapons. And again, by meaning alone it is easy to see why they like this expression.
However, as a group that espouses to defend a democratic right as a means of protection from their government, the context is at cross purposes. Sparta was a totalitarian state who had enslaved an entire country. These slaves, the Helots, were treated cruelly and humiliated; each year Sparta declared war on its Helots so that any Spartan could kill them without fear of reprisal. Much like the Antebellum South, Helots outnumbered Spartans by as much as 7:1 and so rigorous measures were taken to ensure Helot compliance. This statement was also made to the foreign ruler of an invading army, not from a Spartan to his own ruler, something that most likely would have ended very badly and very painfully for that Spartan. This was no democratic society upheld and defended by virtue of its armed citizens, it was a group of elites who used their weapons to subjugate the lower classes to support their own way of life.
In short, quotes are something whose meaning often resonates with us. Their context, however, adds something to the meaning that might make it odd to use for the purpose it is employed for its meaning alone. However there is no quotation police that is going to force you to change the way you use the quote, but by the same token I am free to roll my eyes at anyone tattooing quotes on themselves that don't quite mean what they think they mean.
Comments
Post a Comment