Hua Bin A good friend on Substack told me a Greek joke in his comment about my essay on Nolan’s film The Odyssey. An Athenian was looking at a painting depicting a battle where Athenians were defeating and slaying Spartan warriors. The man exclaimed, “Brave, brave Athenians!” “Yes,” a Spartan standing nearby dryly interrupted him and said: “– in paintings”. Anyone who has read Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War knows the Spartans kicked the Athenians’ ass in battle – they “obliterated” Athens. The story is a classic “laconic wit” – the dry,…
