Go, tell the Spartans, stranger passing by
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
Epitaph on the Cenotaph of Thermopylae, recorded by Herodotus.
There is a long unsolved dispute around the interpretation of the word rhemasi, such as laws, words or orders.
Variant translations:
Go, tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here obedient to their laws we lie.
Stranger, go tell the men of Lacedaemon
That we, who lie here, did as we were ordered.
Stranger, bring the message to the Spartans that here
We remain, obedient to their orders.
Oh foreigner, tell the Lacedaemonians
That here we lie, obeying their words.
Go, tell the Spartans, passerby,
that here by Spartan law we lie.
Go, tell the Spartans
stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to Spartan law,
we dead of Sparta lie
