Nerd Notes: Warrior Scholars of World War II

Meet Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) and some of his remarkable peers in this captivating obituary. I am utterly charmed.  Leigh Fermor, by the way, managed to kidnap a Nazi general on Crete and quote the Roman poet Horace in almost the same breath.  Hail and farewell, sir!  Ave atque vale!

Nerd Notes: At Commencement, Are You an Athenian or a Visigoth?

Here's fascinating, though undelivered, commencement address.  Link via Stones Cry Out.

Nerd News: "Reading Aquinas in Latin on horseback"

Fascinating.

What's In a Name: Operation Odyssey Dawn (aka Rhododaktylos Tomahawk Missiles)

I have to admit that I rolled my eyes at the name of the Libyan mission.  I wasn't fast enough with the snarking, though, because someone else beat me to the punchline:

But, seriously, Operation Odyssey Dawn?  Sounds like a Twilight sequel.

Heh!  Well, it's a silly name that manages to be both pie-eyed hopeychangey and yet pretentious of substance, but what do you expect from the sorts of people who are running this?  Besides, it wouldn't be the first goofy name for an operation. 

But Odyssey Dawn, Odyssey Dawn ... In that awesome ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey, Eos, the Dawn personified as a goddess, shows up a lot, and she's called "rosy-fingered Dawn."  Who knew it would take Obamessiah, vaunted Nobel Peace Prize winner, to turn "rosy" into "bloody"?  Rhododaktylos Tomahawk missiles, man!  Of course, she's also "saffron-robed Dawn," and maybe that's for Qaddafi's mustard gas.  So ... WWHD -- What Would Homer Do?  Probably send Diomedes -- and just Diomedes, ancient Greek equivalent of Chuck Norris -- against Qaddafi and then watch the ensuing beatdown on pay-per-view.  But I digress.  

OK, one more comment because I can't resist: The leftist peacemongers might as well flip out now because, lest we forget, the most famous war in Homer lasted for TEN WHOLE YEARS.  As for Odysseus, protagonist of the Odyssey, he was at Troy for ten years, and then he spent ANOTHER TEN YEARS trying to get home afterwards.

Freedom and the Greek Inheritance

Here are some interesting thoughts from French philosopher Andre Gluckmann.