noblesse oblige or nobility is an obligation - French nobility had that saying not too long ago - or that with rights come obligations, so so I will have to add this small but material information about the Katyn Forest Monument/Memorial in Jersey City.
But first let me remind you about the Illiad - the Trojan War epic of the ancient Hellenes and the finest epic of all times ever sung and written down - by Homer, where funeral rites and veneration of the fallen heroes figure prominently and where we find one of the first references to the concept of noblesse oblige.
 |
| Glaucus / Glaukos |
 |
| Patroclus kills Sarpedon with Glaukos fighting over the fallen king and companion |
Namely, there is a speech by the Trojan ally king Sarpedon, a Lycian king, and his companion in arms Glaucus/Glaukos
In Chapman's verse:
 |
| Book XII Illiad - Sarpedon's speech |
"Why boast we, Glaucus! our extended reign
Where Xanthus' streams enrich the Lycian plain,
Our numerous herds that range the fruitful field,
And hills where vines their purple harvest yield,
Our foaming bowls with purer nectar crown'd,
Our feasts enhanced with music's sprightly sound?
Why on those shores are we with joy survey'd,
Admired as heroes, and as gods obey'd,
Unless great acts superior merit prove,
And vindicate the bounteous powers above?
'Tis ours, the dignity they give to grace;
The first in valour, as the first in place;
That when with wondering eyes our martial bands
Behold our deeds transcending our commands,
Such, they may cry, deserve the sovereign state,
Whom those that envy dare not imitate!
Could all our care elude the gloomy grave,
Which claims no less the fearful and the brave,
For lust of fame I should not vainly dare
In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war.
But since, alas! ignoble age must come,
Disease, and death's inexorable doom
The life, which others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe;
Brave though we fall, and honour'd if we live,
Or let us glory gain, or glory give!"
Book XII - Pope's translation
 |
| death of Sarpedon |
In the Gospel of Luke, 12:28, Jesus said -
"From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required (demanded); and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
***
Ergo, one must continue the Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial topic - and organize more Polonians around the world to fight for this monument - eg Polish-American writer Alex Storozynski on Twitter.
More importantly I discovered that the Katyn Forest massacre contains an urn with ashes of Polish officers murdered in the Soviet prisoner camps. So this makes this monument even more special and unique,as it is a Fallen Soldier Monument apart from being a work of art commemorating this Soviet genocide.
The information on the urn inside is not mentioned on Wikipedia, just that the monument base contains soil from Katyn Forest Massacre in there.
 |
| source of the page-image |
Valete!
