HOW THE SPARTANS DIED AT THERMOPYLE. 153

or, in plain prose, “Stranger, tell the Lacedsemo-
nians that we lie here, in obedience to their orders.”
On the hillock where the last of the faithful band
died was erected a monument with a marble lion in
honor of Leonidas, while on it was carved the fol-
lowing epitaph, written by the poet Simonides:

“In dark Thermopyle they lie.
Oh, death of glory, thus to die!
Their tomb an altar is, their name
A mighty heritage of fame.
Their dirge is triumph; cankering rust,
And time, that turneth all to dust,
That tomb shall never waste nor hide,—
The tomb of warriors true and tried.
The full-voiced praise of Greece around
Lies buried in this sacred mound ;
‘Where Sparta’s king, Leonidas,
In death eternal glory has!”