"Here is Rhodes, jump here" (through the hoops of political correctness). A graduate of Oriel College, Oxford University, sent me this statement<\/a> concerning the Rhodes Must Fall petition. A memorial to Cecil Rhodes, that is. Can you say Der Untergang des Abendlandes<\/em>? "Here is Rhodes, jump here." From <\/span>Aesop's Fables<\/span><\/a> #209, "The Boastful Athlete." A man who had been off in foreign lands returns home. He brags of his exploits. He claims that in Rhodes he made a long jump the likes of which had never been seen before. A skeptical bystander calls him on his boast: Here's your Rhodes, jump here!<\/span><\/p>\n The moral? Put your money where your mouth is. Don't talk about it, do it!<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps an erudite classicist such as <\/span>Mike Gilleland<\/span><\/a> could say more on this topic. He would have to do at least the following: dig up all the ancient sources in Greek and Latin; trace the saying in Erasmus and Goethe; comment on Hegel's variation on the saying in the Vorrede zur Philosophie des Rechts<\/em>, explaining why he has saltus<\/em> for salta<\/em>; find and comment on Marx's comment on Hegel's employment of the saying.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, if Alan Rhoda were to rename his cleverly titled, but now defunct, weblog <\/span>Alanyzer<\/span><\/a> — and I'm not saying he should — he might consider Hic Rhoda, Hic Salta<\/em>. He is a very tall man; I'm 6' 1'' and had to look up to see his face when I met him in Las Vegas some years back. To jump over him would be quite a feat.<\/span><\/p>\n UPDATE<\/strong> 12\/19: Dave Lull, argonaut nonpareil of cyberspace and friend and facilitator of bloggers, informs me that Dr. Gilleland has taken note<\/a> of my call for an erudite classicist. This bibliomaniac, antediluvian, and curmudgeon does not, however, consider himself "truly erudite." If his self-deprecatory consideration is just, then he had me fooled.<\/span><\/p>\n As for Mr. Lull, here<\/a> is a tribute to him.<\/span><\/p>\n Related articles<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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