About the Book
"On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other fields on other days will bear the fruits of victory."
General Douglas MacArthur
The Story
It is the 75th Olympiad by Greek reckoning. The strongest, fastest, quickest and most agile men in Hellas gather at Olympia to celebrate life through athletic competition. Every four years the Greeks declare their sacred truce and ban war and conflict from their borders for the duration of the games. That same year, 480 BCE by our reckoning, the Persian Empire rules the known world save for that small peninsula dominated by a dozen democratic city-states. To avenge the defeat of his father on the Plain of Marathon 10 years earlier, Xerxes, the Great King amasses an army a million men strong to bring these free states to heel. With no regard to the sacred truce, Xerxes and his Immortals continue their steady march to smother democracy. Amid the cheering crowds, the sweat, dust and blood of the Elean fields of friendly strife, and threatened by the impending clash of armies with the fate of Western Civilization in the balance, two men, one a boxer, the other a poet come to the revelation that the true worth of a man is based on more than what he does for himself.Read about 'the film.'
"They can take everything you own, everything you cherish and hold dear, but they cannot take your dignity unless you let them. There is a light in the heart of darkness."
Bronislaw Czech was born a Polish highlander in 1908 with skiing in his blood. He races with the wind and jumps with the eagles that watch over the Tatra Mountains. A friend of freedom and the bane of the Third Reich, when Germany invades Poland in 1939, his mountain skills make him a valuable asset to the Polish underground and a target for the SS.
From the majesty of Europe's greatest mountains to the shores of America and back ... from the height of Olympic glory to the depths of human cruelty and suffering, The Hamsa spans four decades of one man's struggle to preserve his dignity in the face of 'the final solution.' The wait is over. E. S. Kraay's next book: The Hamsa. Available fall 2010.
In August 2008, Mr. Kraay was interviewed by Hellenic Public Radio, COSMO S FM 91.5 in New York City. The interview was conducted by Amalia Goros. The conversation offers interesting insights into the book and the purpose behind it when it was written. Click on the COSMOS logo to listen to the interview.
The 300 Spartan Warriors Interview 
October 2008.
Mr. Kraay's interview with John Trikeriotis, well-known Thermopylae expert and member of the Leonidas Expedition. Mr. Trikeriotis explores the book, the writing craft and the ancient world of Hellas through a series of thought-provoking questions.
"Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own ."
Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887), clergyman, social reformer
from
The Olympian: A Tale of Ancient Hellas
Page 2 – “The worth of a man’s life is made more complete by the depth of his knowledge and his willingness to share it with others.”
Page 4 – “… the true champion is made of firmer stuff than just the meat that clings to his bones. The true champion competes for more than personal glory and for stakes much higher than a crown of leaves that will wither and fall from the vine.”
Page 10 – “When a man accepts his death as imminent, he is inclined to cling more tightly to his life.”
Page 11 – “Why bother to weep for no man can change what has been ordained in heaven.”
Page 20 – “Even as the great Hesiod has written: neither famine nor disaster ever haunts men who do true justice.”
Page 30 – “… the earth’s song is pure and untainted as life awakens each morning.”
Page 57 – “Age had not stolen her beauty though her long hair was streaked with gray.”
Page 80 – “Those things that occur to us in our youth are carried with us to our graves.”
Page 85 – “If wisdom comes with age, then he is a wise man and we welcome his counsel.”
Page 87 – “There are things that never change. Among them: whenever three or more men convene – no matter their origin, no matter their calling in life, regardless of their ages – at some point the conversation turns to the games [sports].”
Page 88 – “Athletic competition is a perfect reflection of life… and death. In each competition, the winner is born; the losers die… Man is born to die and his immortal fate will reflect the life he has lived on earth…”
Page 89 – “Each competitor’s loss is death, and each man’s victory celebrates life. It is pure and simple. Athletic competition reminds us of who we are and that our very existence is as fragile as a fine piece of pottery.”
Page 91 – “Educated men build strong nations.”
Page 100 – “The god’s give every bird its food, but they do not throw it into the nest.”
Page 101 – “Safe journey to you, Simonides, and may the gods indeed protect us all, but if they don’t, Sparta will.”
Page 119 – “For every great man there is one better.”
Page 120 – “When a man’s emotions take control of his brain, he loses at love and at war!”
Page 122 – “As men have faith in the gods, so too does Leonidas believe that the gods have faith in men!”
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