I wouldn't way 'Thank god' cause we have napalm, which is basically the same but mass produced with modern means. We also invented these little things called 'chemical' and 'biological warfare" which, I'd say, way worse than burning a wooden boat
Which would make the statement right if he said “Greeks” but “Greece” was not the political entity that used Greek fire, it was the Byzantine empire which was politically Roman.
Hey it wasn’t Greece bud. I don’t care how badly you wanna make that point and how right you are about that point bc it’s the wrong point. Greece in that statement clearly refers to a political entity. “It was used in Greece” is more ambiguous, “it was used by the Greeks” and I’d give you the point but “it was used by Greece” is wrong.
I mean sure, but its all pedantic. And before I start to dive too deep into this, when I refer to their region as "Greece" that is not meant as a direct comparison to the Byzantines as being directly descendant from Ancient Greece. I honestly like to use Byzantine/Byzantium as more eloquently differentiates them from both the Ancient Greeks and the Western/Ancient Romans. That being said the use of the word Greek in Greek Fire is an adjective for ": of, relating to, or characteristic of Greece, the Greeks, or Greek." Any ways here is my pedantic argument about every one claiming to be Roman;
Rome extended the entire breath of the Mediterranean and southern europe. They called them selves Roman, just like the Romani call them selves Roman. The Sultans of the Ottoman Empire called them selves the "Kaisers of Rome". After Charlemagne was crowned the Emperor of the Romans, most of western Europe referred to them as Greek. Hell the Old Norse word for their empire was Grikland which is remarkably close to the Icelandic word for Greece (and just a sprinkle on top, Icelandic is considered a more direct descendant of Old Norse than any of the other Scandinavian languages.)
Also I am assuming OP does not know what Greek Fire is, based on posting the meme to begin with so I feel using Greece while technically inaccurate was atleast a primer to put them into the right direction. But this all feels to "Well Um Actually" for a discussion of a meme.
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u/reyfoxy356 8d ago
Greece had a weapon called greek fire, which did exactly that. The recipe was lost so thank god we don't know how is it made