Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Pyrric Saltatio

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Pyrric Saltatio
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Plato referred to "dances of war": pyrrhic dances. "Dance" used defensively: postures to swerve, duck, side-leap, upwards-leaps, crouching: to avoid projectiles, swords, etc., similar moves used offensively. An army rythmically united into a phlanx of synchronized archers, synchronized javelins, synchronized pikes, synchronized swordsmen, and a synchronized cavalry. Swords and shields collide, disarray ensues, but as with dance, the soldiers retreat in orderly fashion, regroup, and attack in an orderly fashion, attacking again and again, the attacks and retreats synchronized to military music. A military that is highly disciplined to a choreographed war.

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