Who composed the famous epitaph for the Spartans at Thermopylae?

Simonides of Ceos composed the famous epitaph for the Spartans who died at Thermopylae. The short Greek poem asks a passer-by to tell the Lacedaemonians that the fallen lie there, obedient to their orders.

Simonides was an influential Greek lyric poet who lived roughly from 556 to 468 BC. He became especially renowned for commemorative poetry about the Persian Wars, including verses honoring the dead at Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. The Thermopylae epitaph was written in the elegant elegiac couplet form commonly used for ancient funerary inscriptions.

The wording is often translated as “Go tell the Spartans, passer-by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie.” The Greek text has variant readings, including “words” rather than “laws.” Scholars also note that the poem is usually attributed to Simonides, although its authorship is not absolutely certain. That qualification does not change the standard answer used in general-history quizzes.