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George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism.

 Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan.

 He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond.

Byron's notability rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured aristocratic excesses, huge debts, numerous love affairs, and self-imposed exile.

Lord Byron obtained a reputation as being extravagant, melancholic, courageous, unconventional, eccentric and controversial. He was independent and given to extremes of temper; on at least one trip, his traveling companions were so puzzled by his mood swings they thought he was mentally ill. He enjoyed adventure, especially relating to the sea.

The first recorded notable example of open water swimming took place on May 3rd 1810 when Lord Byron swam from Europe To Asia across the Hellespont Straight.  This is often seen as the birth of the sport and past time and to commemorate it, the event is recreated every year as an open water swimming event.

 Byron was a bitter opponent of Lord Elgin's removal of the Parthenon marbles from Greece, and "reacted with fury" when Elgin's agent gave him a tour of the Parthenon, during which he saw the missing friezes and metopes. He penned a poem, The Curse of Minerva, to denounce Elgin's actions

Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria.

 He later travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero.

He died from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece.

                           When a Man Hath No Freedom to Fight for at Home

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,

Let him combat for that of his neighbours;

Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,

And get knocked on his head for his labours.

To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,

And is always as nobly requited;

Then battle for freedom wherever you can,

And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.

GEORGE GORDON BYRON, 1820

Hath=has=έχει Freedom=ελευθερία Combat=αγωνίζομαι Glories=δόξες Labors=αγώνες

Mankind=ανθρωπότητα Chivalrous=ιπποτικό Plan=σχέδιο Nobly=ευγενικά Requited=ανταποδίδεται Battle=δώσε μάχη Freedom=ελευθερία Knighted= γίνομαι ιππότης