I. SUBJECT
Gates of Fire is a novel about the Battle of Thermopylae that takes place in ancient Greece. The novel began by focusing on its protagonist, Xeones, who had died in the Battle of Thermopylae. The Greek god Apollo resurrected him from death so that he could tell the Persian king, Xerxes, the story of his life. Xeones story started when he was just a young boy. His town was betrayed and conquered by one of their allies. He avoided being killed by escaping to the mountains with his cousin, Diomache, and his family’s slave, Bruxieus. The three lived on the mountains for two or three years before Bruxieus became very sick and died. Because of this, Diomache and Xeones decided to go to Athens. Xeones then decided to leave Athens and go to Sparta while Diomache decided to stay.
In Sparta, Xeones became a helot and he was given to a Spartan soldier named Dienekes. Xeones was trained to fight like a Spartan and later became Dienekes’s battle squire. When Xeones was about twenty, the Spartan king, Leonidas, announced that three hundred Spartan men would be sent on a suicide mission to Thermopylae to hold off the invading Persian army. Dienekes was chosen to go. On the first and second day of battle, many Persians were killed, but only a few Greeks. At the end of the second day, Xerxes found a secret path where part of his army could go through and completely surround the Greeks on the next day. Leonidas was informed of this and sent a group of Spartans, including Xeones and Dienekes, on an unsuccessful mission to kill Xerxes. On the third day, the Persians surrounded the Spartans and they all were killed.
Xeones immediately died after he finished his story. His body was brought to Diomache in Athens. She cremated his body and...
... middle of paper ...
...ll the story of the Battle of Thermopylae. This makes it historical fiction.
The subgenre in Gates of Fire is adventure story. Adventure story is “A story in which action- often exterior, usually physical, and frequently violent- is the predominant material, stressed above characterization, motivation, or theme. Suspense is engendered by the question “What will happen next?” rather than “Why?” or “To whom?”” (6). Due to the fact this novel was mainly about war, it would be considered adventure. It left me wondering exactly what the quote stated, “What will happen next?”.
Works Cited
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Pressfield, Steven. Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae. New York: Bantam, 1998. Print
Pressfield, Steven. Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermpoylae. New York: Doubleday
Gardner, Judy. "Literature." Library Journal 15 May 1982: 997. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. .
The crux of the play, the causal factor to all the following events is how the new King Creon deals with the dead traitor Polynices, brother of Antigone. The decree not to bury the corpse must be considered from the viewpoint of a 5th Century Athenian, watching this play. The Antigone was written during a time of great strife for the city of Athens and they were in the middle of their conflict with the Spartans. At a time such as this , concern for the city was foremost in a citizen's mind. Creon's decree not to bury him at this stage then is right. Essentially not burying a body, any body, is an offence to the gods, and the persons spirit will not be able to go down to the underworld and cross the River Styx and Archeron. However, the Greeks believed that for some the sentence was deserved. The sentence of non-burial is appropriate in this case, as the Greeks believed that "those convicted of sa...
Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. Print.
“Anabasis” represents the best adventure of the Greeks confronting the “barbarian” world. Through his narration in the expedition, Xenophon offers a unique insight to the ritual of the ancient Greek army. The character of the Greek generals, culture of Greek military and religion are described in “Anabasis”. However, Xenophon conceals his authorship by using third-person forms to refer to his own actions during the retreat. He presents himself as one of the most influential role in the Greek army and which a large proportion of the books are centered on him. After Book Three onwards, it was suspected that Xenophon was writing an apologia about his vital role in the expedition and to oppose his critics. He was trying to defend his criticisms over the last few books. He conveyed his royalty to the Greeks and only acted for their benefit.
Before Xeones became a squire he tells of the agoge, which is the thirteen year training program for the Spartan youth. He tells about Alexandros and how they became close friends through the years of training. When Xeones becomes Dienekes squire all of his duties change and he started to see more of the battles. He tells of the many battles he was at and what they were like. Xeones explains the bravery of the Spartans when they were in battle and what the individual soldiers were like. Eventually the Spartans learn that the Persian army was coming to take over all of Greece. Xeones then explains what the Spartans did to prepare for the invasion. The Spartan army sent a group of three hundred highly trained soldiers to Thermopylae to defend the pass until the rest of Greece could prepare their armies.
Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. An Introduction to Literature. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.
Booth, Alison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. A7
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
Abrams, M.H. and Greenblatt, Stephen eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001.
6th ed. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Gerald Kennedy, J. "Vol. 63, No. 2 (Jun., 1991) , Pp. 187-207." American Literature. No. 4 ed.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Creon however does not become king. The power of kingship falls into the hands of Oedipus’s two sons, Eteocles and Polynices. In a fight over power Eteocles and Polynices die at each other’...
The fire represents the domination and manipulation of nature and therefore the return to civility. It is important to note that the fire is in a new location. The new fire represents a new society engineered by Piggy and founded upon knowledge.