The Roles of Greek Heroism and the Gods in the Persian Wars

This strategy is what brought victory, and in turn, was a moral victory for the Athens and eradicated the impression that Persians were unbeatable. Th... ... middle of paper ... ...he Persian army, which gave way for the Spartans to shine at Plataea. So without the Athenian naval ships fighting, the war would have been lost as the Greek superior hoplites would have been outweighed by the incredible numbers of the Persians. The war against the Persians was won by both the efforts of Athens and Sparta, but the contribution made by Athens was much more important. The battles at Marathon and Salamis showed that Athens was not second place to Sparta and was capable of holding up their end of the battle.

The Persian fleet was protecting the land forces from being outflanked and after they were defeated the longer had that protection. While the Greeks had very few overall victories in battle they did have some strategic victories. The Battle of Thermopylae is an example of a strategic success for the Greeks. The morale of the Persian army was extremely affected by the stout resistance put up by King Leonidas and his fellow Spartans. The Greeks fought so hard against overwhelming odds because of what they were fighting for.

The key to a successful Greek society is a balance between faith in the gods and faith in common sense. The Greek gods were simultaneously both responsible for the downfall and success of many Greek city-states. While providing immense support for daily and political life, the gods were often a huge hindrance in foreign affairs, especially in regards to war. In Greek life, the gods were the glue of the society, suppressing the selfish personalities common to Greece and pushing the society to work together as a cohesive unit. On the battle field, however, it was often the side who's sole power was a just faith in the gods who perished.

One of those traits is that although Athenian citizens and soldiers live a more leisurely life and are not trained as rigorously as the Spartans in land warfare, Athenians’ natural courage makes up for that (Thucydides pg. 42). Athens was definitely the dominant naval power in Greece at the time, but the Athenians’ devaluing of land warfare led to a stalemate in the first phase of the Peloponnesian War before the Peace of Nicias in which Sparta ravaged Athens’ countryside and forced its citizens to be holed up in the city walls and to live in close quarters, making them susceptible to the plague. Another trait of Athens that can be argued as not a positive factor is its institution of democracy. Athenian democracy was quite limited in the modern sense since its citizenry only included ethnic Athenian males over the age of 20, but it was remarkable in the ancient world for the amount of civic participation it allowed of those that it considered citizens.

During the Persian war, the Spartans were thriving in their fight against the Persians, however over time the Persians began to grow stronger. After being to lose their fighting streak, the Athenians came in to help the Spartans and bring an end to Persian dominance once and for all (The Delian League, 1). After defeating the Persians in 449 B.C., the... ... middle of paper ... ... one another until they were no more. From the Persian War to the Peloponnesian the two states had changed a lot of the years. Starting from their greatest alliance yet first moment of subtle rivalry, the Persian War.

In early fifth century BC Greece, the Greeks consistently suffered from the threat of being conquered by the Persian Empire. Between the years 500-479 BC, the Greeks and the Persians fought two wars. Although the Persian power vastly surpassed the Greeks, the Greeks unexpectedly triumphed. In this Goliath versus David scenario, the Greeks as the underdog, defeated the Persians due to their heroic action, divine support, and Greek unity. The threat of the Persian Empire's expansion into Greece and the imminent possibility that they would lose their freedom and become subservient to the Persians, so horrified the Greeks that they united together and risked their lives in order to preserve the one thing they all shared in common, their "Greekness".

Without the efforts of George Canning, the British government would not have agreed to help the Greek and would have remained a strict neutral party. Despite all the inhumane things the Turks committed, the British government refused to give to the Greeks because of the King’s proclamation. If Canning had not replied, the Greeks would not have started their revolution. Lord Byron and George Canning contributed greatly during the revolution and their efforts paid off, but they were not the only two philhellenes that had contributed. Britons, such as Colonel Gordon Thomas and Sir Richard Church, personally went to Greece and fought with them during the revolution.

After rebuilding and fortifying the city, the Athenians made peace with Persia in 449BC. The oath of Plataea no longer seemed necessary, and a popular Athenian politician, Pericles, began advances to persuade the Athenians to rebuild the temples of Athens. Pericles wanted to discuss rebuilding the temples and guarding the oceans with the other states in the Delian League. Howeve... ... middle of paper ... ... after so many violent wars, their city was still here. So to conclude, I believe that national pride was hugely important in the building of the Parthenon, and although it seems that religion took a lower priority, it may have been just as important as national pride in the building of the Parthenon.

In the 480-479 BC there was great anxiety about the strength and magnitude of the Persian threat. Although the Greeks had managed to force Persians retreat from the Greek mainland, the danger of reconquest by the Persians was still present. In the battle of Plataea (479 BC), the Greeks, under the Spartan regent and general Pausanians, obliterated the Persian army. The Greeks also won a naval victory at Mycale. Although the war drugged on for many years, these two victories marked the end of the Persian threat to Europe and the beginning of the period of Greek greatness.

In fact most of the Macedonian emperors caused many problems from reversing economic policies, sparking religious controversy, and letting the empire’s land holdings erode but because of the massive popularity of the dynasty allowed this to happen without a thought of a revolt. Unfortunately the lasting impact of the Macedonian Dynasty was failure instead of success. Matters of the military were somewhat successful during the Macedonian dynasty itself, but even the successes would leave openings for later problems to occur. Basil I saw moderate success in Italy and Asia Minor however the city of Syracuse fell to the Arabs in 878 (Gregory 2010, 247). Unfortunately Leo VI’s reign was less successful in military matters than his father’s reign.