I. Subject Gates of Fire is a story about the Spartan way of life and their fight to protect their country. The story is told by a dying Spartan squire named Xeones, who was captured by the Persian army after the battle at Thermopylae. He is telling the story to the Persian king. The story took place around 480 B.C. Xeones began the story in a small town where he grew up called Astakos. He tells of how his town was destroyed and how he was taken in by the Spartans. Eventually he became a servant for a Spartan youth name Alexandros, who was the protégé of Dienekes. Xeones finally became a squire for the Spartan officer Dienekes. 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. Dienekes was one of the three hundred sent so Xeones went with him. Xeones explains the battle and how the Spartans fought until the last man was killed. Xeones tells of how he was meant to be the only survivor so that he could tell the story of the Spartans bravery. Because of the S... ... middle of paper ... ...is because it is told by Xeones at the beginning of the story. The soldiers eventually know that they will fight the Persian army but they do not know that three hundred of them will be responsible for eventually defeating the Persian Empire and saving their country. IX. Genre The main genre of Gates of Fire is historical fiction. Historical fiction “is a fiction whose setting is sometime other than that in which it is written” (Harmon 250). Pressfield bases the story directly off of events from the past. The Spartans existed and the battle at Thermopylae actually happened. Gates of Fire can also be classified as military fiction. Military fiction is “I need to get a quote for this”. The story is based off of the Spartan army. It describes the many different aspects of the army, including the training, battles, and social aspect of the military.
The Role of Themistocles in the Greek Defeat of the Persians in 480 - 479 BC.
“No man ever proves himself a good man in war unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter, go against the enemy and fight with his hands.” The preceding was quoted from “The Spartan creed” by the poet Tyrtaeus. There are two authors in this primary resource reading which include Tyrtaeus as well as Xenophon, whom authored “The laws and customs of the Spartans”. These two works give great detail to the Spartan society. As history has presented it, Sparta was a smaller polis and yet was one of the most, if not most, influential societies in history. What we know of this culture comes to us from excavation of its heritage as well as literary works such as these. But are these “eyes” into history factual and creditable enough to base our own interpretations of such a masterful race? These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion. This lacking may have been due to both writer’s motives for their work.
As citizens of the United States of America, we are often blind to not only the current traditions of foreign nations, but also the historical traditions of early civilizations. For instance, many have heard of the Greek city-state Sparta; however, do they truly understand the impact of Spartan civilization in history? Sparta is quite unique in its structure and development, and its history offers valuable insight to early Greek civilization. In his novel Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield works diligently to uncover the realities of life in Sparta during the Persian Wars. Though the novel is a work of fiction, Gates of Fire is astoundingly accurate in its historical detail, and offers readers the opportunity to have a greater comprehension and
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.
Hellenic culture in the Spartan community was that of a humble elite. True Spartan culture is well captured in Xenophon’s work, Spartan Society, as he wrote of how this elitist society viewed not only themselves, but the other countries around them. This work shines light into the three-part worldview of the ancient, Hellenic Spartans of: humanism, idealism, and rationalism. As Xenophon begins to write over the whole of the Spartan society it can be seen how the Spartans lived out the worldview of this Hellenistic society. This living out of the worldview recorded in Xenophon’s, Spartan Society, illustrates their worldview through the noting of Lycurgus’ accomplishments and the contrast of the “other.”
“Anabasis” is the Xenophon’s account of the expedition for Cyrus against Persian and the marching home of Greeks. The Greek title of Xenophon’s work, “Anabasis”, referred to a march up country, away from the coast. The title applies only to the first of its seven books. It all ends with the death of Cyrus at the Battle of Cuxana. The Greek mercenary soldiers were left stranded in the “barbarian” world. The rest of the books involves with tales of the Greeks’ discipline, leadership and courage during their journey home. Xenophon’s narrative offers an insight of the character and their political life of a Greek army. Although Xenophon seems to write about the account between the Greek and the barbarian, he presents himself as an important role in the Greek army throughout the rest of the books. He uses a third-person form when describing his own actions as a character. It might suggest that Xenophon is writing an apologia to defend himself and to show his vital role in the expedition.
The decision of Achilleus is a crucial moment in understanding how fate works in epic (Homerian) literature. Thetis tells Achilleus of his opportunity to win renown as the greatest warrior of all time, earning glory through his fearless acts in battle against a foe who is sure to overcome the Achaians. The fate of ten years of attack on Troy hinge upon the decision of Achilleus, who is given the choice to win glory for the Achaians and, more importantly, himself.
The Battle of Thermopylae began in 480 BC and was a product of the Greeks attempt help defend the Ionians from the Persians. This irritated the Persian Emperor, Xerxes, because he thought of Greece as a small kingdom that had no place revolting against the Persian Empire. The Athenians sympathized with the Ionians because the Persians had also tried to invade Greece on multiple occasions. The Athenians provided feeble help to the Ionians and in retaliation the Persians struck at athens (23B). Xerxes was known to be irrational with his temper, and may have thought of his invasion as retaliation for the fact that his father, Darius the Great, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon against the Greeks. His temper was so great that at Hellas Point he had the water whipped because it would not obey him (E49). One of several Greek war leaders in the Battle of Thermopylae was Leonidas, the second born son of King Anaxandridas. It was not until his half brother was killed under controversial circumstances that Leonidas rose to power (G72). Apart from misconceptions spread by the popular film “300,” the three hundred Spartans did not go into battle alone, and were accompanied by over eight hundred allies. Nevertheless, the Persians still outnumbered the Greeks ten to one, which is why it is incredible that the Greeks were able to hold them for three days before eventually losing that specific battle. Despite losing the battle in terms of soldiers and defending greece, the battle of thermopylae was somewhat successful in that it was a demonstration of the courage of greek soldiers, impressive battle tactics,
On March 26, 1997, in what has become known as one of the most noteworthy mass suicides in history, thirty-nine men and women affiliated with the Heavens Gate cult took their own lives by ingesting a combination of Phenobarbitals mixed with applesauce and alcohol. Each was dressed all in black, their faces covered by a purple shroud. Those who wore glasses had them neatly folded next to their body, and all had identification papers for the authorities to find. The house was immaculate, tidier even than before the victims had moved in. It was as if, in preparing for their death, they were heeding the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” And while their abrupt end may seem rather strange, the way they lived is even more perplexing.
The story of 300, based off the Battle of Thermopylae, where there were 300 Greeks that fought. Leonidas takes the throne after his brother, Dorieus, passes unexpectedly on an expedition to Sicily having no male heir to take his place. Leonidas marries Cleomenes’ daughter, Gorgo. Years later, the Persians invaded Greece while the new king was not expecting it. Darius of Persia dies in battle and has to give his thrown to his son, Xerxes. Xerxes becomes well known for his expedition against Greece in 480 BC. The 300 Greeks that are mentioned are not the only Greeks that fought in battle, there were other Greek allies such as, the Tespians, Thebans, some of the
During the 5th century BC, the Persian Empire was embroiled in military conflict, as the Persian Empire was attempting to rule the Greek city states. During early 5th century BC, which ranged from 499 BC to 449 BC, one Persian military leader, Mardonius, was regarded as one of the bravest and most trusted of all Persian military commanders. Mardonius, who shared a close relationship with the King Darius I and King Xerxes of Persia, was an ambitious man, who rose through the Persian military ranks to become a trustworthy military commander, who fought on behalf of the Persian Empire, to conquer the Greek city-states and promote the ideas of further expansion of the Persian Empire.
As such, it is possible that in writing his “version” of events Xenophon used The Persian Expedition as an apologia. Xenophon’s writing centers around himself and his greatness. His purpose could also have been simply to record the events and people of the expedition. As a military history, it could be seen to exemplify a Socratic philosophy while teaching the principles of leadership and government shown by an army. Both purposes are difficult to substantiate as Xenophon did not state his formal purpose for writing. However, one could argue that this book gave Philip of Macedon the belief that a small, disciplined Greek army could overtake a much larger Persian army generations after its
This was a scare tactic, they thought that maybe the Greeks would see the size of their fleet and just give up. Adding to that tactic, the Persians also kept their best soldiers in the front middle because they knew if the middle collapses, this would cause the surrounding army to collapse from the inside out. The Athenians did not get scared, and also seemed to have the geographical advantage (top of the mountain). The battle of marathon did not turn out how the Persians expected, they lost about 6,000 men, a significantly less amount than the Athenians. This gave the Athenians confidence and support from surrounding
The Greek crescent turned into a circle, completely surrounding the Persians. At that, Xerxes ordered his fleet to retreat, and off they went back to their camp to try and devise a plan for the oncoming days.
The strengths and weaknesses of the Athenian character traits laid out in the “Funeral Oration” are exemplified by the character of Creon in Sophocles’ Antigone, and suggest that Athenians held certain concerns in the Golden Age of their empire.