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The history of the battle of thermopylae
The history of the battle of thermopylae
The history of the battle of thermopylae
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300 Spartans
About 2500 years ago, the ancient Greeks and Persians started the Battle of Thermopylae. During this battle, there was a great army that we call them the Brave 300. This army was 300 great soldiers that led by their king Leonidas, and they were so brave that they fought against more than one 1 million Persians by themselves. Even though they were defeated, their story was spread everywhere around the world, and people have wrote tons of books and made movies about them. So some people start questioning that did the Spartans deserve all the attention that history gave them? After learning the history of the Battle of Thermopylae and watching the movie of the Brave 300, I believe that the Spartans did deserve all the attention that
history gave them. Here are several reasons that show why the Spartans deserve all the attention that history gave them. Firstly, they always fought for Sparta and freedom. The Spartans were willing to die as free men rather than to submit to tyranny (Hanson, Victor Davis). Here, by Spartan law, we lie (Snyder). The 300 Spartan soldiers were fighting for their lands, for their families, for honor, for duty, for glory, for freedom, until death. Secondly, the spirit of the 300 Spartans influenced the world. Unlike other people, the Spartans think that it’s an honor to die for their country and their freedom. In the movie “300”, even though the Spartans were defeated, the story that bold Leonidas and his 300 was spread everywhere around the Greece. They laid down their lives not only for Sparta but for all Greece and the promise this country holds. All the Greeks were inspired by the Spirit of Leonidas and his 300, that they finally stood up and fought with the Persians. In the movie “300”, right before the battle of Plataea started, Dilios, which is the only one that came back from the Battle of Thermopylae, said “this day, we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine. Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300. To victory!”. The 300 Spartans died, but their spirit lives forever. This is why the Spartans deserve all the attention that history gave them. This is what we should learn from them, that is, we fight for freedom!
The Battle of Thermopylae was the first between the Greeks and Persians during the Persian invasion of 480 – 479BC. The Greek force was very small compared to the Persians but was determined to make a stand against the huge army of 300,000 Persians suggested by modern historians compared to Herodotus account of the army consisting of 1700 000 men. The Greeks chose to defend a narrow pass, or gap, between the mountains of central Greece and the sea, called Thermopylae.
If you’ve heard of the Exodus or the Iliad, then you’ve heard of Moses and Achilles. They're both considered the protagonist of their respectable stories and their both seen as the leader and hero of their people. They both show courage and greatness at the end of their stories, but do they really show it in the beginning? That is the journey that both Moses and Achilles take throughout their career. Their careers are considered glorious because their culture and society deems it so. They are considered examples human excellence and set the standards for acceptable human behavior in their respectable culture and society. Both Moses and Achilles face conflict on their separate journey of achieving personal and moral excellence in their journey,
The Battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862 at Sharpsburg, Maryland while George McClellan was the commander for the Union, and Robert E. Lee was the commander for the Army of Northern Virginia. The Battle of Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles that were ever recorded during the civil war with the loss of more than 23,000 soldiers all together. The main reason why the battle occurred was because Robert E Lee wanted to invade the north because he wanted to prove himself to the Europeans that the Confederacy did have the political and economic power to take out the Union. As for Abraham Lincoln he did not want Europe to enter the war, so initially the battle of Antietam became about the Emancipation Proclamation to stop and help the war over slavery come to an end. The Battle of Antietam is a significant piece of history that not only allowed the Emancipation Proclamation for freeing slaves but it also brought a huge victory win to Abraham Lincoln.
Spartan Women prove the old saying, behind every great man is a great women, to be true. Everyone has heard of the Spartan warrior men and their courageous battles. What about the women that stood behind those men, the ones who birthed those men, married those men? Spartan women helped to shape, protect, and form the society that they lived in.
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.”
“A New Historicist article… teases out the many contributing causes that brought about disparate social elements in that way” (Mays, 2352). The movie shows the build-up to the battle of 300 Spartan soldiers against the armies of Persia, albeit in artistic and stylized manner. It covers the tensions and political drama that led to the clashing of men, as well as showing the historical context in which it took place. “..New Historicism doubts the accessibility of the past, insisting that all we have is discourse” (Mays, 2351). 300 doesn’t concern itself with trying to trying to access the past, but puts on an artistic representation of what happened that can be discussed in a modern
The battle of Thermopylae was the Greek’s first stand against the massive army of King Xerxes, and was the most influential battle of the entire war. Up to this point, the Persian army was seen as too massive and powerful to be stopped. The once warring city-states of Greece knew they couldn’t stand against the Persians alone, and knew in order to defend their homeland they would have to unite. A unity of command was agreed upon; King Leonidas of Sparta was chosen to lead the Greek forces. He was chosen to lead because of the unsurpassed warring abilities the Spartans were so well known for made him perfect for the objective of stopping the Persians.
After his army's victory in Thermopylae, King Xerxes fervently wanted more information on the rare soldiers that confronted his limitless army, those reckless Spartans that faced insurmountable odds and refused to surrender even though their only alternative was gruesome death.
Sparta was a key city state which was located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greek, which today is referred to as Laconia. Sparta is historically known for their strong military training, warfare tactics, and numerous victories. This city state included full citizens known as the Spartans, the helots, and the Perioeci. The men of Sparta had a main obligation to become strong warriors, fight with their brothers, and protect against any invasions or attacks. The helots where owned by city state of Sparta. They came from Messenia and were forced into slavery after being invaded by the Spartans in c.735. The helot’s responsibilities included farming, being of help if needed during battles, used as nurses, and for any other task that need to be accomplished. Unlike many traditional slaves, the Messenia’s were given certain leeway. They had
Have you ever sat and wondered, how did Spartacus rebel against Italy? Stated here is everything you need to know about the great warrior Spartacus!
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,
Cerberus: the three-headed hellhound who guards the entrance of the Underworld, preventing the living to enter and the dead to leave. Hercules was tasked with twelve labors, his twelfth labor being the most difficult of all, and that labor was comprised of traveling to the Underworld and capturing the hellhound that guards the gate. “[Jove] once sent me here to fetch the hell-hound- for he did not think he could find anything harder for me than this, but I got the hound out of Hades and brought him to him” (Homer). Zeus (Jove) sent Hercules to the Underworld on his twelfth and final labor to retrieve Cerberus, for that was the hardest
The Hellenistic period, whose beginning was marked by the death of Alexander the Great, lasted from 323 BCE until 31 BCE with the death of Anthony and Cleopatra in Egypt marking its end. This period saw Greek influence spread throughout Mediterranean Europe and the Near East.
From this evaluation and historical representations given by philosophers and historians during approximately the same era that is represented within 300. It is argued that the popular culture incarnations of Sparta as the ‘Noble, selfless fighters with a warrior mentality’ and the Persians as the ‘Evil, tyrannical, overindulgent, oppressors’ were not entirely historically accurate.
In a way Achilles and Hector are similar in many ways, but they are also very different. They both take great honor and pride in how they fight on the battlefield. If one did have to choose between the two on who they admire more I would say Achilles. Achilles is strong, fast, loyal to his country and his men, he is also the son of a goddess.