In the city of a Sparta is a statue of a legend that left behind and attributed a vast of history of a king who was recognized and feared by always getting all he wanted even if the methods were deviant. Respected for keeping his head up in the worst of the challenges he faced. The name of this icon was Leonidas, a king from the ancient Sparta who was a fierce leader and showed the world what it needs to gain the respect of its people.
Personal Background
Leonidas was born in Greece Peloponnesian Peninsula in 530 B.C. (Leonidas I, par.1) Leonidas was the second son of Spartan King’s Anaxandridas first wife. Leonidas’ mother was his father’s niece. When he was a child, he received very strenuous physical conditioning for many years of military training, trying to reach to the top of the martial perfection to hone his warrior’s skills. One in a few Spartan kings received this harsh training. Attending the agoge was where all Spartans had to go in order to be suitable for their citizenship. He was not the heir to his father’s throne when his father Anaxandridas passed away, the throne came upon Cleomenes his half-brother. He also had another half-brother who was Dorieus (Leonidas 1, par.4) Cleomenes and Dorieus where Anaxandridas children from his second wife. Leonidas relationship with his brother was unknown, but he married Gorgo which was Cleomenes daughter before he came to the throne in 490 B.C. (Leonidas 1, par.5)
Political Contributions and Achievements
Leonidas was respected in Sparta, it was not by his often effective but not morally decisions, it was to resolve an issue when he felt that somebody or something was trying to hurt Sparta. Leonidas was expected to put an end with some abnormal answer. The training, the form i...
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Works Cited
1. “Leonidas, I” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998.
Gale Biography in Context. Web. 7 Sep. 2012.
2. Mosquera, Freda. "Perez-Reverte, Arturo. El pequeno hoplita." School Library Journal July 2011: 90+. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.(journal)
3. "Stephen McGinty. "20 Things We Owe To Greece"" Stephen McGinty. "20 Things We Owe To Greece" N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2012. .
4. Goddard, Randall. "A little of Leonidas. (Letters)." History Today 52.10 (2002): 61. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.
5. "Leonidas." Historic World Leaders. Gale, 1994. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 8 Oct. 2012.
6. Frye, David. "Spartan Stand at Thermopylae." Military History 2006: 38-44. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 8 Oct. 2012
The first year of fighting between Athens and Sparta is drawing to a close. As is customary during war, Athens holds a public funeral to both celebrate and mourn their fallen soldiers. Such ceremonies typically feature an oration given by a respected Athenian – with this year’s coming from renowned statesman Pericles. Previous orations had focused on celebrating the Athenian military by recounting their trials and accomplishments. Pericles decided to depart from this convention, believing it was no longer novel, nor necessary, “That part of our history which tells of the military achievements which gave us our several possessions, or of the ready valor with which either we or our fathers stemmed the tide of Hellenic or foreign aggression, is a theme too familiar to my hearers for me to dwell upon, and I shall therefore pass it by.”
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.”
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.
Frank Miller and Herodotus depict Leonidas in vastly different ways. In the graphic novel 300, Frank Miller depicts Leonidas as a demi-god or superhero like figure that commits amazing feats in battle and overshadows all other Spartans. He is the ultimate leader and is the key player in the Battle of Thermopylae. While Herodotus, in his Histories, characterizes Leonidas as a respected warrior and leader. Herodotus also only mentions Leonidas sparsely throughout his account of the battle. The role Leonidas plays shifts drastically between the two accounts.
Spartan culture is a great example of how a society’s infrastructure will directly affect both, its social structure and superstructure. It also serves as a warning that any society that becomes too rigid in its structure and too static in its values will not last long when confronted with more agile and adaptable cultures. This paper will explore why Sparta became the Hellenic army par excellence, how this worked to create a very specific social structure founded on martial values, and, finally, how that social structure would ultimately be the undoing of the culture.
Athens government and military is considerably different from their neighbors. According to Pericles, Athens government is not a copy of our neighbors...
Dionysius I of Syracuse garnered a reputation as a warmongering tyrant who harmed his people with his oppressive regime. However many surviving sources that explore his rule were written by people who were ideologically opposed to perceived tyrants. It is therefore quite possible that aspects of Dionysius rule where left out or exaggerated to suit the author`s anti-tyrannical agenda. It is the intention of this paper to argue that Dionysius rule did in fact benefit Syracuse more than he harmed it during his lifetime. His domestic and foreign affairs will be explored in order to show how he in fact benefitted the Syracusan state as well as the majority of its people. It will however also be argued that his legacy did harm the Syracusan state but that overall Dionysius rule was beneficial in his lifetime.
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Spartan was trained to be physically and mentally fit for war.
No one would deny that Pericles was the most prominent Greek statesman and spokesperson during the Golden Age. His contribution was largely felt during the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars having obtained power from his family link to the Alcmaeonid family. He commanded a lot of respect to from the Athenian citizens with Thucydides describing him as "the first citizen of Athens” . He was born at around 495 BC north of Athens in the ...
It was of extreme importance to a man during this time period to die in war and leave a memorable name in society. In the Spartan society even a mother was accustomed to the idea that her son had to die to be a “hero” or perhaps be remembered as one. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, Achilles mother...
“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.
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.
Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave and kept under a close eye to prevent insurgence (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece). Additionally, Sparta had strict and trained soldiers that underwent intense physical exercising and instruction.
There are many leaders in the world, but a great ruler is passionate, honorable and one who can inspire even in the most hopeless circumstances. Alexander the Great was a great ruler. Alexander the Great was a ruler that was not only inspiring, but he was fearless, smart, bold and courageous. Alexander the Great inspired his soldiers to crave more. He has inspired people since the day he started ruling. What is inspirational about Alexander the Great is that he inspired his troops to the point that they did not question him when they were outnumbered three to one in a battle, they trusted him with their lives and were willing to die for him (Alexander the Great: man behind the legend).
Alexander The Great is one of the most accomplished generals and kings of any time throughout history. Alexander was born in Macedonia in 356 B.C., as a young child, he watched his father transform his country’s military into one of the best military’s. Alexander’s Father was King Phillip of Macedonia and his mother was Olympias, The princess of neighboring Epirus. Olympias was a very spiritual person that made sure her son knew who his ancestors were, like Achilles of Troy and the mythical warrior Hercules. Starting at an early age, he was trained both in education and military tactics to be a great and powerful leader and King. Alexander became focused on becoming a great ruler and a hero of his people, which he later would become.