The year is 480BC the Greeks are under an attack and greatly
outnumbered by the Persians, which was a superpower at the time. The Greek Army
had approximately 7000 men, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian
Empire had over 200,000 men led by Xerxes I. Having the numbers, they knew they
would intimidate the Greeks to surrender and in any event, war broke they would
have an upper hand and defeat the Greeks.
The Persian empire sent an emissary to Greek to give them terms
of peace which would be to offer them freedom and they would be considered “Friends
of the Persian People” and in addition they would be given more land; King
Leonidas refused and maybe as Sophocles would say that “whoever makes his way
into a tyrants court becomes his slave, although he went there a free man.” Later a messenger went to one of the Greeks
general to boast and maybe frighten him by telling him how large the Persian
Army is and if the archers would shot their arrows in the air, their arrows
would “block the sun” the general replied, that if the sun is blocked then “they
shall have the battle in the shade”. The Persian Empire told them, "lay
down your weapons" and surrender and King Leonidas responded by giving the
courageous defiant reply that they should "Come and take them". War
became inevitable.
This led to the famous Battle of Thermopylae or battle at the
Hot Gates. The Battle took three days. In the first two days the Greeks won and
just when the Persians were on their way to surrender while Greeks stood strong
in their small and cohesive unit the Greeks were betrayed and hence outflanked
and defeated. King Leonidas was killed in battle; his body beheads and placed
on a spear as warning to other people of Greece. Though Persians won, their victory
came at a very high cost as the Greeks had inflicted serious damage on them.
Due to their three (3) day courageous last stand at the Hot Gates, cities in
Greek were able to be evacuated and by the time the Persian Army got there,
there was practically nothing. Secondly, due to the evacuation of the people in
Greek cities, Ideas such as democracy which had just been developed were
preserved and today we have democracy due to the courage of the men who fought
at the Hot Gates. They acted as watchmen at the gates of democracy.
If you are to visit the ground today where the battle took place
there is an Epitaph and engraved on it are the words “ Oh Stranger! Go tell
Sparta, in obedience to their law, here we lie in death!” Sure their message
was heard, their actions of courage
during overwhelming odds inspired other Battles and in the coming days the
Persian Army was defeated
So, why did the Greeks fight knowing it would be a herculean task to defeat
Persians? Some historians say it is because they wanted to protect their
freedom and autonomy other say were just full of ego and they paid it with
their life
Moral of the History:
1. Your actions of courage never go to waste. They echo in future generations
in ways you will never know.
2. Know what
you can stand for regardless of the circumstances. The Greek, The Spartans, had
a Creed that went like this:
"This is my shield. I bear it before me into battle, but it is not mine
alone. It protects my brother on my left. It protects my city. I will never let
my brother out of its shadow, nor my city out of its shelter. I will die with
my shield before me facing the enemy.”
This Creed gave them a meaning that they go to battle for the sake of their
brothers and City. So, what are you willing to go to battle and fight for, not
for personal gain, but for others.
3. Your
actions have consequences. People will judge your results at some point. But do
your thing anyway.
(for a drama of this Battle watch the Film:300 Spartans or Read Gates of Fire
by Steve Pressfield & Picture from 300 Film)
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