The 2006 film titled 300 puts the legendary war between the Persians and Spartans into action on the big screen. Although action-packed and exciting, 300 quickly became controversial due to its lack of historical accuracy and overly exaggerated visual details. Steven Pressfield’s epic novel Gates of Fire also tells the tale of the Battle of Thermopylae. Both the film and epic novel recreate the famous battle by mixing fiction and nonfiction components; however, they each have their own way of telling the tale. Although mostly fiction, Gates of Fire is unique in laying out what exactly happened at the battle of Thermopylae through the eyes of Xeones and a Persian historian retelling the tale of the battle to King Xerxes whom saved Xeones life from battle just to learn all he can about the Spartans and their military tactics for his later pursuits against Greece. Xeones begins talking about his boyhood and how the Persians razed his village of Astakos when he was a boy only to be left homeless from this basically throwing it in Xerxes face retelling of what destruction it can cause (Chapter 4, Pressfield). Just as in the movie 300, we can see the razing Persians had done onto a village the Spartans come across being warned of the immortals by a village boy who dies in Leonidas hands. Although this part is most likely dramatized, it does represent the destruction Xeones refers to. Xeones continues to go on about the Agoge training Alexandros, whom he was a squire for, was put
In the book Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian, Vahan and his untroubled and carefree life is flipped upside down when some Gendarmes kill both of his older brother right in front of him. All of Vahan’s race are being killed and Vahan has to go off and leave his mother with his brother Sisak and start their own new life on the run. Vahan quickly realizes life if much different without everything being given to you. Vahan’s father, Sarkis, and his brother Sisak taught Vahan to push through the hard times, always have hope, and to stay strong. With the advice given to Vahan by his father and brother, Vahan was able to gain strength and courage to push through the hard times, even when everything seemed hopeless and unbearable.
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.
Gates of Fire By: Steven Pressfield Subject Person- Spartan Warriors Place- Greece 480 B.C. Event- Battle of Thermoplae. Concept- Xeones recounts his life leading up to the battle. Object- Greek city-states consisting of 300 Spartan Warriors, 400 Thebans, 700 Thespian Volunteers And around 900 Helots Fought The Persian Empire at the pass of Thermopylae. Reason For Choosing Book Prior to reading this novel I had some knowledge of the Battle of Thermopylae. I watched the movie 300last year and it is based on the battle of Thermopylae and the lifestyle of the Spartan Warriors. Summary Gates of Fire tells the story of a young Greek boy, Xeones, who is the sole Hellenic survivor of the epic battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. After
This was a naval battle between about 370 greek ships from various city states, and about 1200 Persians. The Greeks were led by their commander, Themistocles. The Persians were once again led by Xerxes. The Greeks lined their ships up between two river banks at a narrow point. The Persians charged ahead, but the Greeks were ready. The Persians got too bunched up at the blockade and were soon defeated. This is similar to what happened at the Battle of Thermopylae. We know this happened because we have a knife with a wood handle and an iron blade that was used in the battle. This battle proves yet again that numbers mean little when your opponent has a good
This book is about the Spartans warrior culture and how it ties into the Marine Corps values, and the present day warrior culture of our Marine Corps.
“THIS IS SPARTA”, a famous quote from the Hollywood movie 300 (2006), is this movie by Zack Snyder true to what really happen? Sparta was a city-state in south west of Ancient Greece with a strict set of eugenics. Sparta was one of the two biggest and strongest city-states and is considered to have the strongest Army of its time. Persia was the super power of its time, it had expanding borders due to conquering and Persia had it eyes on Greece. After first failing to conquer Greece ten years earlier, Persia had returned to finish the job. The Battle of Thermopylae is the story of Sparta and its allies defending against the much bigger
The Battle of Thermopylae, which Herodotus recorded in his writing The Histories, was one of the most arduous and notable battles of western history. Herodotus was an extremely significant historian who lived during the 5th century B.C. In this primary source writing, he portrays how Xerxes was superstitious and tyrannical, how the battle informs you about the Spartan culture, how the values of Greek promoted society, and he displayed how significant the Persian invasion was on Greek development, for example, their political and intellectual expansion. The Persian King Xerxes
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae. The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
pass of Thermopylae. In the past, Leonidas' men repulsed the frontal attacks of the Persians for the first
King Leonidas, a superior tactician, accurately assessed the Persian army’s motivations and capabilities and decided to use the natural terrain to his advantage. Assuming that the Persians would challenge the Greek forces from their staging point, derived from pervious knowledge during the Battle of Marathon and the Persians encampment location, King Leonidas had chosen to eventually maneuver his forces into the Pass of Thermopylae, also known as Hellespont; saddled between a mountain range and the Gulf of Maliakos (Frye, 2006). Hellespont would provide the Spartans some significant tactical advantages, where within the pass, at its narrowest portion which was only 50 feet wide; countering the Persian greatest strength of archery and mounted horsemen (Frye, 2006).
Fields of Fire by James Webb is a historical novel first published in 1978 that takes place in the year 1969 during the Vietnam War. Although there are many characters that are significant to the story, the novel focuses mainly on three marines who find themselves in a platoon with each other; Robert E. Lee Hodges, “Snake,” and Will “Senator” Goodrich. Webb gives the reader a great, detailed background of each of these characters through a combination of both direct and indirect characterization. As the novel progresses, major events that occur include battle and violence, loss and coping, and learning. The themes that naturally
“Gates of Fire” by Steven Pressfield is a historical fiction novel that describes the Spartans at The Battle of Thermopylae. The story is told from the perspective of the only survivor, Xeones, who is recovered and captured by the Persian Empire. Some argue that this novel is not a great source for 21st-century history students, and some also argue that this novel should not be read in a classroom setting due to its lack of historical content. Several even question the novel’s historical accuracy and find it to be no better than a traditional textbook. Although this novel is classified as fiction, a literary works of imagination, Pressfield’s description of the Spartans makes this novel a creditable source for students and makes it appropriate to read in a college environment.
Steven Pressfield's The Gates of Fire is set in the fifth century B.C. in Greece. The story revolves around the famous battle of Thermopylae where three hundred Spartans held off hundreds of thousands of Persians, saving Greece. Pressfield creates a fictional story around the battle where one man, a squire named Xeones, survives to tell the Spartan story of the battle and the events preceding it. Xeones, who is the protagonist, tells his life story to the royal Persian historian while in captivity. This life history of Xeones constitutes the body of the book.
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.
Without any background knowledge on the topic of the Battle, it seems to just be a great, violent war film. What the audience doesn’t realize however, is the bountiful inaccuracies within the film. The information on the characters are incorrect with tiny sprinkles of truth. The Spartans did indeed fight to the death at this Battle to give Greece a fighting chance against the Persian Army. This was an accurate representation of what happened at the Battle of Thermopylae.