Battle Of Troy Research Paper

The Spartans fought in a formation called the Hoplite Phalanx. The Hoplite Phalanx is a highly organized fighting formation where Spartans are lined up side by side with overlapping shields. The goal of the Hoplite Phalanx is to protect the person to your left and right. When one person in the front line of the Phalanx is injured or killed someone behind them takes their place. The Hoplite Phalanx was very effective and it helped Spartans win battles where they were heavily outnumbered. The fighting formation that the Spartans used in the film included a variation of unorganized infantry lines, chaotic hand-to-hand combat, and a technique that they used which consisted of them laying down on the ground to let Persian horses jump over them as they approached. The hand-to-hand combat showed Spartans fighting by themselves with no teamwork from their fellow soldiers to help them battle the Persians. This fighting style would have never happened. The reason that Spartans were so successful in battle was because they fought as a team and kept to the Hoplite Phalanx. In “Herodotus, The Histories” Demaratus says, “so it is with the Spartans; fighting singly, they

The Greek victory against Persia was largely due to efforts of mainly Athens but also Sparta as well. Athens was responsible for the major turning points of the Persian invasions, while Sparta was responsible for the deciding battle. Miltiades, with his skilful battle strategies, defeated the Persians during their second invasion at Marathon, which gave Athens a confidence boost on their military. During the third invasion, when the Athenians were evacuated to Salamis, Themistocles had devised a plan to trick the Persians which had resulted in Persian army without a supply line. Sparta?s importance had revealed during their sacrifice at Thermopylae and at Plataea, where they provided the most effective part of the army.

Many people have heard of Achilles, whether in Greek Mythology or when referring to the tendon in their foot. He is well known in the Iliad as the main force for the Achaeans in the Trojan War, dubbed the “swiftest warrior,” “Achilles dear to Zeus”, and “brilliant runner.” However many do not know the story of Achilles when he walks away from the Achaean campaign over a scuffle of war prizes. His action cripples the Achaean army, costing the lives of many. The story of the Trojan War is one where Achilles ultimately leads the Achaeans to Troy and kills Hector outside Priam’s walls. However, it was Patroclus, Achilles’ brother-in-arms, who should be accredited with the Achaean victories and know for his success against the Trojans in the

Barry Strauss organizes his summary of the Trojan War by referencing Homer 's the Iliad and the Odyssey and compares it to the historical contexts of what he thinks happened. Most scholars agree that the Trojan War dates back around 1200 B.C. during the Bronze Age. The most popular tale of how the Trojan War starts is when Paris, Prince of Troy, goes to visit Sparta to mend relations. In Sparta, Paris is welcomed by Menelaus, King of Sparta and his beautiful wife Helen. According to ancient sources, Menelaus went to Crete for business and foolishly left Helen all alone with Paris (Strauss, 15). Afterward, Helen is seduced by Paris and flees Sparta to accompany him back to Troy, along with bountiful treasures.

The Trojan war was a ten year siege on the city of the city of Troy at the hands of the Greek forces led by a psychopathic king, Agamemnon. This conflict, which took place about 1200 B.C has become one of the most well known Greek mythology events in history. In the 13th century B.C, Troy and Sparta had stopped their wars and become allies, this was until Paris the youngest prince of Troy seduced Helen, the Queen of Sparta and left with her back to Troy. When Menelaos (The King of Sparta) found out what had happened, he vowed

Firstly, the story of the 300 Spartans. The movie 300 is based off of the historic Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The movie begins with the King of Sparta holding a newborn baby over a cliff. It next shows the spartan men training and preparing for battle at an early age. Sparta was a Greek city which houses the finest warriors, and 300 of these soldiers are chosen to intercept the Persians in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. The Persian King Xerxes lead an Army exceeding over 100,000 men to Greece and was confronted by 300 Spartans. Xerxes waited 10 days for King Leonidas to surrender or withdraw. Tremendously outnumbered, the Greeks held back the enemy for three days before falling to the Persian army. A local shepherd named Ephialtes abandoned the Spartans to inform Xerxes of a separate path through Thermopylae, which the Persians could use to outflank the Greeks (Snyder et al 0-1:57:00).

When Xerxes sent his men through the hidden path around the mountain Leonidas still stood his ground with his Spartans even though he allowed most of the troops to return home. This shows in Spartan culture a man would rather die in battle than run and be dishonored. Leonidas was superstitious about the oracle that determined a king shall fall from Sparta or Sparta itself will be destroyed. The people of Sparta must have had much intelligence to understand how to create this choke point of the other army. Many of the different battles even after Thermopylae show that the Spartans were versatile toward warfare.

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).

Around 480 BC, Spartan King Leonida, 300 Spartans and their allies, made a sacrificial last stand at Thermopylae against King Xerxes and the Persians. King Xerxes demanded the surrender of the Greek weapons, to which King Leonida replied, "Molon Labe" or "Come and take them." General Themistocles lead the Athenian Navy to victory over the Persian Navy at battle of Salamis. General Themistocles used many tricks to the Persians into battle in the narrow straits of Salamis where the Athenians can take advantage. Another Persian War, the Athenians retreat and the Persians are lead by Xerxes to destroy Athens; but the Greek forces won a major naval battle in

Moreover, in the Battle of Thermopylae, Persian forces led by Xerxes outnumbered the Greeks yet again. However, the militant Spartans took up arms and were able to defeat the large Persian army. Thermopylae allowed the Greek forces to come up with various tactics and strategies in order to defeat Persia. Next, the Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between several Greek city-states and Persia. This battle forms the turning point of the Greco-Persian Wars since it ultimately “saved Greece from being absorbed into the Persian Empire and ensured the emergence of Western civilization as a major force in the world.” The ending of the Battle of Salamis left the Persian army trapped in Greece, which paves the way for the final battle of the war, the Battle of Platea. In the battle, the “Greek army came and defeated the weakened Persians, the Persian Wars were over”. The mark of the ending of the Greco-Persian wars gave way to Athens arising from the ashes as the dominant and central city-state of Greece, which then provides political and cultural advancements during its golden age.

How Sparta chose to interact with its neighbors was not the only factor in its downfall. Spartan battle strategy was both feared and effective, but because of Sparta’s overconfidence and failure to readapt, the weaknesses of its strategy were quickly identified and exploited by its opponents. Spartans were the masters of the battlefield; quite literally, they were both born and bred for it. Josiah Ober’s article, “Sparta: The Rise and Fall of an Empire,” says that “the very sight and sound of an advancing line of Spartan soldiers” was enough to send an enemy army fleeing before spears and shields had even the slightest chance to clash. A phalanx consists of several columns of men advancing steadily, “shoulder to shoulder, with shields locked”

One in particular whose name was Achilles, who lived during the great Trojan War between the Trojans and Achaeans. Homer uses poems to tell stories of the war and the fall of Troy as in the beginning of the world. Home tells how the war is started because of Paris, who is a Trojan and brother Hector takes away the king's wife and refused to give her back after countless of offers from the king. During this time, Achilles is questioning his fate because he must decide to fight to the death or go to the lands and age-old which lead to him being out of the fight for a long period of time. The gods, such as Zeus and Prometheus, of the Greek, oversaw the Trojans actions weighted their fate and concluded that Troy must fall.

Leonidas was the king of the Spartans during the time of the Persian War. The Spartans were the elite of the elite when it came to military strength. One of the greatest displays of his courage and honor was in his last battle, The Battle of Thermopylae. At the Battle of Thermopylae the Persians were trying to come down into Greece through the mountain pass Thermopylae. The odds were heavily against the Greeks with the Persians numbering in the hundreds of thousands and the Greeks only having a couple thousand Athenians and only 300 Spartan warriors under the command of King Leonidas. The Greeks stopped-up the pass with phalanxes and were slaughtering the Persians. The battle was looking like a major victory for the Greeks until the Persians discovered a back-road on a mountain pass and were about to surround the Greeks. King Leonidas told the remaining Athenian Greeks to flee back to Athens while he and his 300 hundred Spartans held off the Persians. The Spartan army caused massive damage to the Persian army by killing off thousands of them. All the Spartans died in that battle, along with Leonidas, but this weakened the Persians and allowed the

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.

they were in a narrow pass and they had an almost impenatrable defenese with there shields, they were very well trained (from age 8 taking as a young boy) with 40lb bronze shields persian army had wicker shields (very weak) and were untrained mostly farmers. The spartans only had to swing and stab as the persians came running after