King Leonidas Research Paper

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.

At the battle of Thermopylae Leonidas chose a narrow mountain pass to defend against the Persians which was one of the best choices one could have made. Combined with the Spartans combat formation the Phalanx the Persians stood no chance: the History.com website states "The Phalanx was at least eight ranks deep and fought as one unit. And with the hoplite shield protecting the soldier from chin to knee personally, also presented an impenetrable wall to the opposing army" (Leonidas). Leonidas knew that his armies Phalanx and the narrow mountain pass was a deadly combination. However, a big decision was still to be made. Nothing did Leonidas know that a Greece had a traitor. The traitor had lead the Persians to a secret mountain pass and were planning on flanking Leonidas' army at night. The library.flawlesslogic.com website states "Leonidas learned of this treachery in time to send away most of his men and all his allies. Then he swung his remaining force of 300 guardsmen against the enemy, with undaunted courage and grim determination worthy of their Gods" (Leonidas). Sending back most of his men Leonidas gave the Persians a fair fight and avoided the worst. Leonidas' strategies were unparalleled at his time, but every great leader has his own motives for such a

It is in short, his ability to do and his understanding of different situations. Per history.com, Leonidas was a “military leader as well as a political one.” In the movie, this does not show. He butts heads with the Spartan council over going to war and acts rashly and without thinking such as killing the envoy from. The use of camerawork seems to work against him. The very same shot used to show his courage by charging into battle, is an example of him not thinking strategically or using cunning. In the movie, the Spartans fight the battle at the front of The Hot Gates, strategically this is one of the worst places. Ideally the director would have placed the Spartans in the rear of the passage as that would funnel the Persian troops and stop them from spreading out; It would also limit the Spartans’ exposure to archery fire. The videographers and editors made a choice to show Leonidas’ character and commitment through the battlefield. They chose instead to show his strategic planning through his tactics conversations with the

"Seventy-two of them made good their escape, grabbing kitchen knives and cooking skewers on their way out" (Shaw 131). Over a three year period these seventy-two gladiators led by Spartacus would, against all odds, reach in excess of seventy thousand men and reek havoc on multiple Roman armies. None of this could have been accomplished without the courageous, tactical leadership of Spartacus.

Spartan’s militarism has a great influence on the daily life of a Spartan. For instance, when an infant is born, it is determined if it is too weak or too sick to live. If the infant is, it will be killed. Spartan is centralized around its military so much that they are willing to sacrifice newborns to make their country stronger. Another example is that at a very young age, Spartan males are forced to enter into a training which prepares them to become a soldier dedicated to Sparta. A soldier is the chosen job for many Spartan males, which proves that militarism has a major effect on how a Spartan lives. Moreover, during the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian army, a group of 300 Spartans was guarding a passage to allow the bulk of the army to retreat. During this defensive position, each Spartan soldier was able to take down 15 Persians before he falls. Spartan’s militarism affects how much damage Spartans were able to do

King Minos of Crete was a man with great power, he ruled the surrounding land with everyone obeying his every command and sending him gifts without question. King Minos had constructed a large labyrinth comprising a monster that was half bull on top and a half man on the bottom; . The king demanded seven men and woman of youth be given to the minotaur so that the outbreak of a war did not occur. Theseus (who dis?) resented this and vowed that this would be the last time that young men and women would be sacrificed to the minotaur and thus he went to kill the monster.

Q2: Leonidas was a Spartan king immortalized in Greek literature and legend because of his heroic last stand against Persian Leonidas established his army at Thermopylae, expecting that the narrow pass would funnel the Persian army toward his own force. For two days, the Greeks withstood the determined attacks of their far more countless enemy. Leonidas’ plan worked well at first, but he did not know that there was a route over the mountains to the west of Thermopylae that would allow

They then fought with their swords. In the struggle, Leonidas king of sparta fulfilled his prophecy and died for his people and all of greece. Four times the Greeks drove the enemy away from his body trying to protect their king before the Persians finally dragged it away. It was about then that the second Persian force arrived from the mountain pass.

Steven Pressfields: Gates of fire is based on a true story of how three hundred courageous warrior Spartans led by their king Leonidas and 700 Thespaian allies held off an army of over one million Persian infantrymen on a narrow pass in Thermopylae Greece in 480 B.C. for seven days. The Spartan Warriors were highly disciplined, physically and mentally tough soldiers that were dedicated to their country and way of life. The three hundred Spartan’s left home one day leaving their families behind, on a suicide mission to buy time for their countrymen to organize forces. Their sacrifice was unparalleled and their dedication and battle skill struck fear in the hearts and minds of their enemy.

As king, Leonidas was a military leader. Like all male Spartan citizens, Leonidas had been trained mentally and physically since childhood in preparation to become a warrior. Hoplites were armed with a round shield, spear and iron short sword. In battle they used a formation called a phalanx, in which rows of warriors stood directly next to each other so that their shields overlapped with one another. During an attack this wall of shields provided significant protection to the warriors behind it. If the phalanx broke or if the enemy attacked from the side or the rear, however, the formation became vulnerable. It was this fatal weakness to the otherwise formidable phalanx formation that proved to be Leonidas’ loss against an invading Persian

Qu1. – Theatre allows one to express emotions, escape from reality and fantasise over desired endings. Theatre re-enacts past events in an over-exaggerated, dramatic form. It is considered living art. Theatre performances require a scriptwriter, sound designer, costume designer, lighting designer, director, scenic designers, actors, technicians, dramaturges, historians and audiences. The performance can be entertaining and/or educational. For example theatrical performances are based on previous events (history), which is both visually pleasing and educational.

The Persian military had greater numbers but they wouldn’t back down from a fight. The Greeks agreed that Sparta would lead them. They chose to defend a narrow pass between the mountains of Greece and the sea. (Thermopylae). The Greeks only had 300 soldiers lead by Leonidas (king of Sparta) and about 6000 soldiers from the Greek cities. They fought an army of 100,000 Persian men. When the Persians got to Greek, they sent a scout to check it out. In front of the wall there was 300 Spartans combing their hair and exercising. The king was warned not to misread the information. The Spartans were going to fight to the death with honor and bravery. They finally attacked after a nerve racking wait. The Greeks were trying to fend of the Persian army from behind the wall. They took it in turns to guard the front line. The Persians loss their advantage of greater numbers and the Greeks longer spears caused more causalities. The Spartans used a clever strategy to confuse them. They pretended to retreat so they would chase him but then they would turn on the Persians and in confusion kill a lot of them. In two days the bigger Persians were not able to defeat the army of smaller Greeks. The Persians lost a lot of men but their luck was going to change. A Greek traitor came to the Persian king with information of huge importance. Above the pass of Thermopylae there was another but only known to the

After the Council of Nicea, the controversy over Jesus’ two natures started again. Now, it is over the term: Theotokos: God bearing. Nestorius (d.451), bishop of Constantinople, objected to the popular reference to Mary as the “Mother of God”. To him, to call a human the “Mother of God” will call into question the divinity of Jesus. Nestorius taught that God cannot have a mother; that no woman can give birth to God. What Mary bore was not God, but humanity, the vehicle or instrument of divinity. He preferred the phrase, Christotokos: "Christ bearing" or "the Mother of Christ" (Dorman 2001: 159-160).

Leonidas was the king of Sparta between 488BC and 480BC. The movie “300” narrates the story of Leonidas leading 300 Spartan “body guards” and fighting to death against the massive Persian army led by “God King” Xerxes in the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. Prior to the start of the war, Leonidas knew that his army was hugely outnumbered and knew with certainty that his move against the Persians was a suicide mission. His intention was to delay the fast approaching Persian army from reaching the heart of Sparta by using a narrow mountain pass in Thermopylae to his advantage. The movie concludes with the brutal killing of Leonidas and his men by the massive Persian arrow barrage. Even though the battle was won by the Persians, the sacrifice

The priests take the gold as a reward for denying Sparta’s war request. Leonidas did not want to disobey the priests, so he decided to take 300 of his best soldiers, as his bodyguards, and take a walk to the Hot Gates of Thermopylae. Along the way, King Leonidas and his 300 soldiers met some allies. The allies were shocked by the small number of Spartan soldiers, but when Leonidas asked their professions, he clearly stated he had brought more soldiers than them. The Spartans continue their journey and are joined by Arcadians and other Greek forces. When they arrive, the build a wall to slow the Persian attack. The soldiers fight off the Persian scouts, and use the dead bodies to increase the massive wall. The scouts are followed up by a Persian emissary, who threaten to “block out the sun” with their arrows and King Leonidas replies that the Spartans will fight in the shade. The Spartans battle and defeat the Persian emissary. The Persians demand that the Spartans surrender before anyone else dies, but King Leonidas refuses and the two forces have a huge battle with many causalities. After the battle, Xerxes approaches King Leonidas, surprised by his fighting skills, and attempts to convince Leonidas to surrender. Xerxes promises King Leonidas with gold and other riches, but he refuses and threatens to make the “God King” bleed. Xerxes then sends his personal army called “the Immortals” to attack the Spartans. The Immortals consist of many