To What Extent Was Themistocles Responsible for Greek Victory in the Persian Wars?

In early fifth century BC Greece, the Greeks consistently suffered from the threat of being conquered by the Persian Empire. Between the years 500-479 BC, the Greeks and the Persians fought two wars. Although the Persian power vastly surpassed the Greeks, the Greeks unexpectedly triumphed. In this Goliath versus David scenario, the Greeks as the underdog, defeated the Persians due to their heroic action, divine support, and Greek unity. The threat of the Persian Empire's expansion into Greece and the imminent possibility that they would lose their freedom and become subservient to the Persians, so horrified the Greeks that they united together and risked their lives in order to preserve the one thing they all shared in common, their

There are times in history that something will happen and it will defy all logic. It was one of those times when a few Greek city/states joined together and defeated the invasion force of the massive Persian Empire. The Greeks were able to win the Greco-Persian War because of their naval victories over the Persians, a few key strategic victories on land, as well as the cause for which they were fighting. The naval victories were the most important contribution to the overall success against the Persians. The Persian fleet was protecting the land forces from being outflanked and after they were defeated the longer had that protection. While the Greeks had very few overall victories in battle they

Themistocles was aware that the only way to defeat the Persians was to cut of their naval power, so he devised a plan. He sent a slave to the Persians with a message that they were escaping, and the Persians sent ships to meet there escapees. The Athenian ships were prepared to face them. Their specialty in sea battles, along with the narrowness and swirls of the sea gave the Athenians an advantage. This strategy is what ultimately brought victory to the Greeks, as it left the Persians without a supply line and weakened their forces. The two events, the battle at Marathon and the battle at Salamis, showed that Athens was a great contributor to the war, both land and sea.

Aeschylus’ The Persians is an Athenian tragedy with a moral purpose designed to reaffirm the power of the Greek gods. In the play, Xerxes’ invasion of Greece is presented as an example of hubris or excessive pride, which must be punished by the gods. Xerxes actions lead to the downfall of his empire and the demoralization of Xerxes. The Persians was written for a Greek audience so naturally it is biased and inconsistent.

Herodotus’s The Histories uses the culture of different peoples as a category of historical explanation in order to explain the entire story behind the conflict between the Greeks and the Persians, though his conception and account of culture has been a topic of debate for many decades. Herodotus’ method when exploring the culture of other peoples is to compare them to the known culture, his own culture, of Greece. Through the comparison of ‘the other’ to Greece, Herodotus not only explains the culture and traditions of other countries or people, but he also affirms Greek identity by constantly comparing or relating to Greek customs in order to show the likeness or stark differences of cultures. Many scholars have, however, criticized Herodotus for doing this; naming him an ethnocentric for introducing all other peoples and cultures as inferior to his own. This essay will seek to expose whether Herodotus is an ethnocentric or a cultural relativist by exploring the ways in which Herodotus refers to ‘the other’ and the customs and culture of these people. Through the exploration of the Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus’s The Histories, this essay will determine that Herodotus’s conception of culture develops from a cultural relativist perspective rather than an ethnocentric point of view, where he uses his own well-known culture as a basis for explaining other cultures and customs, while respecting their difference as being of equal value in their own land, as Greek

The Role of Themistocles in the Greek Defeat of the Persians in 480 - 479 BC.

The great historian, Herodotus, who is also known as the “father of history,” wrote many books on the Greek culture. Herodotus describes the cultural values of the Greeks in his detailed work, The Histories. Because the book concentrates on the Greek and Persian wars, he also writes about the values of the Persians. In his account of the Greek and Persian wars, Herodotus describes the different values of the Greek culture and the Persian culture in this famous book. From reading this work of Herodotus, it becomes clear that the values which each of these two cultures held, differed greatly.

The reasons for the Greek victory against the Persians in 490 to 480/479 BC was a mixture of exceptional leadership, skilful tactics and strategy, superior weapons and soldiers, and Greek unity. Strong leadership was the most important aspect of the Greek defence, as without the intelligence and bravery of the leaders, the Greeks would have been easily defeated. As a result of the excellent leadership; Greek tactics, strategy, and unity were greatly strengthened. Combined with their better weapons and soldiers, the Greeks held the advantage and seized opportunities at the perfect moment. Also, with each

The Persian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Greek states and the Persian Empire from 500-449 BC. It started in 500 BC, when a few Greek city-states on the coast of Asia Minor, who were under the control of the Persian Empire, revolted against the despotic rule of the Persian king Darius. Athens and Eretria in Euboea gave aid to these Greek cities but not enough, and they were subdued by the Persians. The Persians became determined to conquer Hellas and make Athens and Eretria pay for helping the Ionian cities. In 492 BC, the first Persian invasion had its fleet crippled by a storm before it could do any damage. King Darius sent another Persian expedition in 490 which destroyed

During Odysseus’ wanderings, a change comes over him. A change that is motivated by the immense suffering he brings both on himself and on those around him through his prideful actions. Beginning with the prideful raid on the city of the Cicones and culminating with Odysseus taunting the newly-blinded Polyphemus, Odysseus’ pride heaps more and more suffering upon himself and often kills those around him. Because of this increase in suffering, Odysseus changes. He becomes more humble, more tactful, less of a barbarian and more of a planner; this change can been seen primarily through his diplomatic actions in Phaeacia and his cunning use of Athena’s disguise during his time of testing in his own home.

The ancient civilizations had very different ways of running their empires throughout their time. The Persians and Greeks held very true to this statement. They both had different sources that contributed to the power they held. The Persians had a very large empire and had a specific way of controlling it. First lets see how the Persians came to be. Cyrus, the son of the Assyrian king, was supposed to be killed as a baby. He was instead taken to a village that soon became called Persia. As Cyrus matured, the people could tell he had the characteristics of a king. He soon became just that. He didn’t want to be just a ruler though, he wanted to be different. His tactics were based on mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Cyrus did go to war still

Xerxes was a man of power. The Great King of Persia, his empire encompassed the majority of the known world. On his invasion of Greece in the spring of 480BCE, he reportedly commanded a horde of over two million men. Even the Greek oracle at Delphi encouraged prudence in face of such an overwhelming force (7.140). Thus the question arises of why such an army failed to compel Greece into submission. I will explore this with focus on the key battles and the important factors, most notably the timing of the attack, the quality of his expeditionary force and Xerxes’ personal faults.

The Persian Wars (499-479 BC) put the Greeks in the difficult position of having to defend their country against a vast empire with an army that greatly outnumbered

In 480 BC, when the Persian horde, estimated by some historians to range from 300,000 to 1.7 million soldiers, landed on the shores of Thermopylae, the Persian King Xerxes sent emissaries to the leaders of the Greek city-states demanding their surrender and patronage to the Persian Empire (Frye, 2006). Despite the massive threat that was encamped on the shores off the Gulf of Maliakos in small town known as Trachis, the Greeks refused. Sparta, known for their superior military might, were chosen by the Greek leaders to lead a coalition of Greek warriors to defend their homeland from the invading Persian army (Frye, 2006).

Through the manuscripts of Herodotus, an ancient historian who hailed from the mountainous lands of Greece, modern day historians have been granted the ability to piece together the multitude of events that supposedly transpired during the years 480 and 479 BC between the Persian empire and the city-states of the classical Greece (Herodotus). The second Persian invasion of Greece, which took place in the previously mentioned years, was a part of the many series of battles and encounters that made up the Greco-Persian Wars. This invasion in particular, however, probably saw one of the most distinguished battles in ancient European warfare befall. As a whole, the second Persian invasion of Greece consisted of several battles that transpired within a close proximity of one another chronologically. The war itself was fairly short-lived, even for its time, lasting only the course of approximately one year. The battles themselves took place in Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Platae, and Mycale (Setzer). The Persian invasion forces were led by King Xerxes I of Persia, the son of Darius I of Persia. Prior to the reign of Xerxes I, King Darius I had wanted to take control of ancient Greece. As such, he ordered two campaigns which made up the first Persian invasion of Greece. Much to his hindrance, however, Darius I breathed his last breath before he was presented with the opportunity to carry out a second invasion.