The Histories by Herodotus - 9 - The Battle of Thermopylae
Book Seven (part two)
Quote
Sparta to the Persians: "Although you know what it's like to be a slave, you've never experienced freedom and you have no idea whether or not it's a pleasant state. If you had experienced it, you'd be advising us to wield not spears, but even battleaxes in its defense."
Notes
- The Greeks decide to set their differences aside, stop fighting with each other, and unite to fight the Persians.
- They send scouts to spy on the Persian army, but the scouts are caught. Xerxes hears about them and he gives them a personal tour of his entire army. He believes if the Greeks see how big his army is, they will surrender for sure. So he sends the spies back to Greece to report what they saw.
- Meanwhile, the Greeks are getting mixed responses from the other Greeks trying to persuade them to join the fight against Persia. Many believe that Persia will win and they don't want to be punished by the Persians by joining in the fight to oppose them. Others are still angry about previous conflicts and often with legitimate reasons. The idea of uniting together is proving to be easier said than done.
- As for their battle plans, they decide to wage war at Thermopylae. Since the pass at Thermopylae is very narrow, the Persians would lose some of the advantage of having so many men. They send men from various city states, including the famous 300 Spartans, but many others as well.
- Xerxes is shocked to hear from his scouts that the Greeks have stationed themselves to fight them at Thermopylae, even when their army is so much smaller. They're even combing their hair in preparation.
- The fighting begins. Xerxes sends wave after wave from his army at the Greeks but the Greeks stand strong against him. Watching the battle, Xerxes is literally jumping out of his seat in disbelief.
- Finally, the Persians find out that there's a path around Thermopylae. They send men around and surround the Greek army.
- The Greeks debate about what to do since they are certain to be killed if they stay. Leonidas, king of Sparta, tells everyone else they can go, but that he and the Spartans will stay and fight to the end. He does this in part because an oracle had predicted that the Spartan king would have to die if they wanted to win the war against the Persians. So the Spartans stay and fight bravely to their deaths.
Key Takeaways
The Greeks, and especially the Spartans, are amazing fighters.
Despite being hugely outnumbered, the Greeks manage to destroy a vastly disproportionate amount of Persians at Thermopylae. Xerxes can't believe they're standing up to fight him at all, and he can't believe how many of his men they're killing. Even though he does defeat them eventually, this still feels like a victory for the Greeks.
Herodotus reminds us to take everything he reports on here with a grain of salt.
He writes: "I am obliged to record the things I am told, but I am certainly not required to believe them — this remark may be taken to apply to the whole of my account." He includes notes like this throughout the book, and it is a good thing to be reminded of when reading Herodotus. It also prompts some questions about history writing: Should Herodotus take a more active role in discarding the stories that he himself is skeptical about? Or is it better for him to include everything he can and preserve the record of it in case it does happen to be true and significant in the end?