Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture

Last updated April 01, 2024

The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE was a last stand by a Greek army led by King Leonidas I of Sparta against an Achaemenid Persian army led by Xerxes I during the Second Persian invasion of Greece. There is a long tradition of upholding the story of the battle as an example of virtuous self-sacrifice.^[1]

Antiquity

The battle's earliest known appearance in culture is a series of epigrams commemorating the dead written by Simonides of Ceos in the battle's aftermath.^[2] Already by the fourth century BCE, the battle had been reframed as a victory of sorts in Greek writing, in contrast to how it was described by fifth-century BCE Greek historian Herodotus.^[3]

18th century

In Europe, interest in the battle was revitalized in the 1700s with the publication of the poems Leonidas, A Poem by Richard Glover in 1737 and Leonidas by Willem van Haren in 1742.^[4] Glover's poem uses the story to exemplify the proper virtues of a good monarch.^[5] Several stage plays about the battle were produced during the French Revolution, including the 1794 play Le Combat de Thermopyles, ou l'école des guerriers by Joseph Marie Loaisel de Tréogate [ fr ] and the 1799 play Léonidas, ou le départ des Spartiates by René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt.^[6]

19th century

Jacques-Louis David painted Leonidas at Thermopylae during the reign of Napoleon and eventually finished the painting in 1814, depicting Leonidas and the soldiers in the moments leading up to the battle as a positive example of patriotism.^[7]

German poet Theodor Körner referenced Thermopylae to inspire his fellow countrymen to fight against Napoleon in the 1812 poem Auf dem Schlachtfelde von Aspern .^[8] Thermopylae was often invoked as an example to be emulated in the lead-up to the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, for example in the 1798 hymn Thourios [ el ] by Rigas Feraios.^[9] In the United States, the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 during the Texas Revolution was compared to Thermopylae only weeks after its conclusion, and a battle memorial erected in Austin, Texas in 1843 references Thermopylae.^[10]

20th century

The 1962 film The 300 Spartans depicts the battle and the broader conflict as a parallel of the then-ongoing Cold War, with Greeks and Persians representing NATO and the Soviet Bloc respectively, and Sparta representing the US.^[11] The 1998 novel Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield is unusual in depicting the battle as gruesome rather than glorious.^[12]

Related Research Articles

Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Evrotas River in the Evrotas Valley, Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece.

This article concerns the period 489 BC – 480 BC.

Year 480 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vibulanus and Cincinnatus. The denomination 480 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Ephialtes was the son of Eurydemus of Malis. He betrayed his homeland, in hope of receiving some kind of reward from the Persians, by showing the army of Xerxes a path around the allied Greek position at the pass of Thermopylae, which helped them win the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

Leonidas I was a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythical demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was a son of King Anaxandridas II. He succeeded his half-brother King Cleomenes I to the throne in c. 489 BCE. His co-ruler was King Leotychidas. He was succeeded by his son, King Pleistarchus.

Thermopylae is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs. In Greek mythology the Hot Gates is one of the entrances to Hades.

The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it was one of the most prominent battles of both the second Persian invasion of Greece and the wider Greco-Persian Wars.

The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek-inhabited region of Ionia in 547 BC. Struggling to control the independent-minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed tyrants to rule each of them. This would prove to be the source of much trouble for the Greeks and Persians alike.

Pausanias was a Spartan regent and a general. In 479 BC, as a leader of the Hellenic League's combined land forces, he won a pivotal victory against the Achaemenid Empire in the Battle of Plataea. Despite his role in ending the Second Persian invasion of Greece, Pausanias subsequently fell under suspicion of conspiring with the Persian king Xerxes I. After an interval of repeated arrests and debates about his guilt, he was starved to death by his fellow Spartans in 477 BC. What is known of his life is largely according to Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, Diodorus' Bibliotheca historica and a handful of other classical sources.

300 is a historically inspired 1998 comic book limited series written and illustrated by Frank Miller with painted colors by Lynn Varley.

Aristodemus was a Spartan warrior, one of the 300 sent to the Battle of Thermopylae.

<i>The 300 Spartans</i> 1962 film by Rudolph Maté

The 300 Spartans is a 1962 CinemaScope epic film depicting the Battle of Thermopylae. It was directed by Rudolph Maté and stars Richard Egan, Ralph Richardson, David Farrar, Diane Baker and Barry Coe. Produced with the cooperation of the Greek government, it was filmed in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese.

Molon labe, meaning 'come and take [them]', is a classical expression of defiance. It is among the Laconic phrases reported by Plutarch, attributed to King Leonidas I in reply to the demand by Xerxes I that the Spartans surrender their weapons. The exchange between Leonidas and Xerxes occurs in writing, on the eve of the Battle of Thermopylae.

<i>300</i> (film) 2006 film by Zack Snyder

300 is a 2006 American epic historical war action film based on the 1998 comic book series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. Co-written and directed by Zack Snyder, with Miller serving as executive producer and consultant, the film is, like its source material, a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco-Persian Wars. The plot revolves around King Leonidas, who leads 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian "God-King" Xerxes and his invading army of more than 300,000 soldiers. As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband.

<i>Gates of Fire</i> 1998 historical novel by Steven Pressfield

Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a perioikos born in Astakos, and one of only three Greek survivors of the battle.

Gorgo was a Spartan woman and wife to King Leonidas I. She was the daughter and the only known child of Cleomenes I, Leonidas' half-brother and King of Sparta. Gorgo was also the mother of King Pleistarchus, her only son with King Leonidas I. She is notably one of the few female historical figures actually named by Herodotus, and is depicted in sources as intelligent and wise. Her birth date is uncertain, but based on Herodotus' dating, it is most likely to have been between 518 and 508 BC.

<i>Ancient Wars: Sparta</i> 2006 real-time strategy video game

Ancient Wars: Sparta is a real-time strategy video game for Microsoft Windows. Developed by World Forge and published by Playlogic, it was released in Russia in December 2006, in Europe and North America in April 2007, and in Australia in October 2007.

<i>Meet the Spartans</i> 2008 film by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer

Meet the Spartans is a 2008 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. The film is mainly a parody of the 2006 film 300, although it also references many other films, TV shows, people and pop cultural events of the time, in a manner similar to previous films that Friedberg and Seltzer had been involved in such as Scary Movie, Date Movie and Epic Movie. The film stars Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra and Kevin Sorbo.

Nicomedes was a Spartan military commander and a scion of the royal Agiad dynasty. He was a regent of Sparta during the minority of Pleistoanax, the son of his brother Pausanias.

Leontiades was the commander of the 400-man Theban contingent of the Greek army at the Battle of Thermopylae. Little was recorded about his life before or after the battle, but according to Herodotus he was the son of Eurymachus, and also the father of another Eurymachus who would play a leading role at the much later Siege of Plataea.

References

↑ Levene, D. S. (2007). "Xerxes Goes to Hollywood". In Bridges, Emma; Hall, Edith; Rhodes, P. J. (eds.). Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium. OUP Oxford. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-19-155751-4.
↑ Clough, Emma (2004). "Loyalty and Liberty: Thermopylae in the Western Imagination". In Figueira, Thomas J. (ed.). Spartan Society. ISD LLC. p. 363. ISBN 978-1-914535-21-5.
↑ Marincola, John (2007). "The Persian Wars in Fourth-Century Oratory and Historiography". In Bridges, Emma; Hall, Edith; Rhodes, P. J. (eds.). Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium. OUP Oxford. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-0-19-155751-4.
↑ Morris, Ian Macgregor (2007). "'Shrines of the Mighty': Rediscovering the Battlefields of the Persian Wars". In Bridges, Emma; Hall, Edith; Rhodes, P. J. (eds.). Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium. OUP Oxford. pp. 231–232. ISBN 978-0-19-155751-4.
↑ Clough, Emma (2004). "Loyalty and Liberty: Thermopylae in the Western Imagination". In Figueira, Thomas J. (ed.). Spartan Society. ISD LLC. pp. 365–371. ISBN 978-1-914535-21-5.
↑ Clough, Emma (2004). "Loyalty and Liberty: Thermopylae in the Western Imagination". In Figueira, Thomas J. (ed.). Spartan Society. ISD LLC. p. 372. ISBN 978-1-914535-21-5.
↑ Clough, Emma (2004). "Loyalty and Liberty: Thermopylae in the Western Imagination". In Figueira, Thomas J. (ed.). Spartan Society. ISD LLC. pp. 372–373. ISBN 978-1-914535-21-5.
↑ Rebenich, Stefan (2002). "From Thermopylae to Stalingrad: The Myth of Leonidas in German Historiography". In Hodkinson, Stephen; Powell, Anton (eds.). Sparta: Beyond the Mirage. ISD LLC. p. 326. ISBN 978-1-914535-20-8. Archived (PDF of stand-alone book chapter) from the original on 2022-03-03.
↑ Clough, Emma (2004). "Loyalty and Liberty: Thermopylae in the Western Imagination". In Figueira, Thomas J. (ed.). Spartan Society. ISD LLC. p. 374. ISBN 978-1-914535-21-5.
↑ Levene, D. S. (2007). "Xerxes Goes to Hollywood". In Bridges, Emma; Hall, Edith; Rhodes, P. J. (eds.). Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium. OUP Oxford. pp. 394–395. ISBN 978-0-19-155751-4.
↑ Clough, Emma (2004). "Loyalty and Liberty: Thermopylae in the Western Imagination". In Figueira, Thomas J. (ed.). Spartan Society. ISD LLC. pp. 374–378. ISBN 978-1-914535-21-5.
↑ Bridges, Emma (2007). "The Guts and the Glory: Pressfield's Spartans at the Gates of Fire". In Bridges, Emma; Hall, Edith; Rhodes, P. J. (eds.). Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium. OUP Oxford. pp. 411–419. ISBN 978-0-19-155751-4.