The battle of Thermopylae Flashcards
The land battle happening at the same time as the sea battle of Artemisium
When did the battle of Thermopylae happen?
August 480BC
Why was Thermopylae chosen as the location for the battle?
It was a narrow pass, meaning the Persians wouldn’t be able to make use of their superior numbers
Who was the Spartan king who led the Greeks?
Leonidas
How many Greeks were present at the start of the confrontation?
6000-7000
Why was the number of Greeks present so small?
Either because of the religious observamces of many Greeks or because the the Peloponnesians didn’t want to fight so far away from home
Who was Demarartus?
The former Spartan king who was now advising Xerxes
What did Xerxes’spies find the Spartans doing before the battle?
Stripping for exercise and combing their hair
This was what they did when they were about to sacrifice their lives
On what day did the battle begin?
The fifth
Xerxes had been waiting for the Greeks to retreat
Who showed the Persians an alternative route through the mountains?
Epialtes, a local Greek
Who had been gaurding the pass through the mountains?
The Phocians
they tried to resist but ultimately withdrew
When the Greeks discovered that the Persians had found the pass, what did they do?
Held a council
Some wanted to stay and some wanted to retreat
Eventually Leonidas dismissed them all, staying with a small number of men
Who stayed with the Spartans until the end fo the battle?
The Thespians, Thebans and some Mycenaeans
What happened to Leonidas?
He was killed
There was a struggle for his body which the Persians eventually won
Xerxes is said to have beheaded him and put his head on a pole
Which Spartan supposedly said of the Persian arrows that ‘they would be able to fight in the shade’ ?
Dieneces
Where were the dead buried?
In the pass of Thermopylae, in the places where they fell
What does Herodotus say was written on the inscription for the dead Spartans?
Stranger, tell the Spartans that here
We lie, obedient to their commands.
What prophecy did the oracle at Delphi give the Spartans?
Either Sparta would fall or a Spartan king would die.
You who live in Sparta of the open lands
Either your great and famous city must be laid waste
By Persian men, or the land of Sparta will weep for the death
Of a king from the house of Heracles
For neither the strenght of bulls or lions will hold him,
Face to face; he has the might of zeus. I say he will not
Be completely restrained until he has completely destroyed one of these.
Who gave the first warning to the Greeks of the Persians who had found the pass?
Megistias, the seer
He saw death at dawn in the sacrifices he made
Why did the Thebans stay with the Spartans?
They were held as hostages by the Spartans
What memorial stood for Leonidas?
A stone lion, standing on a hill at the entrance to the pass
What was written on the memorial for ALL of the Greeks who fought at Thermopylae?
Here once against three million men did fight
Four thousand from the land of Pelops.
