Thermopylae and Artemisium: 480 BC

Question 1

What was the initial Greek response to news of the invading Persian forces? What happened next? Why? Why else? What did the Greeks then do?

Answer 1

• Sent 10,000 hoplites to hold position at the valley of Tempe near Mount Olympus
• They decided to withdraw
• The size of the invading army had been revealed
• Alexander (King of Macedonia) had sent advice to the Greeks to not hold the position
• The Greeks decided to retreat south and hold a more favourable position

Question 2

Where did the Greeks retreat to after learning the size of the Persian army? Why?

Answer 2

• Thermopylae, far to the south

- It was a position that was easier to defend

Question 3

What did the Greek fleet do while the hoplites were retreating to Thermopylae? What was the Greeks’ hope?

Answer 3

• Sailed to the cape at Artemisium

- Combined, the hope was that holding the two defensive positions would favour the Greeks and slow down the Persians

Question 4

Who directed the fleet at Artemisium?

Answer 4

• Eurybiades (a Spartan commander) and Themistocles

Question 5

Who was in command at Thermopylae?

Answer 5

• The Spartan king Leonidas

Question 6

What was the most tactical factor to the Greeks? (regarding Thermopylae and Artemisium)

Answer 6

• The difference in numbers

Question 7

According to Herodotus, what were the sizes of the Greek and Persian armies?

Answer 7

• Xerxes had roughly 5 million men

- The Greeks had 10,000

Question 8

Is Herodotus’ estimation of belligerent numbers accurate? What did the vast difference mean?

Answer 8

• Xerxes’ numbers have clearly been exaggerated, but it is clear that there was a huge difference in numbers
• The Greeks would have no chance at winning in an open battle

Question 9

In what way did both the pass at Thermopylae and the narrows at Artemisium favour the Greeks?

Answer 9

• The Persians couldn’t attack with their full force

Question 10

Outline the initial skirmishes between the Persians and the Greeks. What did the Persians do? What did this cause? Then what did the Persians do?

Answer 10

• The Persians marched south while the fleet proceeded down the coast. They came across a patrol of 3 Greek triremes and captured them
• This caused the Greek naval forces to lose moral and temporarily retreat
• The Persians scouted the area and once they believed their route was safe they set out into the open water

Question 11

What was a well known (to the Greeks) fact that ended up giving them an advantage at Artemisium?

Answer 11

• They knew that storms were common at that time of year, whereas the Persians didn’t

Question 12

What happened in August 480 BC at Artemisium that caused a heavy loss to the Persians?

Answer 12

• Severe storms destroyed a third of the Persian fleet, which was of 700-800 triremes

Question 13

Where were the Greeks when the storms hit? What did this mean?

Answer 13

• They had taken refuge behind the island of Euboea

- Their fleet was unscathed

Question 14

Why did the battle at Artemisium go ahead despite the Persian losses? Outline what happened

Answer 14

• Their fleet was too large to be completely destroyed
• After a bloody struggle, the Persian ships broke through the Greek line and so the Greeks retreated. Both sides suffered heavy losses

Question 15

What did the Greeks do when they saw Xerxes’ army approach? What did Leonidas realise? What did he do because of this? How else did the Greeks prepare?

Answer 15

• When they saw the vast army approach, the Greeks from the Peloponnesian peninsula desire a vote to be taken to return home
• Leonidas realised that to do this would probably result in the submission of all states in the direct vicinity
• Instead, he ordered the Greeks to stay, inspiring them through the determined leadership of the Spartans
• The Greeks also built a wall to funnel the Persians into the narrowest part of the pass

Question 16

What happened when Xerxes sent scouts to spy on the Greeks? What did they see? Who did Xerxes consult when he heard this? What did this person say?

Answer 16

• The scouts were shocked to see the Spartans combing their hair, dressing themselves up and exercising
• When Xerxes heard this he called on the exiled Demaratus for advice
• “If you overcome these men and those remaining behind at Sparta, there is no one else on earth who will raise his hands to withstand you. You are now attacking the fairest kingdom in Hellas and men who are the very best”

Question 17

Did Xerxes listen to Demaratus’ advice? What did he then do?

Answer 17

• No, he bid his time, imagining that the Greeks would lose heart and run

Question 18

After a four day stalemate, Xerxes launched his attack. What does Herodotus tell us of the performance of the Greeks in the subsequent battle?

Answer 18

• “they made it clear to everyone, especially to King Xerxes himself, that among so many men he had few soldiers”

Question 19

Once it became clear that the Greeks were better than Xerxes had originally thought, who did he deploy? Who were they? How did they get their name? How did they do?

Answer 19

• He deployed the famous immortals
• Professional fighting men of Persia
• When on of the 10,000 of them died, he was instantly replaced
• They did no better against the Greeks

Question 20

According to Herodotus, why did the immortals not succeed against the Greeks?

Answer 20

• “they used shorter spears than the Hellenes and could not use their numbers fighting in a narrow space”

Question 21

What does Herodotus tell us of the performance of the Spartans against the immortals?

Answer 21

• “(they) fought memorably, showing themselves skilled fighters amidst the unskilled”

Question 22

On the second day of fighting at Thermopylae, Xerxes began to worry. What does Herodotus say of this?

Answer 22

• The King, as he watched, jumped up three times from the throne in fear for his army”

Question 23

What was the dangerous weakness in the Greek defense of Thermopylae? How was this exploited?

Answer 23

• There was another pathway through the mountains that was well-known by the locals
• A local man called Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks for money, for which Herodotus writes that he would be hunted for life

Question 24

Once the Persians had traversed the pass they prepared to attack the Greek forces. What does Herodotus tell us of what Leonidas did next? Why didn’t he do this himself?

Answer 24

• He dismissed the Greek forces (apart from the Spartans of course)
• “honour forbade that he himself should go…and Sparta did not lose her prosperity, as might otherwise have happened”