¶ … great warrior civilizations of antiquity the name "Spartan" invariably arises. Stephen Pressfield in the impressive novel "Gates of Fire" stirringly resurrects these ancient warriors and their society.
Describe the General Storyline of this book.
As the book begins, a captured Spartan squire named Xeones (the sole survivor of the last stand at Thermopylae) is recounting the compelling story of the 300 Spartans who fought to their death at Thermopylae to the Persian King. Xeones's narrative does not restrict itself to just an accounting of the battle but also reflects the trials experienced in his own life, the day-to-day life of Spartan society, and the humanity, compassion, and grief of his fallen brothers in arms.
How does Pressfield present the Spartans and their Society? What attributes
Characteristics) does he claim that the Spartans exhibited. How did the other Greeks perceive the Spartans?
Pressfield, obvious from the outset of the accounting, justly feels that the Spartans were respected among the other city-states of Greece. After Xeones hometown is sacked by a neighboring state a survivor laments, "We needed Spartans... just fifty would have saved the city" (24) The view that the Spartans were undoubtedly thought of as disciplined, courageous, and stalwart (35) by all of Greece was not lost on the Spartans themselves. Their society thrived on the fact that they were viewed with the highest esteem by the rest of Greece and soon the world....
In conclusion, based on the available historical evidence concerning ancient Sparta and its culture and the viewpoints of Aristotle, the Spartan women obviously played a major role in the downfall of the Spartan empire; however, like related historical events, one cannot place all of the blame on this role, for there is certainly a conglomerate of reasons why Sparta failed to survive as a major Greek polis. In basic terms,
Spartan Army by Nick Sekunda attempts to give as in-depth account as possible of the ancient Spartan society's military code of conduct and way of life. Particular detail is given to military dress, weapons, and uniforms, as well as the history and geography of this ancient Greek city-state, and is methods of training its citizen-warriors. Sparta was one of the major powers of ancient Greece, but unlike its ally during
Spartan and Athenian constitutional and political systems. In the first part, an introduction of Athens and Sparta has been given. In the second part, both the forms of governments in Spartan and Athenian lands have been discussed. In the final part, a summary of the differences and similarities between the political systems of the two poleis have been included. Ancient Greece is well-known as the starting point of western civilization.
Ancient History What constitutes a Spartan? Indeed, what characteristics are exemplary of a Spartan? According to Steven Pressfied in his work, "Gates of Fire," Spartans are synonymous with the term warrior. So much so in fact, that one is likely to find the word Spartan in the thesaurus when researching the term "warrior." In his book, Pressfield provides the reader with very detailed and accurate descriptions of the ideal Spartan, as
Leonidas The Spartans: The World of the Warrior Heroes of Ancient Greece Paul Cartledge's book known as The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece is by far one of the most intriguing books about one of the most looked at civilizations of ancient Greece. It brings to light new thoughts on the civilization that was known as a pure warrior society (Cartledge, 2004). Cartledge asks the question known as
Accuracies in the Snyder's Film Herodotus and Zac Snyder have at least one thing in common: they both portray the ancient Persians in very unflattering terms. The grim, ghastly, almost monstrously barbaric (yet weirdly effeminate) features of the Persian leader Xerxes is one of the most visually arresting elements of Snyder's film 300 (based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller). How historically accurate is the film? Considering the fact
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