Thermopylae Research Paper

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The battle of Thermopylae, the Spartans had 300 men and another 6000 troops from a collections of Greek cities, compared to the estimated 100,000 Persian forces. The Greeks choose to defend a narrow passageway, between the mountains of central Greece and the seam called Thermopylae. When the Persians turned up at the pathway, multiple days went by without any fighting starting. Xerxes ordered a scout to see what the Greek position was. When the scout came back from his trip, Xerxes was amazed on what he had heard. In front of a barricade that cut off the pass, the spartans were combing their hair and working out! Though, the king, Xerxes was warned that the Spartans were ready to fight to the death and were men of great moral and bravery. After…show more content…
The Greek soldiers took turns holding the front line and fighting wave after wave of bloodthirsty Persians. Many Persians were killed because the narrow space and could not use their great numbers effectively and the longer spears of the Greeks killed and inflicted much more casualties on the Persians. The Spartans used a dexterous plan to overwhelm and confused the Persians. They pretended to retreat so that the Persians would chase after them, but would then turn upon the Persians and kill many of the enemy. It was truly one of the cleverest and amazing strategy that the Greeks have ever used. Sadly, they lose this battle when a traitor tells king Xerxes of another pathway, and Xerxes sends his finest men to finish off the Spartans. When they attacked, Leonidas, the Spartan general, chose to fight to the end, even knowing that his soldiers could never win this battle. Ho ordered the remaining Greek soldiers to retreat. Though the Spartans and the other Greek troops fought to the death, had…show more content…
On September 480 B.C. the Greek navy had collected near the island of Salamis to aid in the emptying of the city, Athens. Whilst the Persians sacked the barren city of Athens, the Greek fleet under the direction of Themistocle planned for the next skirmish. After the Persians finish sacking Athens, they turned their concern to Salamis and moved their fleet to the island. However, Themistocle had a surprise for Xerxes and his fleet. He mailed out a message to Xerxes informing him that the Greeks he led were on the Persian's side and wished to ally themselves with his faction. He also indicated that the Greeks would be leaving Salamis during the night. Stupidly, Xerxes believed the message and his fleet stayed up all night searching for the retreating ships. Xerxes had no clue that he had been duped by the clever Greek general. When the sun came up, the Persians fleet realized that the Greeks had not left and so the Persians advanced into the narrow pathway between the isle and the mainland. The huge ships the Persian fleet used, had adversity getting through in such a small body of water, and with every progression through, sailing became much harder. The Greeks then attacked them while they were stuck. The Greeks had smaller ships and were able to sink lots of Persian ships that were trapped in the straits. After much fighting the Greeks were able to win against the Persians by their clever
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