The Battle of Thermopylae

Does anybody know about the Battle of Thermopylae? Yes? No? Well, I hope those who know will forgive me as I give those who don’t some information on it.

Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Jacques Louis David, 1814

The Battle of Thermopylae happened in the year 480 B.C.; it was a clash between the allied forces of the Greek-city states led by King Leonidas of Sparta and the Persian army led by Xerxes I. It lasted for three days, but things took a turn for the worse on the second day when the Greek forces were betrayed by a man named Ephialtes, who led the enemy behind the Greek’s lines. It was the first battle out of three which would eventually end in a victory for the Greeks, although this particular battle would not end well for them. The size of both armies varies; for the Greeks, Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus have given numbers ranging from 5200 to 7400, although modern historians tend to add 1900 more people to Herodotus’s number, making both of them more or less equal. As for the Persian army, ancient historians claimed about a million people, but modern historians believe the numbers are more between 100,000 and 300,000, which is more believable considering all they had to do.

This was all about the technical side of things. But, if we were to look at the battle from another angle…

The Jupiter de Smyrne, discovered in Smyrna in 1680

The ancient Greeks practiced polytheism, which is the belief in multiple gods. Many of these were associated with certain aspects of nature (Zeus and lightning, Poseidon and earthquakes, and so on) while others were in charge of abstract notions, such as love (Aphrodite). They also believed in the Underworld, divided into sections which you were sent to depending on your behavior (neither good nor bad = Fields of Asphodel, great = Elysium, and bad = Tartarus).

As for the Persians, they practiced Zoroastrianism, based on the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster. It tells of how there is one universal god named Ahura Mazda, who created truth and order, which is the opposite of falsehood and disorder. The basic thing of it is that if you do good deeds it will help keep chaos at bay. Also, since Ahura Mazda is not manifested in the world, then what he has created is being continued through the Amesha Spentas, divine entities who carry out his will. I know there is more to both religion, but I wanted to keep it simple.   

According to Will Straw, an ideology is a value or a belief system that is accepted as either fact or truth by some group. So, if we go by this definition, then we can definitely count religion as being an ideology. Then, if we follow this train of thought, could we not say the battle was also a clash of ideologies? The Greeks have their multiple gods; the Persians have their single universal one who has his work carried on by other divinities. So, when the two sides clashed, and the Greeks lost, history has it was because they were betrayed. But when you count in the gods, who were involved, could it be the Greeks lost because the gods turned on them, or simply because they did not give enough care when it came to making the sacrifices in order to gain their favor? It is a mystery that probably will never be solved. As for me, I would rather believe in multiple gods. When you are a child, and even while you are growing into an adult, you are taught teamwork, to share duties, which is something polytheistic religions do. One person doing everything on their own does not really agree with me. But then, this is my opinion. Everyone has the right to their own, as long as they respect those of others.