Was The Self-sacrifice Of Leonidas And The Spartans At Thermopylae A Consequence Of The Spartan Educational System?

The Dawn of Ancient Hellenic HeroismThe unwitting whip of Leonidas and the thousands of Spartans at the passage of arms of battle of Thermopylae has confounded the minds of mevery historians and has compelled them to deduce some(prenominal) possible logical explanationSparta was a super motive at the conviction of ancient Greece . The Greek historian Xenophon , stated that it had the greatest power of any Greek community but in addition nonpareil of the smallest populations (Powell , 2001 ,br 218The Spartan society was known for its patriotism , and fortitude in war .1 The demeanor of education of the society was eccentric for Sparta , where it forceful the development of the physique thru compulsory military rearing for two boys and girls at a very early time .2 This intensely strict mandate has produced the psycholog y of dying or else than defeat at war .3 The prohibitedstanding accomplishment that was born unwrap of this way of living was a supreme military . Sparta seemed unassailable with a population who would choose death over passing game at battle and a military feared by new(prenominal) polis . The effectuality of heart of the Spartans , however was put to the test during the famed Battle of ThermopylaeKing Leonidas lead an troops of 4000 to defend the straits of Thermopylae from the struggle Persians . They fought courageously , giving big losses to the army of Persian emperor Xerxes but carryed defeat when a Greek traitor told Xerxes of an alternative trail to attack the Spartans . Upon knowing this lese majesty , Leonidas move away most of his army and faced the Persians with the rest three hundred . Leonidas and his army fought with all courage and died as heroes .4That principal of Greek history was arguably Spartan s finest hour (Caltredge , 2002 ) and became an large(p) source of excitement to poets ! and literary figures who tried to immortalize that issuance .

Francois Rene de Chateaubriand (Bernard 2003 ) described the circumstance , thusI cannot describe the confused feelings which overpowered me . The hill at whose foot I stood was , then , the hill of the citadel of Sparta . I dismounted , and ran all the way up the hill of the citadel . As I reached the come about , the sun was rising behind the Menelaian hills . What a beautiful spectacle ! scarcely how melancholy . I stood motionless , in a merciful stupor A mixture of grasp and grief check my steps and my thoughts the silence round me was involve d . Wishing , at least , to make echo say in a spot where the human voice is no longer comprehend , I shouted with all my dexterity Leonidas No break up repeated this great name , and Sparta herself seemed to set out bury it (p . 1Herodotus attributed that courageous decision of Leonidas and his army to die to the fulfillment of the seer at Delphi , where Sparta would decide to sacrifice its king or to suffer the obliteration of the whole city .5 However , it would be erroneous to always accept the truth of the oracle since it is single a conjecture , an alternative explanation to the fiasco...If you want to cling a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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