Essay On Gates Of Fire

1245 Words5 Pages
------------------------------------------------- gates of fire ------------------------------------------------- steven pressfield Laura Sanderson September 25, 2013 Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield is the story of one of three critical battles between a small force of Greek citizens and the massive Persian forces as told to Xerxes, king of Persia, by a single survivor. Pressfield frames the historical events around the personal story of Xeones, who has been pulled from the rubble by Persian soldiers, brought back from the edge of death by Xerxes’s royal surgeons for the express purpose of relating what it was that made a man stand and fight as the Spartans had done in the battle of Thermopylae. The story is told from the foot soldier’s perspective to Xerxes’ historian, Herodotus, who later published the account as part of…show more content…
Steven Pressfield in writing the novel researched the historical facts known about the period, the people and the events. The book is violent reflecting the violent nature of the period and the type of warfare and battles that took place during that period. There are details about the many differences between the city states within Greece, not yet a country and fighting amongst itself and the Persian culture. These details provide a picture of a developing democracy. Greece moves from an internally divided people towards a cohesive democratic society. One thing that the book did not focus on was the strong religious beliefs the Spartans had. The Spartans believed strongly in oracles, specifically the Oracle of Delphi and believed in preparing to die by readying their body clean for death. Spartans had a strong sense of loyalty to Sparta, order and discipline and strict obedience Spartan law. This is one of the reasons Leonidas was only allowed to take 300 soldiers from Sparta; it was against the law to have weapons and fight during the time of Cornea and Olympic
Open Document