Herodotus
Herodotus, The Spartans at Thermopylae
[7.201] King Xerxes pitched his camp in the region of Malis called
Trachinia, while on their side the Greeks occupied the straits. These straits
the Greeks in general call Thermopylae (the Hot Gates); but the natives, and
those who dwell in the neighbourhood, call them Pylae (the Gates). Here then
the two armies took their stand; the one master of all the region lying north
of Trachis, the other of the country extending southward of that place to the
verge of the continent.
[7.202] The Greeks who at this spot awaited the coming of Xerxes were the
following:- From Sparta, three hundred men-at-arms; from Arcadia, a thousand
Tegeans and Mantineans, five hundred of each people; a hundred and twenty
Orchomenians, from the Arcadian Orchomenus; and a thousand from other cities:
from Corinth, four hundred men; from Phlius, two hundred; and from Mycenae
eighty. Such was the number from the Peloponnese. There were also present,
from Boeotia, seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans.
[7.203] Besides these troops, the Locrians of Opus and the Phocians had
obeyed the call of their countrymen, and sent, the former all the force they
had, the latter a thousand men. For envoys had gone from the Greeks at
Thermopylae among the Locrians and Phocians, to call on them for assistance,
and to say - "They were themselves but the vanguard of the host, sent to
precede the main body, which might every day be expected to follow them. The
sea was in good keeping, watched by the Athenians, the Eginetans, and the rest
of the fleet. There was no cause why they should fear; for after all the
invader was not a god but a man; and there never had been, and never would be,
a man who was not liable to misfortunes from the very day of his birth, and
those misfortunes greater in proportion to his own greatness. The assailant
therefore, being only a mortal, must needs fall from his glory." Thus urged,
the Locrians and the Phocians had come with their troops to Trachis.
[7.204] The various nations had each captains of their own under whom they
served; but the one to whom all especially looked up, and who had the command
of the entire force, was the Lacedaemonian, Leonidas. Now Leonidas was the son
of Anaxandridas, who was the son of Leo, who was the son of Eurycratidas, who
was the son of Anaxander, who was the son of Eurycrates, who was the son of
Polydorus, who was the son of Alcamenes, who was the son of Telecles, who was
the son of Archelaus, who was the son of Agesilaus, who was the son of
Doryssus, who was the son of Labotas, who was the son of Echestratus, who was
the son of Agis, who was the son of Eurysthenes, who was the son of
Aristodemus, who was the son of Aristomachus, who was the son of Cleodaeus,
who was the son of Hyllus, who was the son of Hercules.
Leonidas had come to be king of Sparta quite unexpectedly.
[7.205] Having two elder brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he had no thought
of ever mounting the throne. However, when Cleomenes died without male
offspring, as Dorieus was likewise deceased, having perished in Sicily, the
crown fell to Leonidas, who was older than Cleombrotus, the youngest of the
sons of Anaxandridas, and, moreover, was married to the daughter of Cleomenes.
He had now come to Thermopylae, accompanied by the three hundred men which the
law assigned him, whom he had himself chosen from among the citizens, and who
were all of them fathers with sons living. On his way he had taken the troops
from Thebes, whose number I have already mentioned, and who were under the
command of Leontiades the son of Eurymachus. The reason why he made a point of
taking troops from Thebes, and Thebes only, was that the Thebans were strongly
suspected of being well inclined to the Medes. Leonidas therefore called on
them to come with him to the war, wishing to see whether they would comply
with his demand, or openly refuse, and disclaim the Greek alliance. They,
however, though their wishes leant the other way, nevertheless sent the men.
[7.206] The force with Leonidas was sent forward by the Spartans in advance
of their main body, that the sight of them might encourage the allies to
fight, and hinder them from going over to the Medes, as it was likely they
might have done had they seen that Sparta was backward. They intended
presently, when they had celebrated the Carneian festival, which was what now
kept them at home, to leave a garrison in Sparta, and hasten in full force to
join the army. The rest of the allies also intended to act similarly; for it
happened that the Olympic festival fell exactly at this same period. None of
them looked to see the contest at Thermopylae decided so speedily; wherefore
they were content to send forward a mere advanced guard. Such accordingly were
the intentions of the allies.
[7.207] The Greek forces at Thermopylae, when the Persian army drew near to
the entrance of the pass, were seized with fear; and a council was held to
consider about a retreat. It was the wish of the Peloponnesians generally that
the army should fall back upon the Peloponnese, and there guard the Isthmus.
But Leonidas, who saw with what indignation the Phocians and Locrians heard of
this plan, gave his voice for remaining where they were, while they sent
envoys to the several cities to ask for help, since they were too few to make
a stand against an army like that of the Medes.
[7.208] While this debate was going on, Xerxes sent a mounted spy to
observe the Greeks, and note how many they were, and see what they were doing.
He had heard, before he came out of Thessaly, that a few men were assembled at
this place, and that at their head were certain Lacedaemonians, under Leonidas,
a descendant of Hercules. The horseman rode up to the camp, and looked about
him, but did not see the whole army; for such as were on the further side of
the wall (which had been rebuilt and was now carefully guarded) it was not
possible for him to behold; but he observed those on the outside, who were
encamped in front of the rampart. It chanced that at this time the
Lacedaemonians held the outer guard, and were seen by the spy, some of them
engaged in gymnastic exercises, others combing their long hair. At this the
spy greatly marvelled, but he counted their number, and when he had taken
accurate note of everything, he rode back quietly; for no one pursued after
him, nor paid any heed to his visit. So he returned, and told Xerxes all that
he had seen.
[7.209] Upon this, Xerxes, who had no means of surmising the truth -
namely, that the Spartans were preparing to do or die manfully - but thought
it laughable that they should be engaged in such employments, sent and called
to his presence Demaratus the son of Ariston, who still remained with the
army. When he appeared, Xerxes told him all that he had heard, and questioned
him concerning the news, since he was anxious to understand the meaning of
such behaviour on the part of the Spartans. Then Demaratus said -
"I spake to thee, O king! concerning these men long since, when we had but
just begun our march upon Greece; thou, however, didst only laugh at my words,
when I told thee of all this, which I saw would come to pass. Earnestly do I
struggle at all times to speak truth to thee, sire; and now listen to it once
more. These men have come to dispute the pass with us; and it is for this that
they are now making ready. 'Tis their custom, when they are about to hazard
their lives, to adorn their heads with care. Be assured, however, that if thou
canst subdue the men who are here and the Lacedaemonians who remain in Sparta,
there is no other nation in all the world which will venture to lift a hand in
their defence. Thou hast now to deal with the first kingdom and town in
Greece, and with the bravest men."
Then Xerxes, to whom what Demaratus said seemed altogether to surpass
belief, asked further "how it was possible for so small an army to contend
with his?"
"O king!" Demaratus answered, "let me be treated as a liar, if matters fall
not out as I say."
[7.210] But Xerxes was not persuaded any the more. Four whole days he
suffered to go by, expecting that the Greeks would run away. When, however, he
found on the fifth that they were not gone, thinking that their firm stand was
mere impudence and recklessness, he grew wroth, and sent against them the
Medes and Cissians, with orders to take them alive and bring them into his
presence. Then the Medes rushed forward and charged the Greeks, but fell in
vast numbers: others however took the places of the slain, and would not be
beaten off, though they suffered terrible losses. In this way it became clear
to all, and especially to the king, that though he had plenty of combatants,
he had but very few warriors. The struggle, however, continued during the
whole day.
[7.211] Then the Medes, having met so rough a reception, withdrew from the
fight; and their place was taken by the band of Persians under Hydarnes, whom
the king called his "Immortals": they, it was thought, would soon finish the
business. But when they joined battle with the Greeks, 'twas with no better
success than the Median detachment - things went much as before - the two
armies fighting in a narrow space, and the barbarians using shorter spears
than the Greeks, and having no advantage from their numbers. The
Lacedaemonians fought in a way worthy of note, and showed themselves far more
skilful in fight than their adversaries, often turning their backs, and making
as though they were all flying away, on which the barbarians would rush after
them with much noise and shouting, when the Spartans at their approach would
wheel round and face their pursuers, in this way destroying vast numbers of
the enemy. Some Spartans likewise fell in these encounters, but only a very
few. At last the Persians, finding that all their efforts to gain the pass
availed nothing, and that, whether they attacked by divisions or in any other
way, it was to no purpose, withdrew to their own quarters.
[7.212] During these assaults, it is said that Xerxes, who was watching the
battle, thrice leaped from the throne on which he sate, in terror for his
army.
Next day the combat was renewed, but with no better success on the part of
the barbarians. The Greeks were so few that the barbarians hoped to find them
disabled, by reason of their wounds, from offering any further resistance; and
so they once more attacked them. But the Greeks were drawn up in detachments
according to their cities, and bore the brunt of the battle in turns - all
except the Phocians, who had been stationed on the mountain to guard the
pathway. So, when the Persians found no difference between that day and the
preceding, they again retired to their quarters.
[7.213] Now, as the king was in great strait, and knew not how he should
deal with the emergency, Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a man of Malis, came
to him and was admitted to a conference. Stirred by the hope of receiving a
rich reward at the king's hands, he had come to tell him of the pathway which
led across the mountain to Thermopylae; by which disclosure he brought
destruction on the band of Greeks who had there withstood the barbarians. This
Ephialtes afterwards, from fear of the Lacedaemonians, fled into Thessaly; and
during his exile, in an assembly of the Amphictyons held at Pylae, a price was
set upon his head by the Pylagorae. When some time had gone by, he returned
from exile, and went to Anticyra, where he was slain by Athenades, a native of
Trachis. Athenades did not slay him for his treachery, but for another reason,
which I shall mention in a later part of my history: yet still the
Lacedaemonians honoured him none the less. Thus then did Ephialtes perish a
long time afterwards.
[7.214] Besides this there is another story told, which I do not at all
believe - to wit, that Onetas the son of Phanagoras, a native of Carystus, and
Corydallus, a man of Anticyra, were the persons who spoke on this matter to
the king, and took the Persians across the mountain. One may guess which story
is true, from the fact that the deputies of the Greeks, the Pylagorae, who
must have had the best means of ascertaining the truth, did not offer the
reward for the heads of Onetas and Corydallus, but for that of Ephialtes of
Trachis; and again from the flight of Ephialtes, which we know to have been on
this account. Onetas, I allow, although he was not a Malian, might have been
acquainted with the path, if he had lived much in that part of the country;
but as Ephialtes was the person who actually led the Persians round the
mountain by the pathway, I leave his name on record as that of the man who did
the deed.
[7.215] Great was the joy of Xerxes on this occasion; and as he approved
highly of the enterprise which Ephialtes undertook to accomplish, he forthwith
sent upon the errand Hydarnes, and the Persians under him. The troops left the
camp about the time of the lighting of the lamps. The pathway along which they
went was first discovered by the Malians of these parts, who soon afterwards
led the Thessalians by it to attack the Phocians, at the time when the
Phocians fortified the pass with a wall, and so put themselves under covert
from danger. And ever since, the path has always been put to an ill use by the
Malians.
[7.216] The course which it takes is the following:- Beginning at the
Asopus, where that stream flows through the cleft in the hills, it runs along
the ridge of the mountain (which is called, like the pathway over it, Anopaea),
and ends at the city of Alpenus - the first Locrian town as you come from
Malis - by the stone called Melampygus and the seats of the Cercopians. Here
it is as narrow as at any other point.
[7.217] The Persians took this path, and, crossing the Asopus, continued
their march through the whole of the night, having the mountains of Oeta on
their right hand, and on their left those of Trachis. At dawn of day they
found themselves close to the summit. Now the hill was guarded, as I have
already said, by a thousand Phocian men-at-arms, who were placed there to
defend the pathway, and at the same time to secure their own country. They had
been given the guard of the mountain path, while the other Greeks defended the
pass below, because they had volunteered for the service, and had pledged
themselves to Leonidas to maintain the post.
[7.218] The ascent of the Persians became known to the Phocians in the
following manner:- During all the time that they were making their way up, the
Greeks remained unconscious of it, inasmuch as the whole mountain was covered
with groves of oak; but it happened that the air was very still, and the
leaves which the Persians stirred with their feet made, as it was likely they
would, a loud rustling, whereupon the Phocians jumped up and flew to seize
their arms. In a moment the barbarians came in sight, and, perceiving men
arming themselves, were greatly amazed; for they had fallen in with an enemy
when they expected no opposition. Hydarnes, alarmed at the sight, and fearing
lest the Phocians might be Lacedaemonians, inquired of Ephialtes to what
nation these troops belonged. Ephialtes told him the exact truth, whereupon he
arrayed his Persians for battle. The Phocians, galled by the showers of arrows
to which they were exposed, and imagining themselves the special object of the
Persian attack, fled hastily to the crest of the mountain, and there made
ready to meet death; but while their mistake continued, the Persians, with
Ephialtes and Hydarnes, not thinking it worth their while to delay on account
of Phocians, passed on and descended the mountain with all possible speed.
[7.219] The Greeks at Thermopylae received the first warning of the
destruction which the dawn would bring on them from the seer Megistias, who
read their fate in the victims as he was sacrificing. After this deserters
came in, and brought the news that the Persians were marching round by the
hills: it was still night when these men arrived. Last of all, the scouts came
running down from the heights, and brought in the same accounts, when the day
was just beginning to break. Then the Greeks held a council to consider what
they should do, and here opinions were divided: some were strong against
quitting their post, while others contended to the contrary. So when the
council had broken up, part of the troops departed and went their ways
homeward to their several states; part however resolved to remain, and to
stand by Leonidas to the last.
[7.220] It is said that Leonidas himself sent away the troops who departed,
because he tendered their safety, but thought it unseemly that either he or
his Spartans should quit the post which they had been especially sent to
guard. For my own part, I incline to think that Leonidas gave the order,
because he perceived the allies to be out of heart and unwilling to encounter
the danger to which his own mind was made up. He therefore commanded them to
retreat, but said that he himself could not draw back with honour; knowing
that, if he stayed, glory awaited him, and that Sparta in that case would not
lose her prosperity. For when the Spartans, at the very beginning of the war,
sent to consult the oracle concerning it, the answer which they received from
the Pythoness was "that either Sparta must be overthrown by the barbarians, or
one of her kings must perish." The prophecy was delivered in hexameter verse,
and ran thus:-
O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon! Either your glorious
town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, Or, in exchange, must all
through the whole Laconian country Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of
great Heracles. He cannot be withstood by the courage of bulls nor of lions,
Strive as they may; he is mighty as Jove; there is nought that shall stay him,
Till he have got for his prey your king, or your glorious city.
The remembrance of this answer, I think, and the wish to secure the whole
glory for the Spartans, caused Leonidas to send the allies away. This is more
likely than that they quarrelled with him, and took their departure in such
unruly fashion.
[7.221] To me it seems no small argument in favour of this view, that the
seer also who accompanied the army, Megistias, the Acarnanian - said to have
been of the blood of Melampus, and the same who was led by the appearance of
the victims to warn the Greeks of the danger which threatened them - received
orders to retire (as it is certain he did) from Leonidas, that he might escape
the coming destruction. Megistias, however, though bidden to depart, refused,
and stayed with the army; but he had an only son present with the expedition,
whom he now sent away.
[7.222] So the allies, when Leonidas ordered them to retire, obeyed him and
forthwith departed. Only the Thespians and the Thebans remained with the
Spartans; and of these the Thebans were kept back by Leonidas as hostages,
very much against their will. The Thespians, on the contrary, stayed entirely
of their own accord, refusing to retreat, and declaring that they would not
forsake Leonidas and his followers. So they abode with the Spartans, and died
with them. Their leader was Demophilus, the son of Diadromes.
[7.223] At sunrise Xerxes made libations, after which he waited until the
time when the forum is wont to fill, and then began his advance. Ephialtes had
instructed him thus, as the descent of the mountain is much quicker, and the
distance much shorter, than the way round the hills, and the ascent. So the
barbarians under Xerxes began to draw nigh; and the Greeks under Leonidas, as
they now went forth determined to die, advanced much further than on previous
days, until they reached the more open portion of the pass. Hitherto they had
held their station within the wall, and from this had gone forth to fight at
the point where the pass was the narrowest. Now they joined battle beyond the
defile, and carried slaughter among the barbarians, who fell in heaps. Behind
them the captains of the squadrons, armed with whips, urged their men forward
with continual blows. Many were thrust into the sea, and there perished; a
still greater number were trampled to death by their own soldiers; no one
heeded the dying. For the Greeks, reckless of their own safety and desperate,
since they knew that, as the mountain had been crossed, their destruction was
nigh at hand, exerted themselves with the most furious valour against the
barbarians.
[7.224] By this time the spears of the greater number were all shivered,
and with their swords they hewed down the ranks of the Persians; and here, as
they strove, Leonidas fell fighting bravely, together with many other famous
Spartans, whose names I have taken care to learn on account of their great
worthiness, as indeed I have those of all the three hundred. There fell too at
the same time very many famous Persians: among them, two sons of Darius,
Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, his children by Phratagune, the daughter of Artanes.
Artanes was brother of King Darius, being a son of Hystaspes, the son of
Arsames; and when he gave his daughter to the king, he made him heir likewise
of all his substance; for she was his only child.
[7.225] Thus two brothers of Xerxes here fought and fell. And now there
arose a fierce struggle between the Persians and the Lacedaemonians over the
body of Leonidas, in which the Greeks four times drove back the enemy, and at
last by their great bravery succeeded in bearing off the body. This combat was
scarcely ended when the Persians with Ephialtes approached; and the Greeks,
informed that they drew nigh, made a change in the manner of their fighting.
Drawing back into the narrowest part of the pass, and retreating even behind
the cross wall, they posted themselves upon a hillock, where they stood all
drawn up together in one close body, except only the Thebans. The hillock
whereof I speak is at the entrance of the straits, where the stone lion stands
which was set up in honour of Leonidas. Here they defended themselves to the
last, such as still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their
hands and teeth; till the barbarians, who in part had pulled down the wall and
attacked them in front, in part had gone round and now encircled them upon
every side, overwhelmed and buried the remnant which was left beneath showers
of missile weapons.
[7.226] Thus nobly did the whole body of Lacedaemonians and Thespians
behave; but nevertheless one man is said to have distinguished himself above
all the rest, to wit, Dieneces the Spartan. A speech which he made before the
Greeks engaged the Medes, remains on record. One of the Trachinians told him,
"Such was the number of the barbarians, that when they shot forth their arrows
the sun would be darkened by their multitude." Dieneces, not at all frightened
at these words, but making light of the Median numbers, answered "Our
Trachinian friend brings us excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun, we
shall have our fight in the shade." Other sayings too of a like nature are
reported to have been left on record by this same person.
[7.227] Next to him two brothers, Lacedaemonians, are reputed to have made
themselves conspicuous: they were named Alpheus and Maro, and were the sons of
Orsiphantus. There was also a Thespian who gained greater glory than any of
his countrymen: he was a man called Dithyrambus, the son of Harmatidas.
[7.228] The slain were buried where they fell; and in their honour, nor
less in honour of those who died before Leonidas sent the allies away, an
inscription was set up, which said:-
Here did four thousand men from Pelops' land Against three hundred myriads
bravely stand.
This was in honour of all. Another was for the Spartans alone:-
Go, stranger, and to Lacedaemon tell That here, obeying her behests, we
fell.
This was for the Lacedaemonians. The seer had the following:-
The great Megistias' tomb you here may view, Whom slew the Medes, fresh
from Spercheius' fords. Well the wise seer the coming death foreknew, Yet
scorned he to forsake his Spartan lords.
These inscriptions, and the pillars likewise, were all set up by the
Amphictyons, except that in honour of Megistias, which was inscribed to him
(on account of their sworn friendship) by Simonides, the son of Leoprepes.