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

The Dawn of Ancient classical HeroismThe unwitting whip of Leonidas and the thousands of Spartans at the troth of battle of Thermopylae has confounded the minds of mevery historians and has compelled them to deduce each possible logical explanationSparta was a super motive at the conviction of ancient Greece . The Greek historian Xenophon , stated that it had the superlative power of any Greek community but too nonpareil of the smallest populations (Powell , 2001 ,br 218The Spartan society was known for its patriotism , and cour come alongousness in war .1 The guidance of education of the society was comical for Sparta , where it forceful the development of the physique thru compulsory military procreation for two boys and girls at a very early age .2 This intensely strict mandate has produced the psychology of dying instead than defeat at war .3 The prohibitedstanding accomplishment that was born out of this way of living was a supreme military . Sparta seemed secure with a population who would choose death over going at battle and a military feared by new(prenominal) polis . The cleverness 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 contend Iranians . They fought courageously , giving big losses to the army of Persian emperor Xerxes but brooked defeat when a Greek rat 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 ccc . 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 fervor to poets and lit erary figures who tried to immortalize that ! issuance .

Francois Rene de Chateaubriand (Bernard 2003 ) described the emergence , 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 acquit , the sun was rising behind the Menelaian hills . What a beautiful spectacle ! barely how melancholy . I stood motionless , in a class stupor A mixture of grasp and grief canvas my steps and my thoughts the silence round me was involved . Wishing , at least , to make echo say in a spot where the human voice is no longer perceive , I shouted with all my dexterity Leonidas No transgress repeated this great name , and Sparta herself seemed to set out disregarded it (p . 1Herodotus attributed that courageous decision of Leonidas and his army to die to the fulfillment of the oracle at Delphi , where Sparta would decide to sacrifice its king or to suffer the obliteration of the whole city .5 However , it would be inconclusive 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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