looking for a poem about the spartans at the battle of thermopylae by homer?

Question

ii read a book on the spartans & it had a poem in it & i think it was written by homer

Answer 1

'Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie' - inscribed epitaph by Simonides at the top of the burial mound of the fallen Spartan soldiers. that may be as close as you get, but hopefully someone will know better than me and give you a better answer. BTW, Homer (if he was even a real person) lived and died a long time before Thermopylae. 8th century (?) B.C.E vs the time of Thermopylae, 5th century B.C.E.

Answer 2

Go Tell The Spartans Poem

Answer 3

As was pointed out, Homer can't have written about the battle of Thermopylae. Herodot, though, tells of it and gives the prophecy of the Delphic oracle in hexameters. Wikipedia has this and a lot of poetry inspirted by Thermopylae; check:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

Answer 4

The history of Herodotus addresses the Battle of Thermopylae, but it seems when I was a child, I read a poem with the refrain, "King Xerxes, beware, for Leonidas is combing his hair"
If I recall, it may have been by Eleanor Farjeon, but I can't find much of her actual work online to check for sure. Sorry.

Answer 5

The Illiad? Its by Homer, but not about the Spartans but The Trojan War. Spartans are much later. I know of one Spartan poet, Simonides. (Google him) He has been the attributed author of the epitaph at Thermopylae. Was the book you read the "Hot Gates"?