Do you know the truth about the Athenians and the Spartans role in beating the Persians?

Question

I heard that the film 300 sort of made fun of the Athenians, that they weren't brave enough like the Spartans. What do you think happened after the heroic but -obviously- unsuccessful resistance of the 300 Spartans and Leonidas in Thermopylae (Hot Gates)? The Persian invadors started to occyupy Greece, but it was the Athenians who defeated them and destroyed their army forever more in the battle of Salamis, in 480 BC, like they had done 10 years earlier in the battle of Marathon. Xerxes had put a throne up on a mountain to watch the battle, certain or his victory, but he had to watch the total destruction of his fleet by the Athenians, under the command of Themistocles, resulting in Xerxis going back to Persia in hiding and on foot! I wonder how many of the non-Greek people who watched the movie know that, please let me know.

Answer 1

Although the Persians were defeated in the naval battle of Salamis, Xerxes returned to Persia but left Mardonius as governor of the Greek states that had been conquered.

The Persians were subsequently defeated at the battle of Plataea in 479 B.C. which ended the last Persian attempt to conquer the Greek states. However the Persians continued to interfere in Greek politics until conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon.

The film 300 is based on a graphic novel and has very little historical accuracy. Even though I am not Greek, I know that it is just a movie.

Answer 2

I think it is difficult to compact 2 years of history and complex historical underpinnings in 1.5 hour movie.

The movie correctly showed the power of the phalanx in tight quarters (thermopolaye).

And conversely the light armor, yet bravery of some of the persians.

It also could not show the hundreds of different types of people that made the trek from different parts of Persian empire.

Yes, the Athenians won a climactic and important naval battle.

Another thing - it was with Athenian intelligence they had the fortitude to spend their precious treasury on naval ships - which are only useful for battle (triremes) in the number of ~200.

The persian still had 2-4 times the amount in the beginning of hte conflict (1 third perished in the storms as depicted in the movie.


Although outnumberd ~2:1 the Athenians also had the forethought to build a navy.

This is difficult to do when there seems to be no conflict.


I forget who headed this eneavor - found it - Pericles.

See link below.

Also donot forget the other ~3000 Greeks from all over Peloponnese and around Athens (Boetians).

If it was not for them, the Spartans alone could not have fought for three days straight.

Would have worn themselves out and could not have kept sentry duties etc.

It was more of a total Greek effort.


It is too bad that only a monumentous catastrophe brought the Greeks together.