Comparing Ancient Greece And Classical Greece

The Greek victory against Persia was largely due to efforts of mainly Athens but also Sparta as well. Athens was responsible for the major turning points of the Persian invasions, while Sparta was responsible for the deciding battle. Miltiades, with his skilful battle strategies, defeated the Persians during their second invasion at Marathon, which gave Athens a confidence boost on their military. During the third invasion, when the Athenians were evacuated to Salamis, Themistocles had devised a plan to trick the Persians which had resulted in Persian army without a supply line. Sparta?s importance had revealed during their sacrifice at Thermopylae and at Plataea, where they provided the most effective part of the army.

The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae. The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

In western ancient world, there were kings who tried to bring the world come together ideologically, culturally and politically. This caused lots of cultural exchange between people and help them understand and respect each other’s ways of life. On the other hand, politically, it created a lot of major wars. It took a large amount of resources and decades to end these wars. As a result of these wars, most kingdoms suffered from both economical and political problems. Therefore, it is fair to say that Greek/Hellenistic civilization could be characterized as being a period of intellectual and cultural achievement but political failure.

In 480 BC, when the Persian horde, estimated by some historians to range from 300,000 to 1.7 million soldiers, landed on the shores of Thermopylae, the Persian King Xerxes sent emissaries to the leaders of the Greek city-states demanding their surrender and patronage to the Persian Empire (Frye, 2006). Despite the massive threat that was encamped on the shores off the Gulf of Maliakos in small town known as Trachis, the Greeks refused. Sparta, known for their superior military might, were chosen by the Greek leaders to lead a coalition of Greek warriors to defend their homeland from the invading Persian army (Frye, 2006).

Leonidas was the king of the Spartans during the time of the Persian War. The Spartans were the elite of the elite when it came to military strength. One of the greatest displays of his courage and honor was in his last battle, The Battle of Thermopylae. At the Battle of Thermopylae the Persians were trying to come down into Greece through the mountain pass Thermopylae. The odds were heavily against the Greeks with the Persians numbering in the hundreds of thousands and the Greeks only having a couple thousand Athenians and only 300 Spartan warriors under the command of King Leonidas. The Greeks stopped-up the pass with phalanxes and were slaughtering the Persians. The battle was looking like a major victory for the Greeks until the Persians discovered a back-road on a mountain pass and were about to surround the Greeks. King Leonidas told the remaining Athenian Greeks to flee back to Athens while he and his 300 hundred Spartans held off the Persians. The Spartan army caused massive damage to the Persian army by killing off thousands of them. All the Spartans died in that battle, along with Leonidas, but this weakened the Persians and allowed the

Through the manuscripts of Herodotus, an ancient historian who hailed from the mountainous lands of Greece, modern day historians have been granted the ability to piece together the multitude of events that supposedly transpired during the years 480 and 479 BC between the Persian empire and the city-states of the classical Greece (Herodotus). The second Persian invasion of Greece, which took place in the previously mentioned years, was a part of the many series of battles and encounters that made up the Greco-Persian Wars. This invasion in particular, however, probably saw one of the most distinguished battles in ancient European warfare befall. As a whole, the second Persian invasion of Greece consisted of several battles that transpired within a close proximity of one another chronologically. The war itself was fairly short-lived, even for its time, lasting only the course of approximately one year. The battles themselves took place in Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Platae, and Mycale (Setzer). The Persian invasion forces were led by King Xerxes I of Persia, the son of Darius I of Persia. Prior to the reign of Xerxes I, King Darius I had wanted to take control of ancient Greece. As such, he ordered two campaigns which made up the first Persian invasion of Greece. Much to his hindrance, however, Darius I breathed his last breath before he was presented with the opportunity to carry out a second invasion.

The battle of Thermopylae was the Greek’s first stand against the massive army of King Xerxes, and was the most influential battle of the entire war. Up to this point, the Persian army was seen as too massive and powerful to be stopped. The once warring city-states of Greece knew they couldn’t stand against the Persians alone, and knew in order to defend their homeland they would have to unite. A unity of command was agreed upon; King Leonidas of Sparta was chosen to lead the Greek forces. He was chosen to lead because of the unsurpassed warring abilities the Spartans were so well known for made him perfect for the objective of stopping the Persians.

About 3000 BC, on the island of present day Crete a people now called Minoans existed. The name comes from their King Minos. Minos and other Minoan kings grew rich from trade, and built fine palaces. Around 480 BC the "golden age" of Greece began. This is what historians call "Classical" Greece. (2) Ancient Greece is called “the birthplace of Western Civilization,” many western ideas on philosophy, government and art are from Greek civilization. The Greeks were fearless warriors, their culture and society were civilized, and they perfected trade. The ancient Greeks lived in many lands around the Mediterranean Sea, from Turkey to the south of France. They had close contacts with other civilizations such as the Egyptians, Syrians, and Persians. The Greeks lived in separate city-states, but shared the same language and religious beliefs. (1) Over-time, constant conflict and competition between city-states broke down a sense of community in Greece. The neighboring states were increasing in power and were more unified than the city-states of Greece. Over time, Rome was increasing in size, power, and trade. By 146 BCE Romans had conquered the Greek city-states. (3) However, the legacy of ancient Greece, and all their ideas, would not be conquered. Why do we live in the world we live in? Where do our roots come from? Many would say that the Greek life has influenced every culture in some way. There are many ways to classify Greeks, but one thing other than a tourist attraction, is

The battle name is called Thermopylae, during that time Persian Empire King Xerxes I have about 150 thousand man, and Xerxes conquers and controls everything he rests his eyes upon, he leads and army so missive, it shakes the ground with its march. On the other hand, Greek seems too tiny; as a result, Sparta King Leonidas thought Thermopylae would be the best place to fight with his enemy, and then Leonidas used his wisdom, he funneled them into the mountain pass Hot Gates which is the Thermopylae. Because in that narrow corridor, Xerxes military numbers would count for nothing. However, even Leonidas was the king of Sparta, but he had to follow the oracle. The oracle was told by some strange guys who were living in the mountain. Those

Simonides of Ceos, a Greek poet, wrote an epitaph to commemorate the three hundred Spartans’ brave sacrifice against the massive Persian Army. The Greek epitaph translates to “Go tell the Spartans passerby, that here, by Spartan law, we lie.” The three hundred Spartans died obeying their country’s law, “Never to flee in battle, however many the enemy may be, but to remain in the ranks and to conquer or die.” This law is the epitome of a warrior society that the Spartans wanted to create. At the time of the 5th century, the world recognized the Persians as the greatest force in the East. The expansion of the West to conquer the Greeks started with Darius the Great, king of Persia. His conquest failed when the Persian Army was defeated by a surprise attack from the Athenians at the plain of Marathon in 490 BC. Ten years later, Xerxes, Darius’s son, sought to revenge his father by launching an invasion of Greece with twice the force from Marathon. The battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC was the first interaction the Persians had with a Greek force during this second invasion. Even though the battle was won by the Persians, it is critical to question how such a small Greek force of three hundred led by Leonidas of Sparta was able to suppress the entire Persian Army for a total of three days. The three hundred Spartans successfully delayed the Persian invasion because of its warrior society breeding exceptional soldiers of invulnerable mentality, military equipment and tactics,

Troubles came from the east ant the west. The Persians wanted to take controll over the Greek land, but finally the Persians lost their fight. The Greeks

Different cultures have their own ideas of how we as humans came into being. Two of those cultures are the Greeks and the people in the ancient near east. Their accounts of the creation of humans differ in some aspects, but are similar in others.

In this paper, I will explain the Greeks, the Peloponnesian War, Socrates' horse training analogy in the Apology, and the Venus de Milo. Ancient Greece refers to the times before the classical age, between 800 B.C. and 500 B.C. Greece saw many advances in art, poetry and even some technology, but most importantly it was the age in which the polis, or know the city-state, was created. The city-state is compared with the modern nation-state as being sovereign, also know as answering to no one. The Classical and Hellenistic eras of Greece having left behind a host of ideas, concepts, and art to lay the foundation of what we now call the"western civilization". This is where the Greeks first started their lives.

The narrow pass of Thermopylae contained a chokepoint that was a mere fifty feet wide, giving the vastly outnumbered Spartan force some bare hope of holding the line against the Persians. For three days Leonidas and his allied force held the pass against the Persians. They faced down Xerxes’ massive army and prevented the Persian force from advancing. Even Xerxes’ elite troops, the Immortals, could not dislodge the Spartans and their allies. On the third day, however, a secret path was betrayed to the Persians which allowed them to outflank the Greek defenders. Knowing the pass to be lost, Leonidas sent away his Greek allies, keeping back only his 300 Spartans and leading them out to face the Persians at the widest expanse of the pass. According to Greek tradition, the Persian forces were terrified by this act of Greek courage and had to be driven to battle by the whips of their leaders. The Spartans fought until their spears were shattered and their swords broken, refusing to give ground. When King Leonidas fell, the Greeks rallied and drove the Persians away from his body four times. In the end, however, not even the reckless courage and martial skill of the Spartan hoplites could suffice against the overwhelming numbers of the Persians and they were slain to the last man.

The ancient Greeks were a very well established society, and lots of their inventions and creations are still used today, but some of their equality aspects and a few other things in society were very biased and unfair. Firstly, the Ancient Greeks had a very complex and specific law and government system. Due to the large population of Greece, in 507 BC, the Athenian leader at the time (Cleisthenes) created a system of democracy, and a social hierarchy. This was a very complex system states that all people or citizens have the right to have a say in who is their leader, and is still used today in many parts of the world. Although this sounds equal and fair, only eligible citizens could vote. Then came the social hierarchy. Gods at the top, then kings and priests, wealthy merchants, and so on, with women and children, slaves and servants sitting at the bottom. Only men who were wealthy, owned land, and were born in a city state were allowed to vote, excluding all women. This is very different today, where, in Australia, the only voting restrictions are age and citizenship. Much of the society in ancient Greece was male dominated and followed the social hierarchy. This affected who attended assemblies and political meetings, who was allowed to compete/watch the Olympics and other sports, etc. the Olympics were avery big part of their ives and it has kept its tradition still today. The sporting element in ancient Greece was mostly made up of the Olympics and training for