EssayFailed or succeeded?Ancient Greece strongly impacted the world we live in today. It gave us many important ideas and answered thousands of basic scientific questions without which we can not imagine modern science. In addition the period 4th and 5th centuries bore many artists and sculptors who were the fundament to the modern art. 4th and 5th centuries of ancient Greece were full of both successes and failures. Even though both of the identities, Ephialtes and Leonidas were Spartans each one of them differed in their characters and deeds. Ephialtes was a failure who betrayed his own country. Leonidas on the contrary was a patriot and a successful King.
Being a king doesnÃÂt always mean being a successful one. To be a successful identity one needs to finish the things he planned to do, or in other words never give up. Success does not depend on your ÃÂexcellentÃÂ ancestry.
Statue of Spartan king Leonidas I, erected by Pano...
English: Marble statue of a helmed hoplite (5th ce...
Parthenon from westIt depends on the way you are and actions you take. During the battle of Thermopylae King Leonidas knew the fact that he is going to die. He knew that it was impossible to defeat the Persian army with merely 300 people. However Leonidas didnÃÂt give up until his last breath. He fought for the victory of his state even though there was no chance of wining the battle. Looking for challenges pulled Leonidas to the top of success. Although he was a king, he didnÃÂt sit at one place and wait for an opportunity to find him, he looked for it himself. Leonidas wasnÃÂt only a great and patriotic king but there was also a brave simple Spartan soldier sitting inside him. His audacity, self confidence, will for hard work and patience made him a successful king and an epitome to his soldiers. All in all, Leonidas matched all...
Failed or succeeded?
This essay suffers from a distinct lack of context. It is not really clear how the events at Thermopylae, came about, or what the Spartans did there or why. It is not clear what specific action Ephialtes took by which he betrayed his "country." I also question the description of Ephyialtes as a Spartan. Herodotus describes him as the son of Eurydemus of Milas, which suggests that he was not Spartan in his lineage. Unless you have evidence to the contrary, I think you are grievously overstating Ephialtes connections to Sparta.
Finally, I question whether the other Greeks regarded the Spartans as traitors because of Ephialtes actions. Leonidas led about 1000 men -- the famous 300 Spartans and 700 allied troops who had led with him for the right to stay for the final battle, knowing that they would be cut down. In an act of unheralded courage, this tiny force, hopelessly outnumbered, attacked the Persians, in the end, they were cut down to a man, and the delay that they had hoped to impose on the Persians was reduced to a few inconsequential days. Nevertheless, the Greeks acknowledged their courage. Eventually, a stone was erected near the spot of their last stand, bearing the inscription which, in one translation, reads: "Stranger, you who pass by here, go tell the Spartans that we lie here, in obedience to her laws."
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