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Posted: 3/16/2005 6:54:13 AM EDT
What is the meaning of this?
Is it related to Pompeii? Do you mean "Thermopylae"? -What happened of significance in that battle? just curious 
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Posted: 3/16/2005 7:03:16 AM EDT
[#1]
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Posted: 3/16/2005 7:15:09 AM EDT
[#2]
isn't that kind of a counter attack for the "Molon Labe" types? Point being, they may have said "come and get em", but they got their asses fragged.
am i mixing events here? |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 7:24:39 AM EDT
[#3]
It is a reminder that while dying for a cause in an all or nothing battle may be noble, it seldom accomplishes anything of lasting value. Sometimes it is better to pick your battles and live to fight another day.
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Posted: 3/16/2005 7:35:19 AM EDT
[#4]
it prompts the question: is it better (noble) to fight to the death or to surrender and become a slave...
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Posted: 3/16/2005 7:43:22 AM EDT
[#5]
Maybe just vanish into the woods. Really dead men can't fight back ever. Slaves always rebel eventually.
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Posted: 3/16/2005 7:49:39 AM EDT
[#6]
With all due respect, the lasting value of the battle of Thermopalyae is incalculable. It had the effect of uniting the Greeks and stopping the Persian invasion. Given the significant impact of Greek culture on all of the western world, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of this battle. Sometimes "picking your battles" means knowing that you are going to die. A warrior does not fight so that he may live; he fights so that others may do so. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 8:01:35 AM EDT
[#7]
remember the alamo...
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Posted: 3/16/2005 8:02:00 AM EDT
[#8]
I see you are not a student of history. With that f-cked up logic why should anyone ever put themselves at risk. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 8:20:42 AM EDT
[#9]
The point is not to die for your country. The point is to make the other guy die for his. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 8:38:03 AM EDT
[#10]
See my post above. The lives of those 300 warriors (+ support personnel) were not ill-spent. They knew the cost going in, and their efforts saved Greece. Certainly, dying in and of itself is not noble; it is tragic. There are times, however, when dying is the only way to save others. And that is the most noble of acts:
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Posted: 3/16/2005 9:14:09 AM EDT
[#11]
Patton agreed. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 9:31:50 AM EDT
[#12]
+1 Those 300 Spartans single handedly united all the Greek city/states into one fairly cohesive group, and that one group of Greeks defeated the advancing Persians. Did they die in vain? I think not. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 9:34:30 AM EDT
[#13]
Mark Wilson died too. Doesn't mean he wasn't successful in his actions.
"So that others may live" 
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Posted: 3/16/2005 9:41:26 AM EDT
[#14]
Actually you got the point exactly. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 9:44:30 AM EDT
[#15]
Having read several books on the subject, I must agree that the decision made by King Leanida's was the correct one. There are two peices of information that must not be left out:
There was a prophecy that stated the Spartans would win at the sacrifice of a King- Leonidas There were more Spartan soldiers available. They could have taken hundreds more men, but they only had 10,000 Peers total. They took a small number of men for the symbolism; the death of those 300 was mean to mean something greater. If they hadn't gone, Greece would not have had the time to prepare, and they would have been overrun. Had they taken more men, they would not have had as many for the final battle. And, they won. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 11:22:27 AM EDT
[#16]
That is nonsensical based on the context of your statement. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 12:07:25 PM EDT
[#17]
Patton...Gotta love him! |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 12:28:41 PM EDT
[#18]
Not at all. Its an Ohio thing. Michigan folks wouldn't understand. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 2:14:44 PM EDT
[#19]
The Spartans went to Thermopylae well knowing that they were dead. Only the Spartan warriors with male offspring were allowed to go, for exactly this reason. Some things are more important than preserving one's own life. Anybody who doesn't understand the importance of that battle needs to study a little more history. The Spartans (and their allies) who died changed the entire course of the modern world. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 3:00:19 PM EDT
[#20]
I would tend to agree! 
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Posted: 3/16/2005 5:12:33 PM EDT
[#21]
Is it even appropriate for Michigan Moderators to be posting in here? 
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Posted: 3/16/2005 6:31:32 PM EDT
[#22]
They didn't stop the Persian invasion. They just delayed long enough for the Athenians to get their act together. There were battles at Salamis (naval) and Platea (land) after Thermopylae. I am still so awed at the determination and fighting skill of those men (the Spartans). The 300 (with several thousand extra troops) fended off three waves of thousands of Persians. Persian bodies heaped up in piles in front of the Spartans, and finally the Persian rank-and-file had to be driven forward under whips to continue the press against the Spartans. If it wasn't for the Spartans we'd probably be Easterners. The Athenians wouldn't have had the time to get their navy ready, and Western Civilization could have died. -Wolf |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 7:58:12 PM EDT
[#23]
A more modern example of the same spirit that was shown at Thermopylae is the man with the groceries in Tianenmen Square. He's almost surely long dead, no one really knows, but his actions meant something.
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Posted: 3/16/2005 8:11:08 PM EDT
[#24]
I'm not guessing either way but would Patton have done the same as the Spartans if he was commander? I see it as very different wars with little in common although I understand your point. |
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Posted: 3/16/2005 8:28:08 PM EDT
[#25]
One of my favorite quotes comes from that battle and hints that the Greeks knew what the outcome would be. My apologies for not remembering the source: Before the battle, one of the Trachinian allies was heard to say, "Such is the number of the barbarians, that when they shoot forth their arrows, the sun will be darkened by their multitude." Dieneces, a Spartan hoplite, not at all frightened at these words, answered "Our Trachinian friend brings us excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun, we shall have our fight in the shade." |
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Posted: 3/17/2005 4:30:37 AM EDT
[#26]
That's why I said "had the effect of...stopping," not "stopped".  The general consensus is that the psychological effect of the Spartans' heroism on the other Greeks far outweighed the 3 day delay that the actual battle caused the Persian land force.
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