Essential Question: Did the Spartans “save” Western Civilization at Thermopylae?
Plan of Instruction:
1. Tell the students “For the next few days we are going to be doing a little history lesson on
Mountain View High School’s mascot. Who knows what our mascot is?” Students will
say “The Spartans” and solicit prior knowledge on the Spartans. Some student will
inevitably bring up the movie “300” and you can stop here. Tell the students that our
lesson for the next few days will focus on the movie “300,” or at least on the battle the
movie depicts.
Go into a quick mini lecture on the battle of Thermopylae. Discuss how the world super
power at this time was the Persian Empire. They were an autocracy that had conquered
everything in their path, and now they set their sights on Greece. Students should know
that Greece is where Democracy and “Western Civ” originated, so make sure they
understand this.
Tell students that when Western Civilization and Democracy were new and unproven
ideas, there once was a battle at a place called Thermopylae where 300 Spartans
supposedly fought a Persian army of 2 million men. The story goes that the Spartans held
off the Persians for several days, buying Greece the time it needed to prepare an adequate
defense and thus saving Western Civilization when it was young.
Introduce the Essential Question: Did the Spartans save Western Civilization at
Thermopylae?
2. Play movie Clip from 300. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qubItQjdSHA = Freedom
speech from 300
Do we think this is what actually happened? Do we trust this source? What other sources might
we want to see?
3. Introduce idea of “Primary Source” if not done so already. Hand out Primary sources (Docs A
and B) and timeline. Students complete questions in pairs.
4. Debrief why the two accounts are different. Do students believe the Spartans sacrificed
themselves at Thermopylae? Ask them to back up their claims with quotations/evidence
from the documents
5. Explain difference between Primary and Secondary Sources if have not done so already.
Hand out Secondary Sources (Docs C and D). Students answer questions in pairs.
6. Debrief: After all rounds of evidence, what do students think? Which accounts are more
believable? Why? What did the movie get right? Why do students think the movie was
made how it was made?
7. Writing activity. Introduce students to idea of argumentative writing (this is really
another lesson in itself). Tell students they will be creating their own piece of
argumentative historical writing saying whether the Spartans saved Western Civilization
or not. Students complete the scaffolded graphic organizer, but must write a persuasive
paragraph without the scaffold outline afterwards.
Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Document A)
Source: Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who lived in the 5th
century BCE. He was a young boy during the Persian War, but later
became famous when he wrote the first history of the war in 440 BCE.
Today, he is the most commonly used primary source for information on
the Battle of Thermopylae. The following is an excerpt from his
Histories that describes the end of the Battle of Thermopylae.
“A priest first told the Greeks at Thermopylae that death was coming to
them with the dawn. Then retreating Greek soldiers came and announced
the approach of the Persian army.
The Greeks then took counsel (had a meeting), but their opinions were
divided on what to do. Some wanted to leave their post and retreat, but
others led by Leonidas (the Spartan king) spoke against this idea.
Eventually most of the Greeks departed, while only the Spartans
prepared to remain at their post with their king (Leonidas).
It was not proper (the right thing to do) for Leonidas and the Spartans to
abandon their post. In truth they were not really there to defend the pass,
but to die for the freedom of all. Indeed when the Spartans asked the
Oracle about this war when it first started, the Oracle (a priest) foretold
(predicted) that either the great and glorious cities of Greece would be
completely destroyed by Persian men, or Sparta must mourn a dead
king.
Because of this prophecy (prediction), and because they wanted to win
fame for their city, Leonidas and the Spartans did not abandon their post
at Thermopylae, but gladly sacrificed their own lives for the common
salvation (saving) of all Greeks. There is an inscription written over
these men, who were buried where they fell. It reads simply: “Here
three hundred from Sparta once fought two million. May we never
forget.”
Ctesias of Cnidus (Document B)
Source: Ctesias was an ancient Greek doctor and historian from the 5th
century BCE. Starting in 404 BCE, Ctesias began working for the king
of Persia. While in Persia, Ctesias claims to have had access to the
official Persian archives and he used this information to write his own
history of the Persian War in 398 BCE. The following is an excerpt from
Ctesias’ Persica which describes the end of the Battle of Thermopylae.
“Xerxes (the Persian emperor) attacked the Spartan king Leonidas at
Thermopylae with 10,000 men. The Persian army was destroyed while
only two or three Spartans were killed. Then Xerxes ordered another
attack with 20,000 men, but this army was also defeated.
On the next day, Xerxes met with his generals and advisors, and among
them were two Greeks. Xerxes learned from these men that he could not
defeat the Spartans unless he surrounded them. Thus, using the two
Greeks as their guides, a Persian army of 40,000 men came through a
narrow pass and snuck up behind the Spartans. Thus were the Spartans
surprised, surrounded, and unable to retreat.
The Persians saw that there was only a small number of Greeks, and
viewed these Greeks with hatred. The Persians would not allow the
Greeks to retreat. Instead, the Persians shot arrows and threw spears at
them from every direction. The Persians killed the Greeks to the last
man. This was the defeat of Leonidas and his soldiers who guarded the
passes of Thermopylae. Xerxes then sent an army to conquer Athens
numbering 120,000 men.”
Tom Holland (Document C)
Source: Tom Holland is a modern British author and historian from the
University of Cambridge. The following is an excerpt from his awardwinning history of the Persian War called Persian Fire, written in 2005.
“Historians always like to argue that their work is significant. In
Herodotus’ case, his claim that the great war between the Greeks and
Persians was of unequaled importance (the most important) has been
easily confirmed over the last two thousand years.
There was much more at stake during the Persian attempt to conquer the
Greek mainland than the simple independence of the Greek states. As
subjects of the Persian king, the Athenian Greeks never would have had
the opportunity to develop their unique democratic government. The
legacy of democracy passed on to modern Europe and America would
have vanished (disappeared). It is likely, had the Greeks been conquered
during Xerxes’ invasion, that there never would have been such a thing
as Western Civilization at all.
One event above all, the doomed (fateful) defense of the pass of
Thermopylae by a tiny Spartan holding force, is to thank for this. The
glory of their end only added to the fame of the battle and helped ensure
that Thermopylae, for generations afterwards, would serve as the model
(best example) of sacrifice for liberty.”
Cyrus Kar (Document D)
Source: Cyrus Kar is a filmmaker and college professor of Persian
descent. The following is an excerpt from an article titled “The Truth
Behind the 300” that he wrote for an Iranian magazine in 2007. The
article was in response to the immense popularity of the then-recently
released film “300.”
“The accepted story of the Battle of Thermopylae was written by the
classical Greek author, Herodotus. However, his story became part of
Western folklore only recently. It wasn't until about 1850, just after two
bloody revolutions fought by America and France to liberate themselves
from their own monarchies, that his version of the Battle of
Thermopylae came to symbolize (represent) the West's struggle for
democracy against the powerful forces of monarchy.
It is easy to want to believe this story: 300 brave Spartans saved Western
democracy from 2 million evil Persians. But aside from the unlikely
numbers of the armies, our view of the Spartan saviors themselves needs
to change. The Spartans were Greek extremists who lived only to die.
They were by all accounts ruthless savages who murdered Greek slaves
known as Helots just for sport, developed a culture of thievery (stealing)
and rape, and often times killed their own children if they seemed too
weak to be “Spartan.”
Sparta was not even democratic. It was an oligarchy (rule by a small
group of people) at best, and a cruel tyranny at worst. Despite knowing
all this, the West continues to praise the Spartans as the saviors of
Western democracy. Yes, the Spartans died fighting a foreign invader,
but in truth that was all they did. Let us not forget that the Battle of
Thermopylae was, after all, a Persian victory.”
Name:_________________________________ Date:_________________
Major Events of the Persian War
484 BCE
The historian
Herodotus born
479 BCE
- Greeks defeat Persian
army at Battle of
Plataea.
- Persian War ends
480BCE
460BCE
404 BCE
Ctesias moves to
Persia, where he
can access the
Persian royal
archives
c. 435 BCE
The historian
Ctesias is born
440BCE
420BCE
400BCE
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
480 BCE
- Persians War begins
- Battle of Thermopylae
occurs. Spartans killed.
- Persians burn Athens to
the ground
-Athenians destroy
Persian navy at Battle of
Salamis
440 BCE
Herodotus writes
The Histories and his
account of the Battle
of Thermopylae
398 BCE
Ctesias writes Persica
and his account of the
Battle of Thermopylae
Name________________
The Primary Sources (Documents A and B)
Herodotus (Document A)
1. Source: Who is Herodotus? When did he write this? Where do you think he got his
information from?
2.
Summarize: According to Herodotus, did the Spartans sacrifice themselves to save
Western Civilization? Explain.
3. Identify: According to Herodotus, how many Persians did the Spartans fight at
Thermopylae?
Ctesias (Document B)
1. Source: Who is Ctesias? When did he write this? Where did he get his information
from?
2. Summarize: According to Ctesias, did the Spartans sacrifice themselves to save
Western Civilization? Explain. (HINT: What does Ctesias say about Spartan retreat and
surrender?)
3. Identify: According to Ctesias, how many Persians did the Spartans fight at
Thermoyplae?
Evaluating the Primary Sources (Documents A and B)
1. Corroborate: Do Herodotus (Doc A) and Ctesias (Doc B) agree on how many Persians
the Spartans fought at Thermopylae? Explain.
2. Evaluate: Why might Herodotus lie to exaggerate the sacrifice of the Spartans his
account of the battle? Why might he be telling the truth?
3. Evaluate: Why might Ctesias lie to down play the sacrifice of the Spartans in his account
of the battle? Why might he be telling the truth?
Name________________
The Secondary Sources (Documents C and D)
Tom Holland (Document C)
1. Source: Who is Tom Holland? Where is he from? When did he write this?
2.
Summarize: According to Tom Holland, did the Spartans sacrifice themselves to save
Western Civilization? Explain.
Cyrus Kar (Document D)
1. Source: Who is Cyrus Kar? Where is he from? When did he write this?
2. Summarize: According to Cyrus Kar, did the Spartans sacrifice themselves to save
Western Civilization? Explain.
Evaluating the Secondary Sources (Documents C and D)
1. Discuss: After reading what both historians have to say, why might they have conflicting
views on the importance of the Spartan sacrifice at the Battle of Thermopylae? Explain.
2. Justify: Considering all the sources you have read, did the Spartans sacrifice themselves
to save Western Civilization at Thermopylae?