The Place of the Birth of
Democracy
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| Jade, my son living a dream. My Spartan has arrived |
If you haven’t seen
the movie 300, you should. It is fantastic eye-candy for all females and enough
action to keep men watching too. It was
a Hollywood, yes. But the fact, in 480 B.C, that 300
Spartans did halt 10,000 Persians from advancing on Greece long enough for Greece to
realize the threat was coming their way. Thus,the first republic formed, uniting against
a common foe.
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| King Leonidas |
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| This is the actual place where the 300 stopped the Persians (and our driver) |
Jade/my son and I (both lovers of the ancient
world) insisted on seeing this magnificent piece of history where this battle of Thermopylae took place. We got to
stand on this sacred ground even though it was a highway. It was unbelievable. It was amazing. Sand to the right. Mountains to the left.
Today, the beach has filled out with sand at least 100 yards so it was rather plain. Nevertheless, it was thrilling to be here Originally, the water lapped the one shoulder of the road, to soft for the Persians to spread out. The other shoulder was lined by a mountain range.This pass funneled them onto the shields and lances of the Spartans for weeks.
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| Jade my son walking in the steps of the 300 |
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| The trail up to the last stand of the 300 |
As in the movie, the
Persians found a goat trail around to the rear of the Spartan warriors. At this point the Spartans were surrounded. So those
left climbed this hill and fought to the last man.
This is the monument to
their sacrifice.
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| Monument to the last of the 300 |
Not far away is a
museum in honor of these 300. Unfortunately, few people venture the 2.5 hour drive
away from Athens to see it.
So much history fills this country every
step you take. So it’s easy to be distracted by the Acropolis (which we did see)
For all
democracies out there, this is where it all began. I feel blessed to have
stood there and breathed the first air of freedom.
Judy
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