Go, Tell the Spartans

A Lesson in Leadership

by George Belsky, Blue Courage/Purple Resolve Master Educator

In 480 BC, on or about 20 August, the Spartan king Leonidas I led his bodyguard of 300 warriors, along with approximately 7000 Greeks from Arcadia, Phocis, Thespiae, Tegea, Mantinea, Thebes and other city states, in the defense of the pass at Thermopylae against the invading Persian armies under Xerxes.  Historians number the Persian armies from 70,000 to as many as 300,000.  The battle at the Hot Gates (Thermopylae translated) lasted 3 days. When the Greek Ephialtes showed the Persians around the Greek flank at the end of the second day of battle, Leonidas called a council and decided while the 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and some other troops would stay behind, the bulk of the Greek army would retreat to fight another day.  The Persians killed the remaining Spartans, Thespians and other Greeks (while some historians say they were killed to the last man others report there were survivors).  The Spartan fight at Thermopylae remains one of the most famous last stands in history. Several historians believe their actions saved Western civilization by giving the Greeks a chance to mount a large enough army to defeat Xerxes later. 

The defense at Thermopylae helped create the lore that surrounds Sparta and her soldiers. It was a warrior society, and it was one of the few professional armies of its time. Most of the other regions’ and city states’ armies consisted of citizen-soldiers, men who would serve in the army as required but had civilian occupations when they were not drilling or fighting (an ancient militia or National Guard).  The Spartans’ courage is best exemplified by stories reported by the ancient historians Plutarch and Herodotus.  Plutarch, in Sayings of Spartans, writes that when the Xerxes offered peace to the Spartans if they would lay down their weapons, switch sides and join his armies, Leonidas simply replied, “Molon Labe” (Come and take them).  In The Histories, Herodotus writes that among the Spartans was a platoon commander, Dienekes, who upon being told that the enemies’ arrows are so many that they block out the sun, retorted, “Then we shall fight in the shade.” The ancient Greek poet Simonides of Ceos wrote the 300 Spartans’ epitaph: 

“Go, tell the Spartans, stranger passing by

That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.”

The stand at Thermopylae has inspired numerous movies and stories. The 300 Spartans (1962) and 300 (2006) are probably among the best-known films. Steven Pressfield’s epic novel Gates of Fire (1998) is one of the most popular accounts of Spartan life and the battle at Thermopylae. In it, Dienekes plays a predominate role among the Spartans as a leader, teacher, and mentor to younger Spartans and as a friend to Leonidas. He is a warrior, philosopher, and student of war and the human condition. Mr. Pressfield writes, “Dienekes’ courage was different. His was the virtue of a man, a fallible mortal, who brought valor forth out of the understanding of his heart, by the force of some inner integrity…” Later, shortly before the final battle on the third day at Thermopylae, Dienekes tells his squire the answer to the question he posed to the other young Spartan warriors earlier in the story, “What is the opposite of fear?”  After witnessing the sacrifices that Spartans and other Greeks make for each other, often at the cost of their own lives and listening to them speak about these sacrifices so selflessly, he tells the younger warrior that the opposite of fear is love.

For me, one of the best passages in Gates of Fire, that best sums up the warrior/guardian/leader ethos comes when the story’s narrator, who survived the battle and is speaking with Xerxes about the nature of the Spartans and Leonidas tells the Persian emperor:

“I will tell His Majesty what a king is. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men’s loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the hardest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them. He serves them, not they him…That is a king, Your Majesty. A king does not expend his substance to enslave men, but by his conduct and example makes them free.”

However, while it is just to honor the sacrifices the Spartans made at Thermopylae, it is just as important to not beatify the Spartan legend. While Sparta was a warrior-based society, it was not a democracy like its rival, Athens. The helots, who worked their fields and farms, were little more than serfs and not considered citizens of Sparta. They were often mistreated legally and to control the helot population and instill fear, there were times that the Spartans could kill helots without legal or religious repercussions. There were several helot uprisings which were supported by rival city states. Sparta was far from Utopia.

For a factual perspective, there have been several in depth studies of the Spartans and Thermopylae. Paul Cartledge’s The Spartans: the World of the Warrior Heroes of Ancient Greece and Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World are two books on the subject I thoroughly enjoyed. And while a work of fiction, Gates of Fire along with Anton Myrer’s Once an Eagle are the two books I have gifted the most over the years as great lessons in leadership.

What lessons can we glean from the Spartan stand at Thermopylae that are relevant in the 21^st Century? The 300 were handpicked by Leonidas. They knew (or assumed as much) the trip was a one-way affair from the beginning and yet they went anyway. They considered it their highest honor to serve Sparta, Leonidas, and each other. Author Christopher Kolenda, in his excellent book Leadership: the Warrior’s Art, quotes the Athenian general and statesman Xenophon saying, “it is highly indicative of good leadership when people obey someone without coercion and are prepared to remain by him in times of danger.”  Leonidas and Dienekes, by their way of being, embodied what it meant to be a Spartan knight and leader. They inspired the 300 and the other Greeks and served as their guidepost. For leaders, our lesson should be, “Who am I being Leonidas or Dienekes for? Who would follow me to Thermopylae?”