Thermopylae: a Soldier’s Humor For the next few questions, c…
Thermopylae: a Soldier’s Humor For the next few questions, consult the passage titled “Thermopylae: a Soldier’s Humor” from Wheelock, Caput V. As always, read aloud this passage to get an initial sense for it; here is an audio file with a reading: The context of the passage is a famous battle between the Greeks and the Persians during the second Persian invasion of Greece. In this battle, a band of 300 Spartan warriors, with their allies, attempted to block the Persian army’s advance by occupying a narrow mountain pass. Despite massively outnumbering the Spartans, the Persian forces were repeatedly frustrated by the maneuver, and were severely obstructed in their efforts, giving the remaining Greek forces time to rally. The story of these Spartans was recently retold in a Hollywood blockbuster, 300 (based on a graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller).