The Roles of Greek Heroism and the Gods in the Persian Wars Essay

The Roles of Greek Heroism and the Gods in the Iranian Wars The Persian Wars (499-479 BC) disgorge the Greeks in the difficult position of having to defend their country against a abundant empire with an army that greatly outnumbered their own. Many city-states united in battle, although others establish ways to avoid participation in the wars. The Greeks also relied on the rowing of Apollo to guide them, but the visionary did not always act encouragingly. The Greeks thwarted the Persians in the Persian Wars due to heroic actions performed by capital of Greece and Sparta and effortless assistance from the gods, but cowardice shown by other poleis nearly cease the Greeks chances of success. Unity between the Greek poleis could be seen occasionally in the battles of the Persian Wars, but not consistently. The Greeks front confronted the Persians during the Ionian Revolt (499-494 BC). Ionian Greeks treasured to escape the oppressive system the Persians had them under, s o they make fored to the Athenians. They in turn offered 20 ships to the revolt, and the Eretrians offered five ships (Demand 1996 184). Although the revolt was unsuccessful, the help offered by Athens and Eretria provided the first instance of concord among several Greek poleis. The Battle of marathon in 490 BC, however, did not provide such an instance. When the Persian army headed to Greece to attack, only Athens and Plataea sent soldiers to fight them. The Spartans claimed they could not send soldiers due to a festival and only appeared after the battle was won by the Athenians and Plataeans to overcharge the victors (Demand 1996 186-187). The victory gave a boost to the confidence of the Athenians, who felt that at Marathon we were the only ones to face up to th... ...arta to play greater roles in battle. This produced a tension between the city-states that nearly allowed the Persians to claim victory. The Greeks turned to Apollo, but the oracle did not encourage the m. The Greek forces continued to fight, however, driven by acts of intrepidity performed by Athens and Sparta. Though the Greeks did not achieve complete unity or receive absolute encouragement from the gods, they had enough bravery and reliance to bring them success in the Persian Wars. Works Cited Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http//www.perseus.tufts.edu, November, 1998. Demand, Nancy. A business relationship of Ancient Greece. New York The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1996. Dillon, Matthew, and Lynda Garland. Ancient Greece Social and Historical Documents from Archaic generation to the Death of Socrates. London Routledge, 1994. No. 7.42, p. 209.