Between the Oeta and Trachis mountains
A surpassing strange sight
Was revealed to the wild creatures
In the moon- and starlight.
Like silver shone the iron scales
In tunics of red, orange, and purple,
For on the Greek mountain pass
Marched the Persian Immortals.
Through two long days of combat
The Asian army of millions
Had struggled on without reward
Against the Greek host of but thousands.
(The pass of Thermopylae
Was where the Greek force stood
Guarding the narrowest part of the pass
Behind a wall of wood.)
First Xerxes sent the Medes
And his cavalry of Cissians;
When they were beaten, the Immortals
And various other divisions.
But it mattered very little
Which of his host was sent,
For Xerxes saw with agitation each
Return much smaller, and spent.
The wise Lacedaemonians
Had played the coward and flew,
Then turned on their hot pursuers
And great numbers of them slew.
By the end of the second day
So fey was the Greek long spear,
That Xerxes himself is said to have
Thrice leapt from his throne in fear.
When the king was at his wit's end-
None of his plans would succeed-
A Malian man crept to his tent,
Enticed by dangerous greed.
Ephialtes son of Eurydemus,
Nearby Malis was his home,
Hope of riches had bade him come,
Lure of riches drew him on.
And now this treacherous Ephialtes
Led them through the pass
With the commander, Hydarnes,
And the Immortals marching fast.
News of this first came to the Greeks
From Megistias, the wise seer,
And during the night deserters brought word
Of Persians rounding hills to the rear.
Their position desperate, Greek council was held
And King Leonidas of Sparta
Strove to send away all that would go
Save his close allies of Thespia.
The three hundred Spartans were ready to die,
Men in their prime with living heirs,
And the Thespians stoutly refused to leave.
This honor would be theirs.
(The Thebans also were there retained,
But they can not be counted,
For they were captive against their will
And in battle to nothing amounted.)
On the pass a thousand Phocians
To sentry duty were set.
Near break of day no rumor had come
To them of the Persian march yet.
Then the rustling as of ten thousand leaves
Alerted them to the enemy's presence!
To their weapons they immediately sprang,
Proving their readiness.
Hydarnes was alarmed at this sight
And to Ephialtes turned to ask,
"Tell me if these be Lacedaemonians
Who stand ready to take us to task?"
At Ephialtes' answer Hydarnes took heart
And ordered his Persian men
To let fly their arrows at the enemy
Which terrified the Phocians.
To the mountaintop the Phocians flew
And prepared to meet their end,
But the Persians marched quickly on,
The mountain to descend.
At sunrise Xerxes made his libations.
The Persians began to draw nigh.
Scouts had brought word of the Immortals' approach,
And Greeks went out determined to die.
Until now they had fought in the narrowest part
Of the pass, on the defensive,
But now they came out to meet their foes:
The Spartans took the offensive!
The red of Dawn became redder still
With the flow of the wounded and dead.
Weapons clashed unceasingly, and Greek earth
With Persian blood was fed.
The Persian commanders used their whips
To urge their men into the fight,
For the men, wiser than their King,
Feared the Spartans' might.
The Greek force was irresistible.
Many Persians were thrust into the sea!
Many were trampled, but to the cries of the dying
No one paid any heed.
It was here, in the thick of the fighting,
King Leonidas fell.
And with him many famous Spartans
And two brothers of Xerxes as well.
Over Leonidas' body a battle was fought
That four times ebbed back and forth.
At last swords pushed away wicker shields;
And the Greeks carried him off.
But now the last stroke was made
That sealed the death of the Greeks,
For now came Ephialtes and the Immortals
From the mountain peak.
Seeing the Persians coming behind them
The canny Greeks drew back
To the narrowest place, behind the wall,
Upon a rising hillock.
There the Spartans gathered close,
And the Thespians fought by their side
As on the hill they boldly stood,
Bravely fought, and nobly died.
They never surrendered, these valorous men,
They never gave a fraction.
They all fought to the very last
And died courageously in action.
When their spears had been shivered they fought on with swords,
When those were gone, tooth and hand.
They fought for their cities, their families,
Their freedom, and their land.
They were indomitable, never gave up.
Dienices the Spartan had said,
When he heard that Persian arrows darkened the sun:
"Then we'll get to fight in the shade!"
This Dienices was conspicuous in valor,
Also Alpheus and Maro, two sons of Orsiphantus.
And a Thespian, son of Harmatidas,
Exceedingly brave Dithyrambus.
After the battle Xerxes despoiled Leonidas
In a manner I shall not relate.
For mutilating the body couldn't reduce
His honor, which is great.
In the annals of time are many battles
That stand out in men's memory.
Among them is that of Persia and Greece
At the pass of Thermopylae.
After this battle the Persians
Thought they had their foot in the door
But the Spartan resolution belonged to all Greece;
Xerxes won the battle but lost the war.
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