History UsefulNotes / GrecoPersianWars

In 480 BC Darius' successor, Xerxes, after he had [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority persuaded]] the rest of TheEmpire to accept him as King, launched a massive second invasion of Greece. He was delayed by the Spartans at the mountain pass of Thermopylae and by the Athenian fleet at Artemisium, however Xerxes continued to march on until he arrived at UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}. UsefulNotes/{{Athens}} had been evacuated, which deprived the Persians of the [[MadeASlave human part]] of their {{Plunder}} when they [[RapePillageAndBurn sacked]] it. The Persians mused over their "capture" a little when they received a message that the Athenian politician Themistocles intended to defect. Xerxes took the offer, but Themistocles lured the Persian fleet into an ambush, resulting in its destruction in the Battle of Salamis.

This is one the most mythologized wars in the history of Western Civilization. The basis of the conflict was laid when UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat founded the [[UsefulNotes/TheAchaemenidEmpire Persian Empire]], conquering several Greek colonies in Asia Minor in the process. Under Darius, a successor of Cyrus', several of these Greek [[LandOfOneCity cities]] rebelled and enlisted the help of kinsmen across the sea, notably UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}. Annoyed at this, Darius mounted a campaign against Athens, but was defeated on the field of Marathon.

Darius' successor, Xerxes, after he had [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority persuaded]] the rest of TheEmpire to accept him as King, launched a massive second invasion of Greece. He was delayed by the Spartans at the mountain pass of Thermopylae and by the Athenian fleet at Artemisium, however Xerxes continued to march on until he arrived at UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}. UsefulNotes/{{Athens}} had been evacuated, which deprived the Persians of the [[MadeASlave human part]] of their {{Plunder}} when they [[RapePillageAndBurn sacked]] it. The Persians mused over their "capture" a little when they received a message that the Athenian politician Themistocles intended to defect. Xerxes took the offer, but Themistocles lured the Persian fleet into an ambush, resulting in its destruction in the Battle of Salamis.

The next year the Athenian and Spartan armies fighting side by side destroyed what was left of the Persian army at Platea. This pretty much secured the independence of Greece from Persia.

Darius' successor Xerxes, after he had [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority persuaded]] the rest of TheEmpire to accept him as King, launched a massive second invasion of Greece. He was delayed by the Spartans at the mountain pass of Thermopylae and by the Athenian fleet at Artemisium, however Xerxes continued to march on until he arrived at UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}. UsefulNotes/{{Athens}} had been evacuated, which deprived the Persians of the [[MadeASlave human part]] of their {{Plunder}} when they [[RapePillageAndBurn sacked]] it. The Persians mused over their "capture" a little when they received a message that the Athenian politician Themistocles intended to defect. Xerxes took the offer, but Themistocles lured the Persian fleet into an ambush, resulting in its destruction in the Battle of Salamis.

* The ''ComicBook/{{Rat-Man}}'' series includes ''ComicBook/TwoHundredNinetyNinePlusOne'', a SpinOff and AffectionateParody of ''300'' by Frank Miller.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' begins with a depiction of the Battle of Thermopylae between Leonidas' 300 Spartans and the Persian army led by Xerxes. The rest of the game deals with the following [[UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar Peloponnesian War]], but with a few indications that scars from this war are still being felt. Additionally, Leonidas is also the granddaughter of Alexios and Kassandra.

* ''ComicBook/ThreeHundred'' by Frank Miller, a BattleEpic at the Thermopylae from the Spartans' persective, based on the account given by Creator/{{Herodotus}}.

This is one of the most mythologized wars in the history of Western Civilization. The basis of the conflict was laid when UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat founded the [[UsefulNotes/TheAchaemenidEmpire Persian Empire]], conquering several Greek colonies in Asia Minor in the process. Under Darius, a successor of Cyrus', several of these Greek [[LandOfOneCity cities]] rebelled and enlisted the help of kinsmen across the sea, notably UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}. Annoyed at this, Darius mounted a campaign against Athens, but was defeated on the field of Marathon.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' begins with a depiction of the Battle of Thermopylae between Leonidas' 300 Spartans and the Persian army led by Xerxes. The rest of the game deals with the following UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar Peloponnesian War]], but with a few indications that scars from this war are still being felt. Additionally, Leonidas is also the granddaughter of Alexios and Kassandra.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' begins with a depiction of Thermopylae. The rest of the game deals with the following Peloponnesian War, but with a few indications that scars from this war are still being felt.

This is one of the most mythologized wars in the history of Western Civilization. The basis of the conflict was laid when UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat founded the [[UsefulNotes/TheAchaemenidEmpire Persian Empire]], conquering several Greek colonies in Asia Minor in the process. Under Darius, a successor of Cyrus', several of these Greek [[LandOfOneCity cities]] rebelled and enlisted the help of kinsmen across the sea, notably Athens. Annoyed at this, Darius mounted a campaign against Athens, but was defeated on the field of Marathon.

Darius' successor Xerxes, after he had [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority persuaded]] the rest of TheEmpire to accept him as King, launched a massive second invasion of Greece. He was delayed by the Spartans at the mountain pass of Thermopylae and by the Athenian fleet at Artemisium, however Xerxes continued to march on until he arrived at Athens. Athens had been evacuated, which deprived the Persians of the [[MadeASlave human part]] of their {{Plunder}} when they [[RapePillageAndBurn sacked]] it. The Persians mused over their "capture" a little when they received a message that the Athenian politician Themistocles intended to defect. Xerxes took the offer, but Themistocles lured the Persian fleet into an ambush, resulting in its destruction in the Battle of Salamis.

* ''300'' by Frank Miller, a BattleEpic at the Thermopylae from the Spartans' persective, based on the account given by Creator/{{Herodotus}}.

This is one of the most mythologized wars in the history of Western Civilization. The basis of the conflict was laid when UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat founded the [[UsefulNote/TheAchaemenidEmpire Persian Empire]], conquering several Greek colonies in Asia Minor in the process. Under Darius, a successor of Cyrus', several of these Greek [[LandOfOneCity cities]] rebelled and enlisted the help of kinsmen across the sea, notably Athens. Annoyed at this, Darius mounted a campaign against Athens, but was defeated on the field of Marathon.

This is one of the most mythologized wars in the history of Western Civilization. The basis of the conflict was laid when UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat founded the Persian Empire, conquering several Greek colonies in Asia Minor in the process. Under Darius, a successor of Cyrus', several of these Greek [[LandOfOneCity cities]] rebelled and enlisted the help of kinsmen across the sea, notably Athens. Annoyed at this, Darius mounted a campaign against Athens, but was defeated on the field of Marathon.

!! Tropes exemplified by the Greco-Persian Wars:

* TheAlliance: The Anti-Persian alliance of Greek city-states, [[EnemyMine built from bitter rivals]] and [[TheFellowshipHasEnded doomed to eventual dissolution]].
* {{Antihero}}: Themistocles the Athenian politician. He was normally a SleazyPolitician but when his cunning was needed to defend Greece it was awesome.
* ArmorIsUseless: The armor of many Persian troops was made of ''cloth and wicker''. Admittedly, said troops were equipped for long-distance warfare, and such armor was pretty effective at deflecting enemy arrows (as well as being light enough to enable them to maneuver quickly). But in close-quarter combat with the bronze-armored human tanks that were Greek hoplites? Might as well have been fighting naked.
** And the trope is utterly trashed by said bronze-armored human tanks, of course.
** Herodotos is garbled on the issue. While he credits the Persian defeat at Plataea to lack of armor, this is contradicted by other chapters in his history. Describing the Persian army Xerxes assembled, he describes the Immortals, the Persians, the Medes, the Cissians, and the Hyrkanians as all wearing iron scale armor, though earlier he says the Persians wear 'the Egyptian cuirass in war'; some speculate this refers to linen armor. Additionally, pictorial evidence suggests most Greek hoplites of the period would be also armored with linen or unarmored.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Herodotus' account is surprisingly very reliable. To be fair, he fudged army numbers a bit to make the Greek victories more impressive.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The Persian army. Massive in numbers and a clear indicator of the Empire's size and power...''very'' cumbersome to move and supply.
* BadassArmy: The Spartans and the Persians both.
* BadassCreed: ''Go Tell the Spartans, Stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie'' Thermopylae Memorial.
** The Spartans are free, but not in all things. Their law is their master; they fear it more then your slaves fear you. (Demaratus to Xerxes). What is more awesome is that he said those kind of things to a ruler prone to [[OffWithHisHead Bad Temper]]
* [[BadassArmy Badass Navy]]: The Athenians.
* BatmanGambit: How Themistocles got his navy. No one in Athens wanted to prepare for war with Persia; indeed, no one in Athens even considered them to be a credible threat. Athens' local rival Aegina, on the other hand, was more credible. So Themistocles stirred the pot and preyed on public fear until finally the government agreed to fund the building of a navy. Then it turns out Aegina doesn't want war with Athens? What a waste of money! What are we supposed to do with all these ships? Wait...are those the Persians coming over the sea..?
* BattleButler: Sicinnus the private tutor of Themostocles' children. And the private spy as well.
* BoringButPractical: All Greek hoplites carried a shortsword, but it was there for decoration, and only the Spartans actually knew how to use it. This is why the ''Spartans'' carried the day at Plataea: finding themselves in a desperate struggle for survivals, the Persian soldiers started grabbing the spears, and this desperate move quickly disabled the Tegean... Only for the Spartans, who arrived immediately after, to draw their swords and continue as usual as soon as they lost their spear.
* TheCaptain: The Athenian captain Aminias racked up one of the highest scores at Salamis. Which also makes him TheAce.
* TheChessmaster: Themistocles, the leading Athenian politician at the time. Mardonius, leader of the Persian army and commander of the [[BadassArmy Immortals]] was one for the Persian side. In fact, some modern historians hold that if he hadn't perished in Plataea, he'd have won.
* LesCollaborateurs: It is possible that as many Greeks fought on the Persian side as on the anti-Persian side. Later when Athens banished Themistocles, he went to Persia and became a governor of a province under the command of Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes. Those who wanted to offer the Persians earth and water were called 'Medizers', after the Median people of the Achaemenid empire.
* CoolShip: Triremes are cool ships.
* CoolVersusAwesome: [[LadyOfWar Artemisia]] VS [[TheChessmaster Themistocles]], [[GeniusBruiser Mardonius]] VS [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Leonidas]].
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: The Persians seemed less formidable as their numbers grew. This was because their army became ridiculously cumbersome. It took them something like 5 months to get from the Hellespont to Greece, and at that point, the war season was nearly over and they were running out of supplies.
* DavidVersusGoliath: A [[JustForPun classic]] example.
* DeadpanSnarker: The Spartans prided themselves on their laconic wit. In fact, the English word "laconic" comes from the Spartans' name for their own country: Laconia.
* DecapitatedArmy: Fun fact: The Persians had the upper hand in Plataea, until General Mardonius fell in battle, causing the Persians to fall in disarray and giving the Greeks the chance to strike back.
* DeusExMachina: The Athenian Navy was built with the proceeds from a silver strike that happened just as people were starting to worry about the Persian threat. Apparently RealityIsUnrealistic.
** See DecapitatedArmy above.
* DidntSeeThatComing: The main reason the Greeks won: the Persians ''never'' saw their tactics coming:
** When facing the Greeks, the Persians were used to face a slow-walking infantry square they could hit with a RainOfArrows until it broke, at which point they could choose if to have their cavalry mop up the enemy or let the survivors tell their city-state what happens fighting the Persians. At Marathon, the general Miltiades launched every single Athenian hoplite in a downhill charge after deploying them with a four-ranks line at the centre and eight ranks at the sides, thus crossing the arrows killing zone before the Persians could inflict meaningful losses and then enacting an encirclement manouvre, resulting in both the first defeat of a Persian army at Greek hands ''and'' a CurbStompBattle.
** At the time, naval battles were fought by boarding the enemy ships, a kind of warfare in which the larger Persian ships had the advantage thanks to their more numerous and experienced crews. The Athenians had recently invented the naval spur, and used their ships to [[RammingAlwaysWorks sink the Persian ships with ramming]]. Furthermore, their troops were ''hoplites'', whose heavy armour granted them a decisive advantage in melee combat against the relatively unarmoured Persian troops, and, [[IgnoredExpert as the Persians had been warned but chosen to ignore]], the wind of the area of Salamis gave the advantage to the Greek ships, made heavier and more stable by the armour of the embarked troops. The end result? Another CurbStompBattle.
** At Plataea, the Spartans opened the battle by ''retreating'' (either due disruption from the supply chain or because of bad omens divined at a sacrifice previously that day). Given what had happened the previous time, the Persians believed it was a route and moved to pursue, only to put themselves downhill from the Spartans and the nearby Tegeans, who, seeing themselves engaged, turned around and charged. It was a repeat of Marathon, only much worse: with them being in the weaker pursuit formation and the phalanxes from Greek allies being already engaged by the Athenians, the Persians were in an ever worse situation, and when they grabbed the spears of their enemies [[OhCrap they discovered they were facing the one Greek army that knew how to use swords]].
** {{Subverted}} at the Thermopylae: a look at the terrain and knowledge of how the Hoplites fought told the Persians they would have to fight the Greeks in melee combat without any arrows. Not by coincidence, the Persians won this one.
* DividedWeFall: Always a risk when two Greek cities were forced to work together, let alone multiple. The Persians were apt at exploiting this through bribery and other acts of subterfuge, aiming to win battles before they were actually fought. Ultimately [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]: there was plenty of infighting among the Greek city states and many of them ignored the Athenians' pleas to unite, opening their doors to the Persians instead. But this trope was also used ''against'' the Persians by Themistocles before the Battle of Salamis. Pretending to be on Persia's side, his 'advice' lured the Persian fleet into the open and ultimately into the Straits, where the Greeks were at an advantage. The result was a resounding victory for the Greek.[[note]]Given the speed with which even the Pelopennesian commanders composed themselves after being told their last escape route had been cut off, after days of supposed, panicked infighting, there's a chance even they were in on Themistocles's plan.[[/note]]
* DrivenToSuicide: Pantites, one of the 300 Spartans, was sent as a messenger to Thessaly and didn't make it back in time for the Battle of Thermopylae. He was accused of cowardice and hanged himself.
* EliteMooks: Hoplites for the Greek army, The Immortals for the Persian army.
* TheEmperor: Xerxes.
* TheEmpire: Persia. At least from the Greek's viewpoint. Cyrus had actually done some very impressive things in the field of human rights such as emancipating the Jews from Babylon and establishing freedom of religion, making it more of a HegemonicEmpire.
* FakeDefector: Sicinnus, who carried the false message to Xerxes at the instruction of Themistocles. He risked being tortured to death for it, perhaps from UndyingLoyalty, perhaps from the possibility of freedom and citizenship, perhaps from both. In any case it may be that we today owe the survival of the idea of democracy to a ''slave''. An odd paradox.
* FinalBoss: Mardonius was the last Persian commander (all others either retreated back to Persia or died beforehand), and his death essentially ended the invasion.
* GodEmperor: Xerxes, from the Greek point of view. In reality he was a member of UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}. Of course, the Greeks didn't exactly understand this, since while the Persian Zoroastrians were monotheists, the Greeks took some of their rituals of (secular) allegiance to the Emperor as being forms of worship.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Queen Artimisia of Halicarnassus personally comanding a Trieme at Salamis in Xerxes' fleet avoided an attack by ramming a nearby Persian ship that "just happened" to be commanded by her rival thus making the Athenians think she was an ally.
* HonorBeforeReason: Mardonius had a bad case of it, as well. He sternly refused to bribe any politicians with gold, seeking to finish the war via honorable methods (either diplomacy or war). [[{{Deconstruction}} This proved to be his undoing]]. If he had resorted to bribes, it's likely he'd have won in the end.
* IntrepidReporter: Creator/{{Herodotus}}, who recorded these events and may have been the first IntrepidReporter.
* JustFollowingOrders: "Go Tell The Spartans".
* LadyOfWar: Queen Artimisia. Ramming her rival convinced the Greeks she was on their side and allowed her to escape, while also convincing Xerxes she was the only competent commander in the fleet since triremes tended to look alike at a distance.
* LandOfOneCity: A typical Greek state was this.
* LastStand: Thermopylae. It could also count as YouShallNotPass except for the fact that they actually did pass.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: The Three Hundred Spartans. And the Four Thousand Thespians. And the Unrecorded Number (But Probably A Lot, Maybe More Than The Actual Fighting Men) of Helot Slaves. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it...
* NeverFoundTheBody: Mardonius supposedly perished in battle, but his body was never found or recovered.
* NobleTopEnforcer: Mardonius was all in all a very fair guy. He toppled tyrants and raised democracies in their place, and sought democracy with the Greeks. He also did not resort to corruption or bribes (unlike the Athenian Themistocles). Of course, most of the Persians weren't any worse than him.
* OffWithHisHead: What happened to Leonidas after he fell in battle and the rest of the Spartans were killed.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The above. Normally the Persians treated the bodies of their enemies with respect, but Leonidas pissed Xerxes off so much that he ordered the body defiled and refused to return the remains for proper burial.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Pretty much anyone who wasn't Sparta during the Battle of Thermopylae. In particular the Athenian Navy; in pop culture the Badassery of the Spartans tends to overshadow the vital role the Athenians played in keeping the Persian fleet bottled up in the bay, so that they had nowhere to land ''but'' in front of the Spartan meat grinder.
* {{Plunder}}: The spoils from Salamis, and the tale of the wealth found probably did not shrink in the telling.
* PoliceState: Sparta bore a suspicious resemblance to a modern PoliceState.
* PowerOfTrust: The phalanx was built on this trope. Inside the shield wall, most soldiers couldn't see a thing and marched into battle blindly, relying on the shield of the person next to them to keep them safe. One soldier panicking could easily lead to a complete rout. But the inverse was also true: scared as they were, soldiers were able keep their panic in check precisely because they knew their fellow soldiers had their backs. This in turn elevated the phalanx from a RagtagBunchOfMisfits to a nigh impenetrable fighting machine.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Spartans, of course. And they made the most of it.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: Justified. Triremes could only ram or board, and were to a large degree built for ramming.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Before the climax of the battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas ordered two Spartans named Eurytus and Aristodemus to return home because of severe eye infections. They were escorted away from the battle, but Eurytus [[ICanStillFight decided to stay and fight]] even though he was practically blind while Aristodemus continued home. Aristodemus was thus considered a coward by the rest of Sparta, and he was only cleared of this charge after he died at the battle of Plataea.
** Herodotus surmises that if both men had returned home or only one man had been excused, the Spartans would not have blamed them.
** And unfortunately for Aristodemus, Death didn't quite equal Redemption either. At Plataea he was in such a hurry to regain his honor that he broke ranks and engaged the Persians one-on-one, getting himself killed. Though the Spartans agreed he had made up for his conduct at Thermopylae, he was denied special honors at his funeral because [[CantGetAwayWithNothing he didn't fight like a proper Spartan]].
* TheRepublic: Athens invented the word "democracy". And yes they did have [[MadeASlave slaves]] and FeudingFamilies, etc. You have to start somewhere.
* SlaveGalley: Averted; rowing a trieme was too tricky of work to trust to slaves.
* TheSlowWalk (Greek hoplites in a phalanx looked like ten thousand men making a slow walk. All of them MadeOfIron). Though by this time most city-states prefered to take the last few hundred feet in a ZergRush. Except of course for the state that is most famous for [[TheSpartanWay discipline]].
* TheSpartanWay
* TheStrategist: Many. Most famously, Themistocles the Athenian politician who won Salamis with his brillant tactics, and Mardonius, the Persian commander who never lost a battle until his death.
* UnreliableNarrator: Herodotus, one of the Western World's first historians, prone to exaggeration and embellishment. Granted, he was writing before Journalistic Integrity was invented.
* VillainousValor: Herodotus is always just as quick to mention the bravery and skill of the Persian soldiers as he is the Greek defenders. It helps that his city was on the Persian side under Queen Artimisia.
* YouHaveFailedMe: When a pontoon was wrecked by a storm the Great King did this to the Persian engineers responsible. The engineers who built the next pontoon, were "rather more careful" in their work.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Greeks were always struggling together.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Eight years after the battle of Salamis, Themistocles was banished from Athens by ostracism, then driven from Greece when the Spartans (who hated him) falsely accused him of partaking in a pro-Persian conspiracy. He found asylum with his former enemies, the Persians, and (instead of e.g. taking revenge) King Artaxerxes (son and successor of Xerxes) made him governor of Magnesia.
* WeHaveReserves: The Persian's chief asset according Greek sources. As it was, this was Zig-Zagged and perhaps DoubleSubverted. The core of the Persian army was drawn from the Iranic citizenry of the empire who not only vastly outnumbered the forces even a united Greece could field, but were trained and well equipped for battle. Unfortunately, they were armed and trained for a different kind of warfare than the Greeks, and when the latter could force them to do battle on Greek terms the result tended to be crushing.
* WonTheWarLostThePeace: Greece won, but it soon fell into a violent civil war amongst its city-states.
* WrittenByTheWinners: Almost the entire understanding of the war is based on Greek writings, since not many Persian ones have survived (Persia has had a history of being invaded and having its old knowledge burned; first by Alexander, then by various warring warlords, the Islamic empire, and then the Mongols) and/or have been actively sought out by historians. Needless to say, bias in the sources is almost certain in analysing it from a historical perspective.

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