[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gates_of_fire.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[CallingTheOldManOut "I will tell His Majesty what a king is..."]]'']]

''Gates of Fire'' is a historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield, published in 1998, revolving around the Battle of Thermopylae during the Greco-Persian Wars. The story is told as a series of flashbacks from the perspective of a Spartan helot named Xeones, the sole Spartan survivor, as he tells his story to King Xerxes of Persia. A Persian historian co-narrates the events happening in the "present" (after Thermopylae) and gives insight on how the Spartan stand at Thermopylae is effecting the Persian invasion of Greece.

The book is recommended reading for American cadets at the US Military and Naval Academies, as well as as the US Marine officer school.

!!Tropes in this work include:

* AFatherToHisMen: Dienekes is this among the Spartans in general, specially Alexandros and Xeones. Leonidas to all the allies.
* ActionSurvivor: Xeones and his cousin Diomache become this after their city is destroyed, forcing them to live in the mountains as hunters.
* AffectionateNickname:
** The Spartans refer to a Persian-Egyptian marine named Ptammitechus as "Tommie."
** "Rooster" doubles as this and an EmbarrassingNickname for Dekton (after he accidentally kills a sacrificial rooster before it was actually supposed to be sacrificed, as well as for his belligerent attitude).
* AnachronismStew: The Spartans are noted to fight in thirty-six man platoons, but that is a modern unit type that wasn't invented until 1618, with the numbers of troops being specific to the US Army.
** ''Polemarch'' is translated as "platoon commander", which is both anachronistic and misleading as actual polemarchs typically commanded hundreds of troops. It's also a case of ArtisticLicenseLinguistics as the correct translation is "warlord" or "war leader."
* AnyoneCanDie: To be expected, given that the story is about Thermopylae.
* ArmchairMilitary: Leonidas derides Xerxes as this for not directly leading his troops into combat.
* BadassArmy: Obviously, the Spartans and the Thespies.
* BadassBoast: Several, by both sides, including many famous historical remarks. [[spoiler:"We will fight in the shade," "Come and take them," and so on. The former doubles as an Analogy Backfire.]]
* BarbarianLonghair: The Spartans deliberately grow their hair out to evoke this effect.
* BattleButler:
** All of the Spartan squires, who often fight directly alongside the Peers they serve, especially Xeones and Suicide.
** Dekton. He is a helot, just like Xeones, but his blood-thirsty attitude earned the respect of Spartans and they suggested him to be part of their army. He refused all of the times.
* BittersweetEnding: And ''how.'' The Spartans are wiped out at Thermopylae, Athens is sacked, [[spoiler: and Xeones dies of his wounds after narrating his whole story.]] However, the Spartans ultimately accomplished their mission by delaying the much larger Persian army, which helps set the conditions for the final Greek victory at Salamis.
* BloodKnight: Played with. Pretty much every Spartan warrior is this when directly in combat, as a result of their lifelong training, but they naturally let their stress and emotions out when the fighting is done.
** Played straight with Polynikes, who enjoys combat and sees war as a noble gift from the gods.
** Played straight with Dekton as well, such that the Spartan Peers even offer to elevate him from his helot status (he refuses).
* BreakTheCutie: A young Xeones briefly suffers this when village people break his hands with nails for attempted theft, making him believe he'll never be able to hold a spear properly, and thus will never achieve his dream of becoming a hoplite. It takes a fever-dream encounter with the archer god Apollo for him to find his inspiration again.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Alexandros starts off being fairly incompetent at soldiering, but quickly shows his mettle when he and Xeones are forced to swim for their lives ''across the Gulf of Corinth.'' He fully matures as a Spartan Knight by the time of Thermopylae.
* DeathSeeker: The Scythian squire nicknamed [[MeaningfulName "Suicide"]], who fights with absolutely no regard for his own safety. Dienekes explains that he willingly became a helot in Sparta after fleeing Scythia for committing murder, and was so remorseful for his actions that he became a squire in order to die in combat. But he's such a skilled fighter that he just doesn't die in spite of his best efforts, [[spoiler: until Thermopylae.]]
* Determinator: The Spartans at Thermopylae, such that Xerxes is haunted by their resolve even as his army marches on Athens.
** Xeones in spades. He never gives up despite losing his original city, nearly dying of fever, and experiencing combat several times. [[spoiler: He retains this mindset until he finally dies of his wounds.]]
* DoomedHometown: [[spoiler: Astakos, Xeo and Diomache's hometown was destroyed by Argos]].
* DramaticIrony: The book is upfront with the fact that the three hundred Spartans all died at Thermopylae within the prologue (with the sole exception of Xeones). Xeones notes later on that Leonidas's Three Hundred Knights fully expected to die.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Polynikes mercilessly berates Alexandros for leaving his shield lying face-first on the ground instead of propped-up in his tripod for ready use. He then makes Alexandros's whole platoon practice brutal shield drills by ramming themselves into a tree as a phalanx ''for a whole night'' until all their noses are broken.
* DudeLooksLikeALady:
** Alexandros is noted to look rather feminine, for which Polynikes initially mocks him for.
** The Medians and Immortals wear heavy make-up and eye-shadow going into battle, to which Xeones notes they almost look like women.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Dekton]]
%%* EyeScream: Dienekes
* ForegoneConclusion: The outcome of the Battle of Thermopylae.
* FrontlineGeneral: Leonidas, as well as the Thespian commander Dithyrambos.
* GloryHound: Subverted with Polynikes, who is the most decorated Spartan Olympian and Peer, but doesn't let it go to his head. He is, however, jealous of the amiable, father-like respect that the Spartans all pay to Dienekes and wishes to command such respect himself.
* GrayAndGrayMorality: The Persians are ruthless conquerers (who either outright devour nations or pressure them to becoming vassals) who sack Athens upon capturing it. It's also implied that Xerxes's is primarily motivated by a personal vendetta against Greece to avenge his father Darius's famous defeat at Marathon. At the same time, however, the book does ''not'' shy away from Sparta's degrading treatment of helots [[spoiler: (and outright murder of possible dissenters).]] The Greek city-states also commonly fight and destroy each other, something Leonidas personally laments and believes Xerxes to be responsible for.
%%* HeroicBSOD:
* HowWeGotHere: The book begins [[InMediasRes after the battle of Thermopylae has already ended,]] with Xeo's narration recounting the battle and his life story leading up to it.
* ICanStillFight: Everyone on the Greek side, up until the end, no matter how many wounds they've taken. Two particularly memorable examples are [[spoiler:Leonidas, who is over seventy and heavily wounded, unable to use one arm, still going out to fight]], and a Spartan squire [[spoiler:who took a bad wound in the midsection proclaiming "I can't shit, but by the gods I can still fight."]]
* IHaveThisFriend: Xeo tries this on Lady Arete when confessing that he was inspired to take up the bow as weapon after an apparent encounter with the archer-god Apollo. She sees through it immediately, but plays along out of respect for Xeo's predicament and his clear embarrassment over the situation.
%%* ItHasBeenAnHonor
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Polynikes is this to some extent. He is a merciless warrior and [[spoiler:assassin]] and he will make sure you DAMN well know if he doesn't think you live up to Spartan standards. However, he isn't in it for personal glory as much as he is trying to live up to the physical gifts he's been given. The more awards he wins on and off the field of battle, the more disciplined and strict he gets. If you do live up to his standards, though, he's a great guy.
* KissingCousins: Averted. Xeones is in love with his cousin Diomache and it's implied that she feels the same, but they never act on their feelings. (Cousin marriages were fairly common in ancient Greece, however, also making it a case of DeliberateValuesDissonance.)
%%* LastStand:
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Dienekes's only reaction to ''losing an eye'' the first day of combat of Thermopylae is "I know."
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: After being brutally tortured for attempted theft, a young Xeones seems to have a fever-induced hallucination of Apollo, which he genuinely believes to be real.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The reason why the Spartans stay together and why they are such a massive force (outside of [[TheSpartanWay their brutal training]]). Because they think and act as one!
* ThePowerOfLove: As stated by Dioneke.
--> '''Dioneke''':The opposite of fear is… love!
* ProudWarriorRace: The Spartans.
* RainOfArrows: The arrows that the Persians fire to the Greek army. They don't do that much of a harm.
* RedemptionQuest: [[spoiler: Dekton. The bastard son of a spartan peer, always hated the Spartans, as he was part Messenian, and forced to flee Sparta. Manages to get back to the Spartan camp at the Hot Gates, and not only show the spartans a way into Xerxes camp, but joined in the assault as well. Survives, is given reprieve by Leonidas and becomes a full fledged Spartan warrior by the end of story]].
%%* ScarsAreForever: Dioneke has some.
* SuicideMission: The battle at the Hot Gates, since it's clear that no warrior will return alive.
* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Xeones only survives long enough to tell his story to Xerxes' historian, expiring shortly this.]]
* TheSpartanWay: Obviously. The early chapters show a glimpse of the brutal life of the young Spartan boys in the ''agoge.'' They are brutally drilled to think and act as a unit and can be whipped for infractions, even to death if they willingly endure the punishments.
* WarIsGlorious[=/=]WarIsHell: The narration alternates often between these two, mostly leaning towards the later by the end.
* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife: Dienekes refers like this to Tripod, a Spartan boy who allows himself to be flogged to death in the ''agoge'' simply out of stubborn pride to not let go of the flogging post (which would have ended the punishment). The narration also refers to this to some of the armies facing the Spartans at the Hot Gates.
* WorkOffTheDebt: Xeones. He was actually a freeman, but decided to serve Sparta out of his own volition, and even in the last stand, when all the squires had been dismissed he still decided to stay. [[spoiler: Finally getting the chance to wear the scarlet he always wanted to before but couldn't (out of actually not being a Spartan)]].
* YouShallNotPass: The whole purpose of the Spartan stand at Thermopylae, and why they chose the battlefield.
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