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:
- A Father to His Men: Dienekes is this among the Spartans in general, specially Alexandros and Xeones. Leonidas to all the allies.
- Action Survivor: Xeones and his cousin Diomache become this after their city is destroyed, forcing them to live in the mountains as hunters.
- Affectionate Nickname:
- The Spartans refer to a Persian-Egyptian marine named Ptammitechus as "Tommie."
- "Rooster" doubles as this and an Embarrassing Nickname for Dekton (after he accidentally kills a sacrificial rooster before it was actually supposed to be sacrificed, as well as for his belligerent attitude).
- Anachronism Stew: 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 Artistic License – Linguistics as the correct translation is "warlord" or "war leader."
- Anyone Can Die: To be expected, given that the story is about Thermopylae.
- Armchair Military: Leonidas derides Xerxes as this for not directly leading his troops into combat.
- Badass Army: Obviously, the Spartans and the Thespies.
- Badass Boast: Several, by both sides, including many famous historical remarks. "We will fight in the shade," "Come and take them," and so on. The former doubles as an Analogy Backfire.
- Barbarian Longhair: The Spartans deliberately grow their hair out to evoke this effect.
- Battle Butler:
- 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.
- Bittersweet Ending: And how. The Spartans are wiped out at Thermopylae, Athens is sacked, 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.
- Blood Knight: 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).
- Break the Cutie: 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.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: 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.
- Death Seeker: The Scythian squire nicknamed "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, 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. He retains this mindset until he finally dies of his wounds.
- Doomed Hometown: Astakos, Xeo and Diomache's hometown was destroyed by Argos.
- Dramatic Irony: 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.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: 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.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady:
- 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.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Dekton
- Foregone Conclusion: The outcome of the Battle of Thermopylae.
- Frontline General: Leonidas, as well as the Thespian commander Dithyrambos.
- Glory Hound: 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.
- Gray-and-Gray Morality: 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 (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.
- How We Got Here: The book begins after the battle of Thermopylae has already ended, with Xeo's narration recounting the battle and his life story leading up to it.
- I Can Still Fight!: Everyone on the Greek side, up until the end, no matter how many wounds they've taken. Two particularly memorable examples are Leonidas, who is over seventy and heavily wounded, unable to use one arm, still going out to fight, and a Spartan squire who took a bad wound in the midsection proclaiming "I can't shit, but by the gods I can still fight."
- I Have This Friend: 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.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Polynikes is this to some extent. He is a merciless warrior and 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.
- Kissing Cousins: 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 Deliberate Values Dissonance.)
- Major Injury Underreaction: Dienekes's only reaction to losing an eye the first day of combat of Thermopylae is "I know."
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: 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.
- The Power of Friendship: The reason why the Spartans stay together and why they are such a massive force (outside of their brutal training). Because they think and act as one!
- The Power of Love: As stated by Dioneke.Dioneke:The opposite of fear is… love!
- Proud Warrior Race: The Spartans.
- Rain of Arrows: The arrows that the Persians fire to the Greek army. They don't do that much of a harm.
- Redemption Quest: 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.
- Suicide Mission: The battle at the Hot Gates, since it's clear that no warrior will return alive.
- The Hero Dies: Xeones only survives long enough to tell his story to Xerxes' historian, expiring shortly this.
- The Spartan Way: 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.
- War Is Glorious/War Is Hell: The narration alternates often between these two, mostly leaning towards the later by the end.
- What a Senseless Waste of Human Life: 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.
- Work Off the Debt: 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. Finally getting the chance to wear the scarlet he always wanted to before but couldn't (out of actually not being a Spartan).
- You Shall Not Pass!: The whole purpose of the Spartan stand at Thermopylae, and why they chose the battlefield.
