Greece 4 - Thermopylae - the monument /the hot springs. the beggar and few cents/ defaecation behind the monument

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Setting off early we left our little piece of heaven so that we could get on the road to Thermopylae. The drive was quiet being a Sunday morning. The shops were firmly shut apart from the garden centres which looked as if they were going to be doing a roaring trade. Our stop was intended to be Thermpylae set in a valley between two wooded hills. The pass was the site of the famous heroic stand between the Spartan King Leonides, his 300 Spartan warriors against the Persian King Xerxes. In 480 BC an army of 7000 Greeks made up of simple soldiers with not much experience and 300 Spartans under the command of King Leonides met the overwhelming force of Xerxes and his 2,641, 610 Persian warriors. The number might be different depending what source you read. But outnumbered they were in anyones books. Leonides held the pass for three days until the Persian army found someone who knew a way over the wooded hills for the army to come up behind the Greek lines. Not through battle did Xerxes win but by deceit and treachery. A Judas in the camp , a man rejected by the Spartans gave them all up for money. So treachery and not skill nor bravery won the battle .

Today the pass looks nothing like it did in 480BC. It looks less narrow mainly due to the sea silting up and the land being reclaimed. The sea is now 3 km away making the pass look much wider than it was at the time of the battle. In 1955 a bronze statue was cast of Leonidis and placed to honour his leadership and the bravery of his Spartan warriors. Firstly though we had to visit the hot springs – the thermopylae the sulphurous egg smelling water that discharges itself from the hillside . Hot frothy water descends into pools. Steam eminates from the water . Three young men bathe in the water much as the Spartan warrior might have all those years ago. They look invigorated swimming in the hot water and being pelted by a distinctly raging torrent. It must be good for the soul and for the body as an older man was even trying it out. I guess he probably did it every day. It reminded me of a Spartan child being blooded for war. He was learning to live with pain. Spartan boys suffered two fates neither better than the other. If a child was born less than perfect and not seen as fitted for war he was thrown off the nearest cliff to perish and die . If suited for war and if he was warrior material he was brought up by his mother until the age of 7 at which time he was taken from her and trained in the art of war. Either would have been heartbreaking for his mother.



After seeing the hot springs we travelled a few hundred yards down the road to the car park opposite the statue of Leonides. . We were confronted by a beggar who gestured putting food to his mouth and held out his hand . I gave him a few cents and we walked over to the bronze monument . It is an impressive monument showing a warrior in battle pose holding his spear, his sword in his belt and the huge shield used by Spartan warriors. If there was one thing that galled was the fact that some idiot had used the back of the monument as a toilet. How disgusting! Was it a protest or just someone who couldnt care less who had been taken short. Whichever , I felt annoyed and disgusted.

After our visit to the monument we walked back to Suzy the beggar accosted us again hand to mouth first and then palm held out. No you had money before we walked off up to the burial mound of all the soldiers lost at the battle. They were buried where they fell. A stone plaque showed the spot. The Spartans had preferred death to dishonour. We climbed back down the hill. A handful of motorhomes must have parked overnight. The beggar came again. Again we said no to him and drove off to the interpretive centre where we watched a film telling the story of the battle Interactive boards played out the scene of the three days of fighting.

A sad place – the words written on the monument sum it up “ Go tell the Spartans thou who passest by that here obedient to their laws we lie.

I wonder if the same can be said of the generations who do not fight .

Walking b

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