In Steven Pressfield's book, Gates of Fire, a mortally wounded soldier named Xeones tells his life story to a Persian scribe under the king's orders Xerxes of Persia. The story is told through a series of flashbacks, interrupted by the scribe, who inserts his own notes. Xeones begins by describing his life as a refugee in the mountains with his cousin Diomache and his slave Bruxieus. Later he recounts life with the men of the agoge, Dienekes, Alexandros, Rooster, Polynikes and several others. Throughout the novel, Xeo details life in Sparta, including the training of Spartan men and the roles played by women. The story culminates at the Battle of Thermopylae, where all but the Xeones are massacred. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay One aspect of Spartan life described by Xeones is the training of Spartan boys to become warriors. All Spartan men were expected to train as soldiers, if they were able. Only as soldiers and warriors could a Spartan become a citizen. Warriors were subjected to rigorous exercises that strengthened both mind and body. The Spartans believed that only through strength and discipline of the mind could a warrior discipline his mind. In describing the exercises, Xeo specifies that “the arduousness of the exercises aims less to strengthen the back than to harden the mind. The Spartans say that any army can win as long as it still has its legs under it; the real test comes when all strength is gone and men must achieve victory by will alone. (Pressfield, 68) For the Spartans, the true mark of a man was his courage. One of the major themes of the book is the elimination of fear. The drills that the Spartans endured were designed to remove all fear from their minds, so that when faced with battle, the Spartans would be fearless and fight to the best of their abilities, without the obstacle of fear. In order to develop their courage and prove their manhood, the punishments were severe. The boys, aged no more than fifteen, clung to a wooden bar while they were whipped. At any moment they could let go of the bar and the punishment would be over. Xeo tells the story of a boy named Tripod who refused to let go of the bar and was therefore beaten to death. Xeo's friend, Alexandros, was comforted by his mentor, Dienekes, who explained that the eirenes, or men who punished Tripod, were not doing so for their own pleasure, but to harden his mind against pain. Such punishments were designed to strengthen Xeo's spirit. mind and body against physical pain. Another example of how eirenes were supposed to help boys learn discipline and prove their manhood was to practice "tree fucking." In this practice, boys line up with their shields, one behind the other, and push on a tree. If they fail to do so, they run the risk of being labeled effeminate. Xeo describes this practice saying: “It was unthinkable that they would be allowed to return to town while this tree challenged them; such a failure would dishonor their fathers and mothers, their brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins, all the gods and heroes of their lineage, not to mention their dogs, cats, sheep and goats and even the rats in their helots' barns. , which They would put their heads down and have to sneak off to Athens or some other divided polis where men were men and knew how to have a respectable fuck. (Pressfield 71) However, showing courage and the definition ofvirility extended far beyond the practice of combat. Manliness was also manifested by the ability to produce sons and perpetuate one's family name. Dienekes is married to Arete and has four daughters. However, as he is neither a father nor the father of sons, he cannot be chosen for the Three Hundred to fight at Thermopylae. He sees this as a disgrace. That he is not really a man since he has no son and cannot fight at the “Hot Gates”. Dienekes is often compared to Polynikes, who is much younger and yet has more sons than Dienekes. While Polynikes covets Dienekes' position among the warriors, he is one of the first to be chosen for the Three Hundred, because he has male heirs. Dienekes can only participate in the battle after adopting his bastard nephew's son, allowing him to have an heir. Xeones describes phobology, or the science of studying fear, in detail. The exercises that the men of Sparta perform are believed to drive away fear and produce a state of what Xeones calls esoteric harmony, or the state of composure in which the warrior casts out all fear and, metaphorically, produces an individual being and unique. note, that all things possess. By talking with Dienekes and Alexandros, Xeo learns not only esoteric harmony, or composure, but also exoteric harmony, in which the Spartan enters a state of unity with his fellow Spartans, which produces a metaphorical harmony . Each individual note comes together to create a beautiful, harmonious chord. They are taught that "In battle, the exoterike harmony guides the phalanx to move and strike as one, with one mind and one will." In passion, he unites husband to wife, lover to lover, in a perfect and silent union. In politics, exoteric harmony produces a city of concord and unity, in which each individual, ensuring the noblest expression of his character, gives it to each other. (Pressfield 76) In this way, Xeo learns that each person in Spartan society has an individual place and that they all come together in harmony. Another part of Spartan life that the reader discovers through the tale of Xeones is the role of women in society. Women are described as not wearing any cosmetics or makeup in other cities of Hellas, but in Sparta, the women Xeones encounters wear none. Throughout the novel, he meets several Spartan women: Arete, the wife of Dienekes, Paraleia, the mother of Alexandros, his own wife, and the wives of Alexandros and the Rooster. The main role of women, as can be seen in the novel, is to produce sons. Spartan women were expected to produce boys, who would then defend the city. Xeones describes them thus: “They were mothers, those ladies, wives and mothers whose primary calling was to produce boys who would become warriors and heroes, defenders of the city. Spartan women were broodmares, the pampered damsels of other towns might scoff, but if they were mares they were runners, Olympic champions. The athletic brilliance and vigor that gynaikagoge, the female training discipline, produced in them was powerful and they knew it. (Pressfield 124) The most important Spartan woman in the novel is Arete. Wife of Dienekes, she was first married to his brother, who died in combat. Arete gave birth to four daughters, but no sons. However, she still runs her household and manages her servants. From the novel, it appears that she is respected by everyone, both men and women, but probably because of her husband's status. This is not to say that women are completely useless in Spartan society. The LadyParaleia questions Xeones about her son's peer interrogation. It is clear from the way she speaks that here at home, it is the women who are in charge. In fact, Xeones even says, "It was her way of letting me know that women were running the show and that if I didn't want to end up permanently in the farmers' shit fields, I better start spit out a satisfactory dose. information. » (Pressfield 122) However, the women of Sparta had an influence that went beyond just the home. One of the most striking examples is that of the Rooster trial. The peers decide that he and his family should be killed. However, Arete stopped them from killing the newborn by forcing her husband to claim him as his own. In doing so, he becomes eligible for the Three Hundred. The women of Sparta were also those who galvanized the Spartans into action. Refugees from other cities came to Sparta, young mothers with children. There, the wives of Spartan warriors would hear their stories and urge their husbands to action, telling them of the horrors the citizens endured. Xeones says of Spartan women: “The contempt for women has excoriated the city. A delegation of wives and mothers presented themselves to the ephors, insisting that they themselves be sent next time, armed with hairpins and distaffs, for surely the women of Sparta could not disgrace themselves more nor accomplish less than the vaunted Ten Thousand. (Pressfield 140) Therefore, although women do not seem to have a major role outside of the birth of future Spartan warriors, it was they who ultimately encouraged the Spartans to take a stand and fight the Persians . is said about the economic status of Sparta, several things are explained that allow the reader to infer the economic status. The men of Sparta are employed as full-time warriors, and the women are only expected to be wives and mothers. Therefore, food was grown and provided by a group of people called the Helots. Helots were a group of people, somewhere between serfs and slaves, who provided most of Sparta's economic support. The Helots were Messenians and Laconians, both regions controlled by Sparta. One of the only examples of this other culture was that of the Rooster. Rooster was the bastard son of Arete's brother and a Messenian woman. He took care of the animals, until he was entrusted to Alexandros' father as a squire. It was only through the support of the Helots that the Spartans were able to have a standing army at all times. Although not expressly stated in The Gates of Fire, the general attitude towards other Greek nations is one of contempt. The Spartans consider themselves superior due to having the strongest military and not being burdened by corruption like most other city-states are. Even Athens considered Sparta a city to admire. Polynikes summarized the Spartans' views on other city-states by saying: "Observe the specimens in any nation other than Lacedaemon. Man is weak, greedy, cowardly, lustful, prey to all kinds of vices and depravity. He will lie, steal, cheat, murder, melt down the very statues of the gods and mint their gold as currency for whores. It's the man. This is his nature, as all poets attest. Fortunately, God, in His mercy, has provided a counterbalance to the innate depravity of our species. This gift, my young friend, is war. (Pressfield 118) Polynike is not just talking about other nations. He speaks of all nations, except Sparta or Lacedaemon. This includes city-states such as Sparta or Thebes. THE.