Gates of Fire: Chapter 29 Summary & Analysis

A Persian prince had crossed over to the Greeks the previous evening, reporting that the strengthened Immortals are on their way to the Spartan rear. But the Spartans do not believe this. They believe it’s a trick. This “irrational and self-deluding response,” Xeo explains, must be understood not just in light of exhaustion, despair, or euphoria, but in the light of “marvels and prodigies.” After having survived 48 gruesome hours, the men are coming undone: “Existence had become a tunnel whose walls were death and within which prevailed no hope of rescue or deliverance.”

On the evening of that day’s battle, the Persians cause the Spartans to fall back and even manage to pour beyond the Phokian Wall. Yet the Persians are stopped by inexplicable terror from pressing home their victory. Just then, “a bellow of unearthly power”—a lightning strike—hits Kallidromos, the mountain overlooking the sea. At this, King Leonidas calls out in praise of “Zeus Savior” and freedom. With fresh courage, the Spartans rush at the foe, causing them to tumble back in panic at this “prodigy of heaven.” There is a mayhem of retreating and advancing Persians, resulting in a grisly wall of bodies which eventually gives way in a horrifying avalanche.

Later that night, these events are “cited as evidence of the intercession of the gods.” Even as the benevolent Persian nobleman urges them to withdraw while there’s still time, the Spartans and allies are so exultant over the “prodigies” that they won’t stand down. What’s more, a storm has wrecked 200 Persian warships—surely the work of God as well. A Theban commander “[inflames] the derangement” by pointing out that the Persians’ conscripted army must be filled with disaffection by this time.

The Greeks accordingly respond harshly to the Persian informer, telling him it’s Xerxes who’s in peril. Xeo knows what he’s seeing is katalepsis, “grief- and horror-spawned rage.” The Persian noble stays and talks with Leonidas, insisting that if the gods have a hand in all this, it’s “their perverse and unknowable will acting to detach [the Spartans] from their reason.” Surely Leonidas must be able to perceive this.

The Persian noble continues to appeal to Leonidas. He warns him that Thermopylae won’t be the decisive battle. Greece needs Leonidas, he says. While Leonidas claims a Spartan king never retreats, his “valor must be tempered with wisdom or it is merely recklessness.” He and his men have already won great fame by holding out for six days. Surely it’s not worth holding out to fulfill a prophecy, but to press on toward final victory. He sums up, “You have proved your valor, my lord. Now, I beseech you, demonstrate your wisdom.”