Gates of Fire: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Xeo tells Xerxes that his intent has been to convey “some poor measure of the soul terror and devastation which a vanquished population, any population, is forced to endure in the hour of its nation’s extinction.” Over the coming decade, there is much warfare between the various Greek city-states. But suddenly, Persia emerges as a terrifying threat known only as “The Fear.”

Xeo jumps ahead in his story to the age of 19. He is now in the service of Dienekes of Sparta and has been dispatched in attendance upon him and other Spartan allies to Rhodes, an island in Persian possession. He witnesses Persia’s might for the first time. He is particularly in awe of the fast warships and the tall Egyptian marines. Dienekes talks, through a translator, with Ptammitechus, or “Tommie,” who is a ship captain. The Greeks and Egyptians exchange jokes about each other’s customs and weapons. The envoy, however, is unsuccessful in its mission to gain the Rhodians as allies.

Xeo accompanies Dienekes when he is urgently summoned to Olympia. Xeo suspects that this has to do with a map of Greece and the rest of the world, which Ptammitechus showed to the Spartan leaders. He wants to impress on Dienekes the vastness of Xerxes’ territory and resources and to persuade him that there will be no dishonor in Sparta joining him voluntarily. Dienekes replies that Tommie has never tasted freedom, or he “would know that it is purchased not with gold, but steel.”

In Olympia, Dienekes shows Xeo the name of his dead brother, Iatrokles, recorded on the Avenue of the Champions. That night, in a disquieted mood, he leads Xeo to the Olympic stadium. As Xeo prepares warm oil for his master’s many aches and pains, Dienekes tells him a story of one of his many battles. Once during a battle against the Corinthians, he and his brother Iatrokles fought side-by-side against a seemingly unkillable foe. All of a sudden, Iatrokles’ squire, a Scythian named Suicide who was a “holy terror,” threw several javelins through the opponent, felling him at last.

Dienekes goes on to tell Xeo the story of his marriage to his wife, Arete. Arete had first been married to Iatrokles, but when Iatrokles learned that Dienekes had always had feelings for her, he promised that Arete could become his wife when Iatrokles was slain in battle. Not long after, Iatrokles did die in battle. Dienekes was devastated and couldn’t bear to marry Arete, until she boldly walked into the Spartan training grounds and demanded that Dienekes take her as his wife, so that her family would not be shamed. He did, but he and Arete have never been blessed with sons. Xeo wonders if this is the gods’ curse for “the selfish love in my master’s heart.”