Gates Of Fire by Steven Pressfield: Favorite Parts in the Book

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
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December 9, 2015
Gates of Fire
Steven Pressfield's Gates of fire is a viscerally detailed tale deriving its title from the battle site of Thermopylae, chiefly known as ''hot gates.” This horrid battle between the Greeks and the Persians takes place in 480 B.C at the hot gates. This is a strategic place for a battle considering that the passageway is contracted and sandwiched by mountains and the sea. For three days a small force of the Greeks led by the dauntless Spartans delay the advance of an immense army belonging to the Persian invaders (Steven, 1998). Without a doubt, the Greek army had worked out its battle plan so strategically, they would have managed to hold off the Persians successfully; unfortunately a Greek conspirator led the invading army through the mountains and blocked the defenders' draw back. In the end all the Spartans were lynched ruthlessly in the battle.
Through this epic tale, the author offers a succinct description of the Spartan society's warrior code, beginning from their upbringing to the altitudes inculcated amongst the young men to make them gallant warriors. The manner in which he portrays the battle scenes at the narrow mountain at the so called “Hot Gates” is both gruesome and terrifying. The author employs evocative language and laconic imagery to bring out the gore and savagery of the battlefield at close quarter; his choice of words and extravagant detail of the grisly ordeal imprints creepy imaginings in mind (Rupert, 2008). Amongst the fallen Spartans and their allies, only one Greek survives to give the accounts detailed in the “Gates of Fire” When the Persians find the young hero in throes of his death, they offer him intensive care through the Persian’s top surgeons and gradually Xeones gains enough strength to speak (Steven, 1998). After regaining his consciousness he was then asked to give an account of his “infantryman's tale" of the Spartan way of life and the event that led to the battle of Thermopylae (Zack, 2007). Gobartes, a great historian was requested to detail the account of Xeones in adroit detail after which he was supposed to send the document king Xerxes. The document in essence is the story relayed in the book Gates of Fire.
The meat of this tale takes place during Xeones’ timeline; the reader is able to connect with him as he offers a description of his last moments at the Gates before the great battle. Xeones gradually tells his story beginning with his roots where he explains how he lost his parents due to war atrocities. As a young man he was thus forced to leave his homeland and live a life of a rogue. As fate would have it, he found himself growing in Sparta and quickly rose through the ranks amongst the non-native inhabitants and got to serve as one of the bold spirited Spartans known as Dienekes (Steven, 1998). Diekens was a man of great Chutzpah, a daring sacrificial victim, who encouraged his followers to pay the entire price for the sweetness of liberty. “This we have chosen and this we pay for. We have embraced the laws of Lykurgus, and they are stern laws. They have schooled us to scorn the life of leisure, which this rich ...