Thermopylae is a place where you really shouldn't visit unless you're desperate or passing by. If you happen to be driving north from south-eastern Greece you'll go right by it and it is worth a look. Unfortunately there isn't that much there to see.
In Greek Thermopylae means the "Hot Gates." Thermopylae is famous for being the last stand of Leonidas and his 300 Spartans (and a few thousand others {including their slaves}, but we don't count them because it sounds cooler this way). Anyone who's been living on the planet Earth for the last few years is probably at least aware of the movie 300. Far be it from me to impugn the dedication to accuracy of a Hollywood movie but they did get one or two minor things wrong. This place will look strange to anyone who's seen the movie. It really isn't clear why anyone would defend this spot given the current topology of the ground.
The problem is that the landscape has changed in the millenia since 480 BC. Thermopylae is just a spot on the highway now. While it does kind of ruin the feel of the place it emphasizes just how major a route this was in antiquity. Nowadays the sea has receded putting Themopylae at least a mile inland, which makes it harder to envision why this place needed defending. Originally the sea started just on the right side of this photo, about where the road is now. Given that ancient armies liked fighting on flat ground you can see why they'd want to defend this spot. It was a narrow area with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other. And there was always the pass. Apparently there was not one but three gates (passes) at Thermopylae. I was never entirely clear which one they were defending. If they were defending the pass we came from Delphi through then that's it right ahead. The problem with that is that the Persians were coming from that direction. They could have just marched straight through without the Spartans doing anything. It seemed about as decent a pass as might be expected in this notoriously mountainous part of Greece. I don't know why the Persians wouldn't have used it. There may have been better passes on the other side but it doesn't really look like it (see photos below). My only guess is that they retreated here from further up. The guides and maps on site don't really help.
This is the famous hill where the Spartans fought their final battle. Apparently they decided to hold this place at all costs while the Persians wiped them out with arrows.
I was surprised to find this up here. The greek government had it recarved and placed on the hill. It's the famous epigram marking the site of the battle from Classical times. It reads:
Ὦ ξεῖν', ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε
κείμεθα, τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.
Go tell the Spartans, passerby
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
Pretty cool for a faded and grubby plaque on a small hill on the side of the road.
This is the other side of the hill. I don't see any passes here, though that hardly proves anything. The landscape doesn't make the original defensive uses obvious.
Down there you can see glimpses of the Phocian Wall. They actually had an ancient wall here that they refortified and hid behind.
After years of careful consideration on how best to present these fierce warriors they settled on this: Statues that made the Spartans in 300 look overdressed. This is the monument to those who died at Thermopylae.
All right, the main one doesn't look that bad. Leonidas looks pretty badass hefting his spear like that, even if he's not wearing anything. It's just that...
Ὦ ξεῖν', ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε
κείμεθα, τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.
Go tell the Spartans, passerby
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
Pretty cool for a faded and grubby plaque on a small hill on the side of the road.
This! What is this? Does this scream martial valor to you? What is it supposed to mean? Why? Why!?! I can't recall ever seeing a statue with as much work put into it as this one which so utterly misses the point. And it's not even the worst...
What is this!?! It's half a half-naked man with wings. Why does he have wings? Why is everything but his torso missing? Gahh! What were they thinking with this? At least the other ones looked nice, even when they don't make sense.
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