Table of Contents
Who betrayed Leonidas in real life?
role at Thermopylae … pass by the Greek traitor Ephialtes, outflanked them. Sending the majority of his troops to safety, Leonidas remained to delay the Persians with 300 Spartans, their helots, and 1,100 Boeotians, all of whom died in battle.
Why did Ephialtes betray Sparta?
In the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, Ephialtes was portrayed by Kieron Moore and is depicted as a loner who worked on a goat farm near Thermopylae. He betrays the Spartans to the Persians out of greed for riches, and, it is implied, unrequited love for a Spartan girl named Ellas.
Was Ephialtes a real person?
Is the movie’s hunchbacked traitor Ephialtes based on a real person? Yes. However, the real Greek traitor Ephialtes, a local shepard, was most likely not a horribly disfigured hunchback.
What does Leonidas say to Ephialtes?
Leonidas’ last words are to Ephialtes on the battlefield before he is engulfed by a shower of arrows: “I hope you live forever.” This, we deduce, is the most profound Spartan insult, incorporating Leonidas’ disgust for the traitor with the Spartan ideal of dying a “beautiful death” in battle.
Who stabbed Leonidas?
When Leonidas was killed, the Spartans retrieved his body after driving back the Persians four times. Herodotus says that Xerxes’ orders were to have Leonidas’ head cut off and put on a stake and his body crucified.
Are there Spartans today?
But today there is still a town called Sparta in Greece in the very same spot as the ancient city. So, in a way, Spartans still exist, although these days they tend to be a little less strict and certainly not as good at fighting with spears and shields as the ancients.
What happened to Ephialtes?
In 461 BC, he was assassinated, probably at the instigation of resentful oligarchs, and the political leadership of Athens passed to his deputy, Pericles.