Analysis Of Gates Of Fire By Steven Pressfield

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield is an epic novel about the battle of Thermopylae. Gates of Fire is a work of fiction based upon the true events of the battle of Thermopylae. Most of the story is told from the perspective of Greek Xeones, and then finished by the Egyptian king Xerxes’ squire. Xeones was brought back to life after dying in the battle of Thermopylae by the God Apollo to tell the story of the Spartans (page 8). The story went slowly and out of order but Xeones did this because “the tale seemed to be “telling itself” at the god’s direction that he, its narrator, could only follow where it led” (page 66).

When Pressfield strays from the historical facts he does not do so in a way that is uncommon to the time of this war but instead

The men would be trained from the early age of seven until they turned thirty. This was to ensure that they would always have young men to fight. To ensure sure-footedness every summer every man and boy who was able to fight would spend eight nights out in the mountains with full armor (page 67). They would do different exercises during the night so that the men could learn how to fight in the mountains without being able to see (page 67 and 68). There were often fake attacks where the men had to act as if they really were being attacked (page 67). The soldiers also needed to know how to work as a team and that if a mistake was made it meant the death of everyone. This was exhibited when the boy Alexandros mistakenly left his shield on the ground and was seen by one of the older men, Polynikes. After being “tortured” (page 71), Polynikes put the entire platoon through rigorous and brutal training, where he repeatedly hit them in the face with a wooden tripod and made the boys preform and exercise known as “tree fucking” (page 73). The boys were put through this for days on end until finally they realized that they needed to be together and work as a team to save themselves as well as others (page