How Is The Greeks Portrayed In The Xerxes War

In the reading of Xerxes war, the Persian are described and portrayed as sort of the “bad guys” in a way. For example the first way we see the Persian people portrayed is with a sense of revenge and greed for power. In the text we see the Persian leader Xerxes, resemble this when he states, “I tend to bridge the hellespont and take my army straight through Europe and into Greece, to punish the Athenians for what they did to the Persian and my father.” Here we see Xerxes trying to claim revenge over the Greeks because they defeated his father in an earlier preceding battle. “I have pondered how not to fall short of the standard of honor my ancestor have set, and how not to diminish the power of the Persians.” In this quote by Xerxes we see

We can first look at how the Greeks fight for their country and laws unlike the Persians. For example the text states, “They obey a master called law and they fear this aster much more than your men fear you.” This explains how the Greeks fight for moral reasons rather than fighting for a master who tells you to do so like the Persians. Another way the Greeks are portrayed in a good way is how the Greek leader Leonides was a strong leader but also was compassionate towards his allies. The text states, “ There is a story that Leonidas himself sent away the troops that departed being concerned for their lives but he thought it ignoble that he and his company of Spartans should quit a post they had come to guard.” This quotation explains how Leonidas is a strong leader because he doesn't want let himself give up even though he was letting his fellow men to give up. Leonidas shows he is passionate allowing his allies to retreat because he could understand that they were dispirited and did not really want to be in the center of

Xerxes provides action they make the reader tend to not like him as a person. For example the text states, “Xerxes went over the battlefield to view the bodies and learning that Leonidas was the king commander of the Spartans he ordered his head to be cut off an impaled on a stake.” Even when the Persian are trained to respect men with honor, Xerxes still wants this action to be carried out, making him seem like a bad guy. As for Leonidas, he seen as a character that people like. For example, he sent two of his men home because they suffered from an eye disease. Leonidas is a well liked character because he sows he care for his troops. I would say that these characterization would be defined as simple because it is easy to understand that a person who kills people is not a nice guy and that a person who cares about their troops