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Greek News
a biannual account of current Greek affairs:Summer Edition
By:Carly Ross and Sami Kearney
War Continues at
Thermopylae
fought when there was little hope for
their lives. They fought to defend and
preserve our amazing Greek culture.
Many even fought to their deaths so
our culture could survive. They will always be remembered.
http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/
story/sto_set.html
Spartan 300
become heroes
at the Battle of
Thermopylae
warriors at Thermopylae
Brave Greek
Attempt to Hold
off Persians
The Persians were advancing quickly to
attack Athens. About 100,000-150,000
Persians were on their way into Greece
when less than 7,000 Greeks met the
Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae.
The extremely outnumbered Greeks
were led by 300 Spartans. They bravely
fought the Persians for three days. The
Greeks stood at the smallest portion of
the pass of Thermopylae waiting for
the Persians to advance. Greeks
blocked the path, so the Persians were
forced to stop and fight. The Greek’s
main goal was not to defeat the Persian; they understood that goal was almost impossible to achieve. Instead,
their mission was to slow and wound
the Persian army enough that the rest
of the Greeks could better prepare. The
Greek army was incredibly successful
in the beginning because the terrain
helped. It forced the Persians to be funneled through the small pass and took
away their main advantage, a large
army. They battled for a total of three
days.
After the second day of battle, a local
resident betrayed the Greeks and informed the Persians of a small path
that lead behind the Greeks. Part of the
Persian army circled around the Greeks
using this path. When the leader of the
Greek army and a king of Sparta,
Leonidas, heard this news he dismissed much of the Greek army. He,
along with 300 Spartans and about 700
other Greeks stayed and fought. They
were circled and fought extremely
bravely until the end. When their spear
broke, they began to use their their
short swords. When those broke, they
continued to fight with their hands and
teeth. All Spartans were killed along
with many of the rest.
The Greek warriors who fought at Thermopylae deserve great respect. They
The Spartan 300 were the courageous
warriors of the Greek army at Thermopylae who led the charge to prevent
the Persians from progressing further
into Greece. These 300 men were all
soldiers from the city-state of Sparta,
where they were all trained for many
years in fighting and war. Spartans,
Athenians, and other citizens are
somewhat surprised at Sparta’s and
Athens’s alliance in light of their troubled history with each other.
A select group of 300 Spartan soldiers
led the Greek army of 7,000 in a laststand effort against the massive Persian army. The Persians were trying to
continue deeper into their invasion of
Greece but ran into an obstacle when
they met the Greek army, led by the
Spartan 300, at the narrow pass of
Thermopylae.
The Spartans are famous throughout
all of Greece for their intense military
discipline and extreme fighting tactics.
The entire Spartan way of life is based
on military training starting at a very
early age. Because of that, these Spartan soldiers at the Battle of Thermopy-
lae are seasoned professionals. War,
fighting, and violence is nothing new to
them.
Unfortunately, the Greek army could
not contain the Persians forever and a
large portion of the Greeks, including
the Spartan 300, were eventually completely annihilated by Xerxes’s Persian
army. A witness of this bloody event
claims that “the Greeks, especially the
Spartans, gave their lives heroically
knowing that they most likely didn’t
have a chance of living through it.” The
Spartans, in a way, achieved their goal
in life. The common honorable
achievement in that city-state is to die
protecting your city, which is exactly
what those 300 brave men did. Not
only did they die protecting their city,
but their entire country of Greece as
well. The Spartan 300 will go down in
history as heroes of the Persian war, regardless of what the outcome ends up
being.
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Olympic Update
Olympics still on
despite raging
Persian War
Despite recent chaotic events concerning the current Persian War, the
Olympics are still underway here in
Greece. After the crushing defeat at the
Battle of Thermopylae, many people
expected the Greek Olympics to be
canceled or even postponed. However,
not much can stop these phenomenal
and dedicated Greek athletes. It would
certainly take a lot for these games to
be shut down!
One of the most highly anticipated
events coming up in the Olympic
schedule is the Pentathlon set to begin
next Wednesday. The Pentathlon event
includes running, jumping, and the discus throw. All eyes will be on runner
Astylos of Croton, competing in this
year’s games as a citizen of Syracuse.
Continuing this year’s Olympic Games
throughout the Persian War shows the
courage and perseverance of the Greek
people. Hopefully we can keep the fallen soldiers who recently lost their lives
at the Battle of Thermopylae in our
thoughts as we enjoy the rest of the
glorious Olympic games.
Astylos will Race
The Olympics have begun! The most
anticipated event has been the running
of Astylos of Croton. He will be racing
tomorrow morning. Make sure you
don’t miss it!
Astylos is originally from Croton which
is located in Southern Italy. This year,
in the games, he is competing as a
Syracusan citizen, as he did in the last
games also. He has competed in the
past two Olympics games in 488 B.C.
and 484. B.C. In the past games he won
both the stade and the diaulos. The
stade is the fastest and shortest race in
the games. It is 200 yards that is ran in
the center of the stadium. The diaulos
is two stades. Runners run 200 yards to
the opposite end of the field. They then
turn around posts and run back to
Another more prestigious event that
took place earlier this week was the
chariot races. This event is exclusive to
people wealthy enough to afford a
chariot as well as keep their own horses. This year, Kyniska of Sparta broke
tradition by becoming the first woman
to be listed as an Olympic victor. Last
week had quite the eventful games,
and hopefully that excitement will continue throughout the duration of the
Olympics despite the ongoing vicious
Persian War.
starting line for a total of 400 yards.
The diaulos requires much skill because of the need to to turn gracefully
and quickly around the post.
Astylos is an extremely talented runner.
He is expected to win both these
events again this year. Don’t miss these
wonderful event. Go out to the stadium
and see the Olympic Games
http://www.fhw.gr/olympics/ancient/
en/206g.html
chariot races
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Letters to the
Editor
Dear Editor,
I am a 25 year old Athenian citizen and
am perfectly capable of fighting in the
Greek army, but I refuse to. Sure, I hate
the Persians and I don’t want to be invaded, but I just can’t allow myself to
be allies with those Spartans. Only a
few years ago, before this war began,
the Athenians and the Spartans were at
each other’s throats, on the verge of a
civil war themselves. Now that the Persians are coming, we are all just supposed to get along like we are actually
a unified nation? The citizens of Athens
and Sparta have no business fighting
alongside each other. Everyone knows
that all Sparta is good for is killing people. Here in Athens we actually have a
higher purpose in life: education, philosophy, and arts. I, for one, just don’t
see the benefit of forming an alliance
with a former enemy who stands for
completely opposite causes than we
do. I say if we are going to fight in a war
with anyone, it should be an Athens vs
Sparta showdown! Now that is a battle
I would fight in. I think Greece needs to
pull out of this Persian war before we
get in over our heads. The Spartans
and Athenians should not be fighting
anyone but each other.
I have watched my friends and family
go off to war in the Greek army. Whenever people ask me why I’m still not
fighting, I just say that I’m not interested in protecting anything except
Athens. Where are people’s patriotism
these days? There just is not enough
loyalty to city-states. In my opinion,
the city-states should just break off
into their own countries. I can honestly
say that I feel more loyalty for Athens
than I do Greece. I am definitely not a
supporter of this Persian War.
Sincerely,
Xenokrates, a proud citizen of Athens
Dear Editor,
This war with Persia is talking a huge
toll on our lives. We need more people
that are willing to fight. I am a young
woman from Sparta and I take extreme
pride in my city-state and what we accomplish. We have many soldiers in
this war; almost all of our men! Other
city-states have miniature amounts of
soldiers compared to us. They need to
step up and help fight this war! Yes, us
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Spartans are by far the best fighters in
all of Greece, but we still need help. Every city-state needs to put up just as
many soldiers as Sparta does. Maybe
even more because they are considerably less skilled. If not, the whole nation of Greece could fall to the
Persians. Would you really want to be
ruled by the Persians? All that you have
to do is prevent that is join with us and
fight! I understand you do not like us
Spartans because you say we are brutal, vicious, and war hungry. News
flash! We are get things done and in the
end we will be the ones who save
Greece. If you let Greece fall to the Persians because you chose not to team
up with the Spartans, shame on you.
This is bigger than the individual citystates. We must come together to defeat Persia. I hope to see a huge rise in
soldiers because we must defeat
Persia!
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Soldiers are needed to fight in the Persian War. Fight for your city-state and
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Be a hero!
Sincerely,
Hera, a proud citizen of Sparta
If not, Greece may be destroyed.
Custom Pottery
Help Wanted
Custom, home made pottery for sale.
Jobs needed as ship and home
builders, blacksmiths, carpenters, and
masons.
To buy, please see Delia.
Please see Apollo for more
information.
Weather
The weather recently has been quite
wonderful! It seems that it will continue throughout the rest of the Olympics.
Zeus has given us beautiful weather
because of our great Olympic games in
honor of him!
Before the games began, Poseidon
brought a small sea storm. This caused
some problems with sea travelers arriving for the Olympics. However, the
storm was tiny and ended after about a
day. This storm brought in cooler temperatures and wonderful breezes for a
great climate during the games. Looks
like Zeus was looking out for us after
all!
The average weather for the week, so
far, has been 76. The temperature is
predicted to rise slightly within the
next few days, but continue to expect
clear skies. This will be perfect weather
for the rest of the Olympics and our
soldiers at war with Persia!
Traders Needed
Local and international trading available.
Fresh Seafood
Trade pottery, gold, precious jewels,
and much more.
Fresh seafood is available every day in
the agora.
Shrimp, fish, and many other varieties
available. Price and type of seafood
varies.
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