Achilles at Thermopylae: A Homeric Allusion in Herodotus

Eric S. Ross (Hendrix College)

Ancient and modern readers alike have noted the resemblance between Homer and Herodotus, fountainheads of their respective genres.  This paper contends that Herodotus reserves his most sustained Homeric imitation for the Battle of Thermopylae, presented as an Iliadic duel.  Herodotus thus portrays Thermopylae as a new epic, imbued with meaning beyond its immediate context.  Indeed, this lofty treatment is striking precisely because it seems disproportionate to the battle’s historical significance.  Of the major battles of the Persian War, only Thermopylae is an unequivocal defeat for the Greek alliance.  Yet few readers would deny that Herodotus renders it a moral victory, and so it captures the imagination like no other campaign in the Histories.  The conversion from massacre to moral victory signals the importance of Thermopylae to Herodotus’ overall vision of the Persian War.  The battle’s thematic significance, which more than compensates for its lack of historical import, is conveyed through sustained Homeric allusion.    

In their final stand at Thermopylae, the Spartans enter battle well aware that victory over the barbarian horde is impossible.  Achilles likewise knows that he is fated to die in the aftermath of his duel with Hector.  Both encounters are motivated by a similar combination of egoism and altruism.  While their quest for honor (kleos) transcends the urge to live, Achilles and the Spartans also fight for their loved ones, whether in grief for Patroclus or in defense of their people.  ‘Doomed combat’ is my term for this type of battle, in which love and honor compel a warrior to face certain death.  The Homeric qualities of the Spartans mitigate the sting of failure, just as Achilles’ heroism is compensation for his mortality.

In presenting Thermopylae as a Homeric duel, Herodotus suggests that it is a microcosm of the entire Persian War.  The showdown between Achilles and Hector pits the best of the Achaeans against the best of the Trojans, and Herodotus likewise frames Thermopylae as a battle between the respective champions of Greece and Persia.  In a conversation with Xerxes, Demaratus describes Spartans as the best men (aristoi) in Greece (Hdt. 7.209.4).  Earlier, Mardonius proclaimed King Xerxes the best (aristos) of the Persians.  Moreover, the duel between Xerxes and the Spartans is a confrontation between antithetic nomoi, a key term in Herodotean ethnography.  According to Xerxes, his decision to invade Greece is based less on individual desire than on the power of precedent.  The Persians have never remained inactive, embarking on one imperialist venture after another, and so his decision to attack Greece reflects inveterate nomos (7.8α.1).  Yet Demaratus warns Xerxes that the Spartans are governed by their own nomos, which forbids retreat (7.104.4-5).  In other words, the Persians’ relentless advance will soon encounter the Spartans’ unyielding resistance.  Xerxes finds the Spartan nomos laughable, however, and this reinforces the notion that the Persian War is a battle between alien cultures.  As a duel between champions, based on the Iliadic model, the Battle of Thermopylae best illustrates this cultural conflict.  In addition, Herodotus’ narrative identifies the qualities that eventually lead to Greek success, though this particular day ends in defeat.