The seeds of democracy as we know it were being realized in their basic forms throughout the Greek peninsula while the Persians, led by Xerxes, planned their invasion from the north. Though speaking with fellow Greeks, debating ways to govern themselves, Sosicles of Corinth nonetheless states: “this is like turning the universe upside-down. Earth and sky will soon be changing places- men will be living in the sea and fish on land, now that you Spartans are proposing to abolish political equality and restore political despotism in the cities.” Athens had only recen

There was throughout this time, always the option of conceding to Persian control, and often times Greek citizens were offered “great rewards” by Xerxes’ underlings. It is clear that men from all over Greece felt they had much more to lose than to gain by surrendering control of their destiny, that the lure of power and riches awarded to them by a man more powerful than themselves only because they suffered him to be, was no match for their desire for freedom. These people drew their strength from a pride in living naturally under the law’s of their god and not an ordinary man. At one point two Spartans, on their way to lose their own lives, in an effort to receive karmic atonement for the Sparta, and to make up for the murder of two of Xerxes messengers, were offered future authority over Greek province, upon alliance with Xerxes. They would not trade, nor later bow to Xerxes’ royalty and yet somehow their lives were spared. [7.136]

The Greek’s won this war out of sheer willpower. Their soldiers were backed into a corner, surrounded on an island by a fleet of ships whose warriors had just occupied their countryside, ransacked and burned their cities. If there was a material link between the Greeks, outside of their universal desire n

Some topics in this essay:
Sosicles Corinth, Persian Fleet, Persian War, Athenian Themistocles, BC Greek, Acropolis Athens, , greek culture,