Was the self-sacrifice of Leonidas and the Spartans at Thermopylae a consequence of the Spartan educational system?

The Dawn of Ancient Greek Heroism

The unwitting defeat of Leonidas and the thousands of Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae has confounded the minds of many historians and has compelled them to deduce any possible logical explanation

Sparta was a superpower at the time of ancient Greece . The Greek historian Xenophon , stated that it had the greatest power of any Greek community but also one of the smallest populations (Powell , 2001 ,

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The Spartan society was known for its patriotism , and courage in war .1 The way of education

of the society was unique for Sparta , where it emphasized the development of the physique thru compulsory military training for both boys and girls at a very early age .2 This intensely strict mandate has produced the psychology of dying rather than defeat at war .3 The outstanding accomplishment that was born out of this way of living was a supreme military . Sparta seemed unconquerable with a population who would choose death over loss at battle and a military feared by other polis . The strength of heart of the Spartans , however was put to the test during the famous Battle of Thermopylae

King Leonidas lead an army of 4000 to defend the straits of Thermopylae from the attacking Persians . They fought courageously , giving big losses to the army of Persian emperor Xerxes but suffered defeat when a Greek traitor told Xerxes of an alternative trail to attack the Spartans . Upon knowing this treachery , Leonidas sent away most of his army and faced the Persians with the remaining 300 . Leonidas and his army fought with all courage and died as heroes .4

That point of Greek history was arguably Spartan 's finest hour (Caltredge , 2002 ) and became an outstanding source of inspiration to poets and literary figures who tried to immortalize that event . Francois Rene de Chateaubriand (Bernard 2003 ) described the event , thus

I cannot describe the confused feelings which overpowered me . The hill at whose foot I stood was , then , the hill of the citadel of Sparta . I dismounted , and ran all the way up the hill of the citadel . As I reached the top , the sun was rising behind the Menelaian hills . What a beautiful spectacle ! But how melancholy . I stood motionless , in a kind stupor A mixture of admiration and grief checked my steps and my thoughts the silence round me was profound . Wishing , at least , to make echo speak in a spot where the human voice is no longer heard , I shouted with all my might "Leonidas " No ruin repeated this great name , and Sparta herself seemed to have forgotten it (p . 1

Herodotus attributed that courageous decision of Leonidas and his army to die to the fulfillment of the oracle at Delphi , where Sparta would decide to sacrifice its king or to suffer the obliteration of the whole city .5 However , it would be unreasonable to always accept the truth of the oracle since it is only a conjecture , an alternative explanation to the fiasco...