“Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.”
Source: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
Quotes from work
Gates of Fire
Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a perioikoi born in Astakos, and one of only three Greek survivors of the battle.
“As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.”
Source: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
“He who whets his steel, whets his courage”
Source: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
“The opposite of fear," Dienekes said, "is love.”
Source: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
“You have never tasted freedom friend, or you would know it is purchased not with gold, but steel.”
Dienekes p. 60
Gates of Fire (1998)
Source: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
Source: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
“Do you love your country? […] This man, with his life, has preserved it. Bear him with honor.”
Orontes (Handing over Xeones' corpse to Athenian civilians) p. 430
Gates of Fire (1998)
Polynikes p. 405
Gates of Fire (1998)
“If you think this is funny, wait 'till you get into combat. You'll think that's hysterical!”
Polynikes p. 80
Gates of Fire (1998)
