God Tier huh? Remember the movie “300”? If you don’t, it’s about King Leonidas of Sparta and his army of 300 spartans who defend all of Greece from the Persian Empire and army of 1,000,000. Yes, three hundred against one million. Well, that movie was based off of an actual event, The Battle of Thermopylae, located on the Greek coast in Thermopylae at a place nicknamed “The Hot Gates”. In actuality, this was a week long battle between 7,000 or so Greeks and somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 Persians. Now you may be thinking this: “How is this god tier, and how did they confuse 300 with 7,000?”
Well, during this battle, Ephialtes, a Greek man, betrayed his country and told the Persians of a path behind the Greek armies, which would have led them to defeat. All the Greek forces left to defend the cities. However, Leonidas and his 300, along with a number of Thespians (not actors, but warriors from Thespiae), were left to defend the Persian Empire. Leonidas’ men were decimating, but not without leaving a scar on the Persian army.
Again, you’re probably thinking this: “How is this god tier and how is this relevant to me?” Well, for starters, Leonidas and his armies were incredibly strong and the mythos behind King Leonidas is that he is a direct descendant of the Greek God and Hero Heracles, which is why Leonidas possesses great strength.
How exactly is this relevant to me? Well, about a year ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Greece, and the professor we were with decided to take a little pit stop. Where you might ask? At The Hot Gates. Where ancient myth and history collide. The entrance to Hades’ underworld, the location where the sea turned red with blood.
Our professor explained where we stood; there was a steady few inches of water year round during the time of Leonidas, and rumor had it that after the Battle of Thermopylae, it ran red with blood. Now, the sea has retreated and it’s a lowland under a mountain. Let me tell you, boy does it stink (Hot sulfur springs). I’ve included some pictures of The Hot Gates and a few sunset pictures of Mt. Olympus, cuz God Tier and all.
