How did the Greeks defeat the Trojans?

Answer 1

After nine years of war the Trojan campaign had reached a deadly stalemate. The greatest of the Trojan heroes - Hector - was dead, but so was the Greeks' greatest warrior - Achilles.

One morning the Trojans looked out over the walls of the city and saw that the Greek fleet had sailed home. On the beach in front of Troy was a vast wooden horse. After some discussion the Trojans decided that the horse must be a magical talisman to protect the Greek fleet on its way home. The trojans pulled the horse inside their city walls.

The Greek fleet had not sailed home, it had berthed around the headland in Tenedos - waiting in ambush.

The wooden horse was hollow. That night the picked Greek warriors hiding inside it let themselves out, opened the city gates, and let in the Greek army which had sailed back onto the headland during the night.

The full story of the fall of Troy is told in Book II of Vergil's Aeneid.

Answer 2

Sparta's king, Leonides provided leadership to the Greek army present, and his bodyguard provided a core fighting force in the 5,000 soldiers from the other cities.

And when the position was evacuated, the Spartan contingent sacrificed themselves by hanging on to let the other city contingents gat away and get inside friendly city walls before the Persian cavalry broke through and overwhelmed them.

Answer 3

To hold the pass to precipitate a naval battle in the adjacent strait at Artemesion.

They lost the sea battle, withdrew from the pass and refought the sea battle successfully at Salamis.

it was important to destroy the Persian fleet at it both threatened the Greek cities which therefore kept their armies in defence at home, and also protected the Persian sea supply line.

Withe the fleet destroyed half the Persian army was sent home because it could not be supported in such a poor country as Greece, and the following year the Greek armies, their cities no longer threatened from the sea, were able to concentrate their armies at Plataia and defeat the depleted Persian army.

Answer 4

There were approximately 7,000 Greek combatants engaged with the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae . Ancient historians such as Herodotus and Pausanias give different numbers but 7 thousand is an average estimate .

Answer 5

The Spartans, alongside other Greeks were able to hold the Persians by fighting in the narrow pass of Thermopylae with the sea on one side and cliffs on the other. They were able to withstand the Persian assault for three days as the Pass was only wide enough to allow a few men to face each other at once, as well as the heavier Greek armour and better weapons, and Persia's lack of familiarity fighting infantry in a Phalanx. At sea the Athenian general Themistocles fought the battle of Artemisium and kept Persian's from outflanking the Spartans by sea.

Another View:

The purpose of holding the pass was to force a sea battle to defeat the Persian fleet ans so remove the threat to the southern Greek cities which kept their armies at home to defend against an amphibious attack (including Sparta - the Spartan contribution at Thermopylai was Leonidas' personal bodyguard). If the Persian fleet could be destroyed this threat would disappear, and the Greek city-state armies could come out to battle the Persian army.

So the central Greek cities sent contingents to help hold the pass - about 5,000 warriors. When the sea battle failed, there was no point in holding the pass, and Leonidas sent the contingents off to seek protection in friendly city walls. He held the pass with his Spartan 300 heavy infantry and their 2,000 light infantry to allow them to get away before the Persian cavalry broke through and rode them down in open country.

A noble sacrifice for others, not the mindless fight to the death which is so often presented as.

Answer 6

There was no Thermopylai war.

The fight at Thermopylai was a brief Greek delaying action during the Persian invasion of mainland Greece in 480 BCE.

Answer 7

Phalanx.

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