e channel between the island and the mainland, which is so narrow that
a very few ships could stop the way of a whole fleet. However, just as
they were within shelter, a terrible storm arose, which broke up and
wrecked a great number of Persian ships, though the number that were left
still was far beyond that of the Greeks. On two days the Greeks ventured
out, and always gained the victory over such ships as they encountered,
but were so much damaged themselves, without destroying anything like the
whole fleet, that such fighting was hopeless work.

In the meantime Xerxes, with his monstrous land army, was marching on,
and the only place where it seemed to the council at the Isthmus that he
could be met and stopped was at a place in Thessaly, where the mountains
of OEta rose up like a steep wall, leaving no opening but towards the
sea, where a narrow road wound round the foot of the cliff, and between
it and the sea was a marsh that men and horses could never cross. The
springs that made this bog were hot, so that it was called Thermopylae,
or the Hot Gates.

The council at the Isthmus determined to send an army to stop the enemy
there, if possible. There were 300 Spartans, and various troops from
other cities, all under the command of one of the Spartan kings,
Leonidas, who had married Gorgo, the girl whose word had kept her father
faithful. They built up a stone wall in front of them, and waited for
the enemy, and by-and-by the Persians came, spreading over an immense
space in the rear, but in this narrow road only a few could fight at
once, so that numbers were of little use. Xerxes sent to desire the
Spartans to give up their arms. Leonidas only answered, "Come and take
them." The Persian messenger reported that the Greeks were sitting on
the wall combing their hair, while others were playing at warlike games.
Xerxes thought they were mad, but a traitor Spartan whom he had in his
camp said it was always the fashion of his countrymen before any very
perilous battle. Xerxes made so sure of victory over such a handful of
men, that he bade his captains bring them all alive to him; but day after
day his best troops fell beaten back from the wall, and hardly a Greek
was slain.

[Picture: Pass of Thermopylae]

But, alas! there was a mountain path through the chestnut woods above.
Leonidas had put a guard of Phocian soldiers to watch it, and the
Persians did not know of it till a wretch, fo