Genre
Historical Fiction novel.
Setting and Context
The setting of the novel is a war between Persian and Greek army. The Persian army is deployed to Thermopylae which was the only viable gate for the Persians to enter. The story has been written in the context of the infamous battle in Greek mythology between the small Greek forces led by Spartans and Persian army led by king Xerxes.
Narrator and Point of View
Most of the story has been narrated from the point of view of King Xerxes, who was the honorable king of Persian troops.
Tone and Mood
Optimistic, Grave, Pensive.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists in the story are the Spartans who defeated the Persians despite of being lesser in number than the Persian troops.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the story is between the Greek and the Persian armies.
Climax
The climax comes in the story when the Persians had to pass through a narrow gate in order to enter Sparta.
Foreshadowing
The gate of fire foreshadows the death of the Persian army because the whole army could not move across the gate. They had to pass one by one so their defeat became inevitable.
Understatement
The understatement in the novel is that the Spartans defeated the Persian army just because of their faith and self-reliance.
Allusions
There are allusions to the infamous war in Greek mythology. The allusions to Sparta, battle, the narrow gate, Kings and the victory of the Greeks have also been employed by the author.
Imagery
The natural imagery is pertinent in the story. Then there are images of war, death, bloodshed,and the soldiers battling against the soldiers of the opposite side. There are also the images of rulers playing with the lives of soldiers.
Paradox
The paradox in the story is that although there were few Greeks, who were fighting in the battle and the Persian army consisted of millions of soldiers but the 300 Spartans defeated the Persian troops. Another paradox in the book is that king Xerxes asks the physician to do whatever is needed in order to save one of his wounded officers, which is a paradoxical tactic in effective war strategy.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between the victory of Greeks and the defeat of the Persian ary.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
An example of metonymy is the 'soldiers' which stands for all soldiers as human beings irrespective of their country. An example of synecdoche is Battle which represents bloodshed and death.
Personification
The gate of Thermopolylae has been personified in the book.
