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The Greek culture at the time of the Persian War, as described by the historian Herodotus, was a rich, developing, and determined one. Upon reading their story, one gets the sense that they thought themselves to be carrying out a sort of divine destiny, one that would not include compromising to the rule of another who would challenge their freedoms. Here men saw themselves not only as ordinary men, but also as indomitable athletes, heroes, and leaders. They felt themselves capable of self-governance, and paid heed to the virtue of humility before their gods. In many ways they defined themselves not by what they were, but by that which they fought to resist. The seeds of democracy as we know it were being realized in their basic forms throughout the Greek peninsula while the Persians, led by Xerxes, planned their invasion from the north. Though speaking with fellow Greeks, debating ways to govern themselves, Sosicles of Corinth nonetheless states: “this is like turning the universe upside-down. Earth and sky will soon be changing places- men will be living in the sea and fish on land, now that you Spartans are proposing to abolish political equality and restore political despotism in the cities.” Athens had only recen