In 480BC the messengers were sent
To ask the Greek lands to surrender
The Persian king Xerxes had raised a massive force
With which he would conquer all

King Leonidas felt his anger boil
As he spoke for everyone in his land
He would not bow down to any foreign king
Then he threw them down a pit into death's awaiting hand

The king of Sparta gathered hundreds of his men
And led them to Thermopylae
To the one pass Xexes would traverse
Narrow passage between mountain and sea

Xerxes' army there soon faced the Grecian force
But this advantage was undone by the pass
The Greek defenders destroyed them as they came
Each advancing Persian group was cut down to the last
To the last

Victory seemed close at hand

For two days the Greeks succeeded holding their foes at bay
Their fortunes did not last long, that night they were betrayed
A Thessalian named Ephialtes showed Xerxes a different path
Persians would soon surround them, ending their bloodbath

The Grecian armies were far outnumbered
King Leonidas saw only one chance
He sent back most of his brethren
There he would make his final stand

The Spartan King's plan proved a success
He gave the Greeks the time they would need
With generator force they returned once more
In northern Greece the Persians would bleed