Leonidas statue in fighting position holding sword and shield

When the Spartan spear was broken at Thermopylae, Leonidas drew his short sword. The ancient sources describe the final moments: weapons shattered, the survivors fighting with daggers, hands, and teeth, until the Persians sealed them in with arrows. The sword pose captures that last unyielding stand, the king who, knowing the prophecy that his death would save Greece, chose to fulfil it rather than retreat.