Leonidas: King of Sparta

Fear was the enemy. But from fear came courage. And from courage came freedom. When the boy rose to face the darkness, he glimpsed phobos, intangible fear, peering back at him. The fear looked at him teasingly, infuriatingly, on the verge of withdrawing itself into its own silent rage. He felt that it was his own disembodied dread making its untimely departure. Deep inside, the boy had already become a man. A dying Xerxes told the tale of Leonidas to a scribe. He was gripped by fear, which gave him the courage to tell his tale in its entirety. In his last moments, he recalled Leonidas' beginning.