The Steps of Thermopylae - Illustration from Views of Greece by Edward Dodwell

The Steps of Thermopylae is an illustration from the collection Views in Greece from Drawings published by Edward Dodwell in 1821.

The Pass of Thermopylae is a place steeped in history and legend, where rugged mountains stand like silent guardians. This narrow passage, the scene of the famous battle between the Greeks and the Persians, embodies the courage and sacrifice of the ancient defenders of freedom.

The literal transcription of the notice accompanying this plate is reproduced below:

This view was drawn while approaching Thermopylae by Locri Hypoknemis. The mountain seen on the left is part of the Knenis, which gave its name to the country through which it passes. Behind Mount Knenis, the eye is attracted by the massive form of Mount Oeta, which is covered with forests and broken into glens and valleys. The sun was then setting behind the mountain, which was enveloped in a celestial blue hue, and cast its long shadows on the smooth surface of the plain of Locri.

The pass or defile of Thermopylae is at the very foot of the mountain. The territory of Thessaly begins at the point where the fertile plain of Trachis is glimpsed, at the foot of the high Trachinian rocks which form this boundary. On the opposite side of the Malian Gulf is the long chain of the Otrys, which forms one of the great branches of the Thessalian mountains. These long points of land which start from the shore of Locri and enter the Malian Gulf are formed by the heaps of silt and sand, which are carried down by the impetuosity of the torrents which descend from the heights of Knenis. The greater part of the plain over which the view extends is neither inhabited nor cultivated; but wherever the hand of industry carries the plowshare and the plow, the soil produces with extraordinary fertility, and the climate is so happily temperate that the crops never suffer from either cold or drought. The streams flowing from the Knenis Mountains hasten vegetation and make the soil richer. The figures passing on the road represent the author's entourage; as the passes of Thermopylae are sometimes infested with bandits, it was necessary to be well prepared.