In addition to Homeric phrasing, Herodotus also adapts Homeric episodes and narrative themes in ways that invite the reader to ponder the relationship between the heroic past, the recent past of Greco-Persian conflict, and the postwar experiences of Herodotus’ contemporary audience. Episodes manifesting such intertextuality include the fall of Sardis, where the rapprochement between Cyrus and Croesus recalls that between Achilles and Priam in Iliad 24; the speech delivered by the Corinthian Soclees before Spartan allies, which prevents the re-institution of tyranny in Athens; and above all the narrative of Xerxes’ Greek expedition, which includes his propagandistic visit to Troy and battles with varying degrees of Homeric stylization. Most conspicuous among these is Herodotus’ staging of the fighting at Thermopylae, where Leonidas sacrifices his life to secure kleos for Sparta alone – a goal that evokes both the world of Homeric heroism and a post-Homeric world characterized by fierce inter-polis competition.