Gorgo, Queen of Sparta

The earliest anecdote of her life that he provides in The Histories comes when Aristagoras, seeking allies after the Ionian revolt, came to Sparta to try to convince Cleomenes to invade the Persian Empire.

He cited the "disgrace" suffered by the Ionians in Anatolia and wove further tales of the wealth and resources to be reaped from an empire as vast as Persia.

[6] However, Aristagoras arrived at Cleomenes' home that evening, now offering increasing bribes going as high as 50 talents of silver.

Gorgo, eight or nine years old at this point according to Herodotus, here stepped in and told her father to leave lest Aristagoras' bribes corrupt him.

[9] Because of this physical and mental training, Plutarch attributes an anecdote to Gorgo in which a foreign woman notes, "You Spartan women are the only ones who rule their men."

[11] Despite being the daughter and wife of Spartan kings, Gorgo herself could not be considered a queen, as royal women in Sparta did not typically hold a special role in society.

According to Herodotus's Histories, Demaratus, then in exile at the Persian court, sent a warning to Sparta about Xerxes's pending invasion.

[16] After Pausanias fell into disfavor and was accused of plotting treason, Pleistarchus ruled with the other king of Sparta, Leotychidas II (and then his grandson Archidamus) until his death 459/458 BC.

[19] She makes a minor appearance in the 1998 comic series 300 by Frank Miller, who was heavily inspired by the aforementioned film.