Fate, pre-destination and the mindset of the Greek hoplite in battle

[Extract] One of the factors which has greatly contributed to the success or failure of any military operation, in the ancient world or the modern, has been the morale of the individual combatant. Without the willingness of soldiers to engage in the fighting, any military action simply cannot take place. Furthermore, history has shown that, when the occasion has called for it, the willingness of a solider to stand his ground amidst the carnage of combat is one of the things that has dictated the outcome of an engagement. Such willingness to maintain their position was essential to the warfare of the ancient Greeks, whose primary mode of offensive action was the employment of groups of men arranged in the ranks and files of phalanx. Many different socio-political aspects of the ancient Greek hoplite's home city-state combined to influence his morale in battle. Some of these were specific to that city-state, while others had a broader sphere of influence. Despite the numerous influences placed on the ancient Greek hoplite in battle, the one socio-political aspect that almost all hoplites would have been influenced by would have been religion.