‘300’ was one of the famous movies produced by Warner Bros in 2006 and published in 2007. The content of the movie was about the Battle of Thermopylae (a part of Greco-Persian Wars). The movie described the unequal war between 300 Sparta warriors (under the Commander of King Leonidas I) and 1 million enemies from Persia. The movie was made based on the comic with the purpose of praising the Priceless Freedom and Patriotism.
The timeline of movie was about Leonidas I’s life – the king of Sparta state of Ancient Greece, based on the memoirs of Dilios (a subordinate of Leonidas). In Sparta State, if there was any weak, disabled or sick male infant, he would be killed; and the only strong boys were kept and trained. Leonidas was one of the strongest babies. At the age of 7, he was separated from his family and trained under pressure to be a warrior. Leonidas was taught not to be kind-hearted or tolerant to enemies, and death in the battle field would be the great honors. Before being accepted as a mature warrior, Leonidas was challenged to stay with wolves in winter forest. He was given...
"You Are There- A novel set in ancient Greece revisits a key battle between Sparta and Persia". The New York Times Book Review, Nov. 1, 1998 Pressfield, Steven. Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermpoylae. New York: Doubleday
Good afternoon, I’ve been asked to speak with you about the historical accuracy of recent popular culture incarnations of both Spartan and Persian ideology and in particular I’ve chosen to evaluate Zack Snyder’s 2007, movie 300 in order to demonstrate to you it’s compatibility between ancient sourced depictions of both Spartan and Persian philosophy.
The battle of Thermopylae was the Greek’s first stand against the massive army of King Xerxes, and was the most influential battle of the entire war. Up to this point, the Persian army was seen as too massive and powerful to be stopped. The once warring city-states of Greece knew they couldn’t stand against the Persians alone, and knew in order to defend their homeland they would have to unite. A unity of command was agreed upon; King Leonidas of Sparta was chosen to lead the Greek forces. He was chosen to lead because of the unsurpassed warring abilities the Spartans were so well known for made him perfect for the objective of stopping the Persians.
In 480 BC the Persian Empire was once again trying to invade ancient Greece. Under the reign of King Xerxes, an invincible army of a recorded 2 million was marching downwards to enslave all Greeks. An elite force of three hundred Spartans tackled the suicide mission of stalling the Persian wave of doom.
“A New Historicist article… teases out the many contributing causes that brought about disparate social elements in that way” (Mays, 2352). The movie shows the build-up to the battle of 300 Spartan soldiers against the armies of Persia, albeit in artistic and stylized manner. It covers the tensions and political drama that led to the clashing of men, as well as showing the historical context in which it took place. “..New Historicism doubts the accessibility of the past, insisting that all we have is discourse” (Mays, 2351). 300 doesn’t concern itself with trying to trying to access the past, but puts on an artistic representation of what happened that can be discussed in a modern
Leonidas was respected in Sparta, it was not by his often effective but not morally decisions, it was to resolve an issue when he felt that somebody or something was trying to hurt Sparta. Leonidas was expected to put an end with some abnormal answer. The training, the form i...
Thank you Viola for your detailed comments about the HUAC committee activities that created a devastating situation for the film industry. The issue with communistic events indeed interfered with the lives of many and destroyed the careers of actors, especially those who firmly refused to cooperate with that committee. The film Spartacus is one of the most successful films in the history of Universal Studios not only in terms of box office appeal, but it also received six Oscar nominations and was accredited for breaking the Hollywood blacklist. This film was based on Howard Fast's novel, which narrates the story of professionals who refused to collaborate with HUAC committee officials.
Stanley Kubick's Spartacus In the 1960 film Spartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick, the character called Spartacus is depicted as a revolutionary who leads an army of slaves against the oppressive forces of Rome during the first century B.C. Though the overall story is true, and most of the main characters are real, the presentation of their character is entirely fictional. Spartacus and the other characters have been split into groups epitomizing good and evil, and the story itself has been vastly romanticized. This essay will address the ways in which the story deviates from reality and finally will show how Kubrick and those before him have used such interpretations as a valuable tool for social change.
Sparta was a strict military city-state. The people were Dorians who conquered Laconia. This region lies in the Peloponnesus, which lied in southern Greece. The invaders turned the conquered people into state owned slaves, called helots. Since the helots greatly outnumbered their rulers, Spartans established a strict and brutal system of control. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who advised the monarchs. An assembly made up of all citizens approved all major decisions. From child-hood, a Spartan prepared to be part of the military. All newborn were examined and the healthy lived and the sickly were left to die. Spartans wanted future soldiers or mothers of soldiers to be healthy. At the age of seven, boys trained for a lifetime in the Spartan military. They moved to the barracks and endured brutal and extensive training.
The Battle of Thermopylae began in 480 BC and was a product of the Greeks attempt help defend the Ionians from the Persians. This irritated the Persian Emperor, Xerxes, because he thought of Greece as a small kingdom that had no place revolting against the Persian Empire. The Athenians sympathized with the Ionians because the Persians had also tried to invade Greece on multiple occasions. The Athenians provided feeble help to the Ionians and in retaliation the Persians struck at athens (23B). Xerxes was known to be irrational with his temper, and may have thought of his invasion as retaliation for the fact that his father, Darius the Great, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon against the Greeks. His temper was so great that at Hellas Point he had the water whipped because it would not obey him (E49). One of several Greek war leaders in the Battle of Thermopylae was Leonidas, the second born son of King Anaxandridas. It was not until his half brother was killed under controversial circumstances that Leonidas rose to power (G72). Apart from misconceptions spread by the popular film “300,” the three hundred Spartans did not go into battle alone, and were accompanied by over eight hundred allies. Nevertheless, the Persians still outnumbered the Greeks ten to one, which is why it is incredible that the Greeks were able to hold them for three days before eventually losing that specific battle. Despite losing the battle in terms of soldiers and defending greece, the battle of thermopylae was somewhat successful in that it was a demonstration of the courage of greek soldiers, impressive battle tactics,
The book The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss is an in depth look at one of Roman history’s most legendary events, the gladiator revolt led by Spartacus. Spartacus has become a legend, creating a storyline that has inspired many movies and television shows, such as Stanley Kubrick’s epic Spartacus in 1960, starring the legendary Kirk Douglas. Spartacus has inspired a perfect mix of men over time with various backgrounds and beliefs, from Stalin and Marx, to Voltaire, and even to Ronald Reagan. How though, did Spartacus create a massive revolt of slaves that would create a massive problem for the mighty Rome? Strauss attempts to create a chronology of the Spartacus War using his vast knowledge of the Italian landscape, ancient documents, and archaeological evidence, as well as provide the reader with the historical reasons that might have created a perfect combination of causes to create the Spartacus legend.
...litary end even the women in Sparta would have been affected by the military ways of life almost as much as the young men. From childhood they were being primed to raise a family, they were taught in the ways of mid wifery, learning the correct manner in teaching the future young men of Sparta and keeping themselves fit to produce fit children.
It is true that 300, though it has captured the concept of its graphic novel, and has additional scenes that we could say is for cinematic purpose and isn’t simply ‘a rehash ‘.To a certain degree it challenges the criticism made by “French Director Alain Resnais when he stated in the 1990, “Till today I haven’t seen a cinematographic adaptation of a comic, which seems to add something to the original work, they have always been rehashes” (Thomas 247; Pascal Lefevre, 2007, 1) To explain further the movie 300 represents at least 90% of the graphic novel, perhaps not in chronological manner of the graphic novel, for example in the graphic novel the upbringing and initiation of King Leonidas spreads throughout the five chapters unlike the movie the events is presented in the beginning to the audience. Despite the success of 300 there is the matter of a few downsides when it comes to adaptation, in this case a graphic novel, to cinema; I will discuss and make comparison of the scenes, both the film and novel, from where the Persian main messenger talks with King Leonidas to their deaths in Sparta.
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Spartan was trained to be physically and mentally fit for war.
While girls were training mainly in order to become efficient "baby factories”(Brand, n.d., p.7). Boys began tough training known as "agoge”. The aim of it was to train boys to withstand harsh weather condition, lack of food and train sneak skills of the one. Every year only one coat was given to wear during it nevertheless of season. Practically minimum of food was given to them, so they were constantly living in the state of malnutrition. Accordingly to Brand, in order to survive they were encouraged to steal a food but if they have been caught severe punishment was applied, not for the fact of stealing, but because of being found (n.d., p.6). Such acts has given the birth of stories which were told for children. One of those stories was about the spartan boy who captured a live fox. In order to not be exposed to passing soldier he hid it under his coat allowing fox to bite his stomach and showed no sign of pain in his body or face ("The Spartan Family”,