300 movie research paper
Richardson History 26 September Film Analysis The is a spectacular movie designed to provide the viewer with a sense of excitement and anticipation. The movie is loosely based on past events with Sparta and their conflict with Persia, back in BC. And while the movie is founded on a historical event, there are many historical inaccuracies throughout the film. These inaccuracies are created to add depth and new excitement to the movie, but also gives the viewer a false understanding.
Movie Evaluatioin Of 300
The movie has the Spartan soldiers fighting nearly naked without any form of body armor protecting them. Body armor was a valuable asset to the real Spartan soldiers. I wanted these guys to move and I wanted 'em to look good. Spartans, in full regalia, were almost indistinguishable except at a very close angle.
A quick look at the Spartans history reveals that all of the Spartan soldiers had plumes on their helmets. There function was to make the warrior appear taller and more intimidating, while giving him a royal-like appearance. Plumes had very little practical function beyond that.
Historians who study the Spartans history are positive that the battle took place in B. They only argue over whether it happened in August or mid-September of that year. See what the Battle of Thermopylae site looks like today. The Spartans were not as 'good' as the movie portrays them to be. Greeks, including the Spartans, conquered neighboring areas to acquire more land and to build their slave labor force.
Many of the Greek soldiers, who fought with the Spartan elite at the Battle of Thermopylae, were forced to fight because they were slaves. Frank Miller, author of the graphic novel , talked about the nature of the Spartans in an interview, "The Spartans were a paradoxical people. They were the biggest slave owners in Greece. But at the same time, Spartan women had an unusual level of rights. It's a paradox that they were a bunch of people who in many ways were fascist, but they were the bulwark against the fall of democracy.
I didn't want to render Sparta in overly accurate terms, because ultimately I do want you to root for the Spartans. I couldn't show them being quite as cruel as they were. I made them as cruel as I thought a modern audience could stand.
In the movie, we see a government official holding King Leonidas' Gerard Butler newborn son above a cliff. The official is inspecting the newborn to decide if it should be discarded. Greek historian Plutarch 46 A. But if it was puny and deformed, they dispatched it to what was called 'the place of rejection', a precipitous spot by Mount Taygetus, considering it better both for itself and the state that the child should die if right from its birth it was poorly endowed for health or strength.
Conversely, a respectable man who admired someone else's wife noted for her lovely children and her good sense, might gain the husband's permission to sleep with her -- thereby planting in fruitful soil, so to speak, and producing fine children who would be linked to fine ancestors by blood and family.
With impressive art and writing, the graphic novel's story is limited only by one's imagination. As shown in the film, on a young Spartan male's seventh birthday, he would leave home to begin an education and training regime known as the agoge. In addition to separation from one's family, the agoge involved cultivation of loyalty to one's group, loving mentorship, military training, hunting, dance and social preparation.
The literal translation of agoge is 'raising'. The boys lived in groups agelae, herds under an older boy leader. They put their loyalty to their group above their family.
Even after they were married, they would not eat dinner with their wives until they were 25 formal agoge training ended at age Sons of the King were the only males exempt from the agoge.
A Spartan boy's right of passage was not to kill a wolf, it was to sneak out and murder a slave Helot. If you were discovered, then you would be punished severely, not for taking the life of another human being, but rather for getting caught. Murdering a slave was meant to train you in the art of evasion. Perhaps the biggest problem with the movie is that the film leaves the audience believing that the Spartans were the only Greek force to lead an attack against the Persians.
The movie leaves out the decisive amphibious battle that took place in the straits adjacent to Thermopylae, where allied Greek fleets led by Athens held off the Persian fleets. Soon after, this Athenian led fleet saved Greece by destroying the Persian fleet during the Battle of Salamis, which marked the turning point in the war.
Sparta and Athens working together also marked the beginning of Greece as a unified nation, instead of a collection of warring city-states. Prior to these battles, it was originally the Athenians who had asked Leonidas to help them defend against the Persians. The real Persian King Xerxes had a beard and was much shorter. He never went to the front line at the Battle of Thermopylae as his character does in the movie Actor Rodrigo Santoro portrays the 9-foot-tall Xerxes in the film.
Rodrigo, who starred on ABC's Lost , is around 6'2". His height and voice were both altered for the role of the Persian King. Director Zack Snyder talked about Xerxes' exaggerated features in an interview, " He was out of scale of his voice, not that it wasn't commanding. King Leonidas consulted the Oracle at Delphi. Similar to the movie, the Oracle was located in a temple that had been erected over a small chasm.
The Oracle was a woman considered to posses a certain prophetic wisdom, often spiritual in nature. She was consulted prior to all major undertakings such as wars, the founding of colonies, etc. She would usually babble something almost incoherent, and the elders priests would take her word. Like in the movie, she advised the Spartans that a king's death would save Greece.
Some historians believe that this is why King Leonidas decided to stay and fight until death at the Battle of Thermopylae, instead of falling back to regroup. The Persians didn't bring any charging elephants or rhinos to the Battle of Thermopylae.
This was a liberty taken by author Frank Miller and the filmmakers, in order to add to the movie's elements of fantasy. The Persians did use horses in battle, as their army was twenty percent cavalry. However, the real Greek traitor Ephialtes, a local shepard, was most likely not a horribly disfigured hunchback. Graphic novelist Frank Miller chose to alter Ephialtes' appearance in order to emphasize the practice of eugenics that is introduced early in the film.
This is underscored in the movie when Ephialtes Andrew Tiernan tells King Leonidas that his family fled Sparta to avoid having to kill him, as it was Spartan policy to kill babies with birth defects. After Ephialtes requests to fight alongside the Spartans, Leonidas proves to him that his distorted physique prevents him from fitting into a Spartan hoplite battle formation. Rejected, Ephialtes goes to the Persian King Xerxes and informs him of a narrow passage that will lead the Persian soldiers behind the Greek army.
In reality, there is no record of Ephialtes being rejected by the Spartan King Leonidas. Like other Greeks who helped Xerxes, Ephialtes most likely became a traitor out of fear or hope of reward. In the movie, we hear the deep-voiced Xerxes Rodrigo Santoro promise him women and wealth.
The Immortals were Xerxes personal bodyguards. See an ancient rendering of the Immortals. They were an elite fighting unit. In the film, they wear shiny masks to hide their horrific faces, which is an element of fiction created by author Frank Miller.
In reality, the Immortals wrapped their faces in cloth that they could see through. The downfall of the Immortals was that they were lightly armored when compared to the Greek hoplites. Their shields were only made of wicker and were no match for the Spartan weapons. They were called the Immortals because they always maintained a strength of exactly 10, men. Whenever an Immortal was killed or wounded, he was immediately replaced by a new one; thus maintaining the cohesion of the unit.
The movie presents a strong willed Queen Gorgo Lena Headey , who advises her husband on both military and political matters. At one point in the film, a Persian messenger insults the Queen after she offers her input during a political discussion.
The Persian felt that the Queen a woman should not speak on such matters. The film's depiction of the role of Spartan women is accurate. The relative freedom and empowerment of their women helped to further set the Spartans apart from other cultures. The empowerment of Spartan women could be compared to the freedoms of modern day American women versus the restricted roles of many present day Middle Eastern women. This is an element of fiction added by the filmmakers to enhance the role of the Queen in the storyline.
In an Entertainment Weekly interview, author of Frank Miller stated his opposition to this alteration of his graphic novel, "At first I very much disagreed with it. My main comment was, 'This is a boys' movie. Let it be that. But Zack had his reasons. He wanted to show that King Leonidas was fighting for something, by giving him a romantic aspect and by lingering in Sparta a little bit.
Leonidas and Gorgo's father Cleomenes were paternal half-brothers. Greek historian Herodotus mentions her several times in his writings.
When she was only eight or nine-years old, she advises her father to not trust Aristagoras: "Father, you had better go away, or the stranger will corrupt you. She makes a second appearance in Herodotus' Histories when a message from Demaratos reaches Sparta: "When the message reached its destination, no one was able to guess the secret until, as I understand, Cleomenes' daughter, Gorgo, who was the wife of Leonidas, divined it and told the others that, if they scraped the wax off, they would find something written on the wood underneath.
This was done; the message was revealed and read, and afterwards passed on to the other Greeks. He said: 'Marry a good man and bear good children. At least that's what Spartans history tells us. The catchphrases that fill the movie were taken from the writings of the Greek historians Herodotus, Plutarch, and other sources.
True to history quotes from the movie include Leonidas' response on the first day of battle when Xerxes demands that the Greeks surrender their arms. Leonidas replies, "Come and get them. It is also the emblem of the Greek 1st Army Corps. The "we shall fight in the shade" line from the movie is based on a phrase that a Spartan soldier named Dienekes uttered, after he was informed that the Persian arrows would be so numerous as "to blot out the sun".
Read this English Research Paper and over other research documents. Movie Evaluatioin Of A Movie Evaluation Many. Free Essay: The movie is based upon a graphic novel by Frank Miller (of comic book fame). They are both based upon a one of the most famous battles in the.
Many people hear that the movie is a historically inaccurate movie of fantasy and write it off as a bad film. However, the story and its underlying message, the symbolism, and the cinematography makes the greatest movie to ever hit the big screen. The Story and its underlying message of is the first aspect that really catches the viewer. In the forefront, is about the Battle of Themopylae where Spartans take on an army of hundreds of thousands of Persians who take and destroy everything in their path. However, the story is deeper than the battle itself.
In anticipation of the second part of the story about the Spartans, I could not forget to mention the first movie dedicated to this topic, filmed by Zack Snyder in
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument — but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a paper , an article , a pamphlet , and a short story. Essays have traditionally been sub-classified as formal and informal.
300 movie research paper
In: Film and Music. It pits Themistokles against the monstrous striking Persian powers drove by mortal-turned-god Xerxes Rodrigo Santoro , and Artemisia Eva Green , wild force of the Persian oceanic force. After its triumph over Leonidas' , the Persian Army beneath the command of Xerxes walks towards the major city-states of Greek. The Democratic city of Athens, first on the method for Xerxes' furnished power, manufactures its quality regarding its naval force, drove by maritime officer Themistocles. Themistocles is urged to an unwilling association together with the customary rival of Athens, oligarchic Sparta who may live with its overwhelming infantry troops. However Xerxes still guidelines overwhelming in numbers over sea and range.
Essays on 300 Movie
The movie has the Spartan soldiers fighting nearly naked without any form of body armor protecting them. Body armor was a valuable asset to the real Spartan soldiers. I wanted these guys to move and I wanted 'em to look good. Spartans, in full regalia, were almost indistinguishable except at a very close angle. A quick look at the Spartans history reveals that all of the Spartan soldiers had plumes on their helmets. There function was to make the warrior appear taller and more intimidating, while giving him a royal-like appearance. Plumes had very little practical function beyond that. Historians who study the Spartans history are positive that the battle took place in B. They only argue over whether it happened in August or mid-September of that year. See what the Battle of Thermopylae site looks like today.
Sparta is a city in Laconia, on the Peloponnese in Greece. In antiquity, it was a powerful city-state with a famous martial tradition.
I didn't bone up on my ancient Greek history before seeing 's "," nor did I do so before seeing its new followup, " Rise of an Empire. That being the case, though, I was ill-prepared for the fact that "Rise of an Empire," which is not so much a sequel to "" as a companion piece given that it depicts events that happen simultaneously to those depicted in " Or so it seems. And for all that, I didn't get much of a sense of historical narrative from the movie.
History of Ancient Sparta
To browse Academia. Skip to main content. Log In Sign Up. Papers People. Thessaly and Phocis: What Xerxes' Invasion can tell us about the Phocian ethnos in the early fifth century. This paper will be given at the 3rd of June , for the Herodotus Helpline Webinar. Save to Library. Termopilas, La Resistencia de los The Phocian Betrayal at Thermopylae. This article makes three arguments regarding the Battle of Thermopylae. First, that the discovery of the Anopaea path was not dependent upon Ephialtes, but that the Persians were aware of it at their arrival and planned their attacks at First, that the discovery of the Anopaea path was not dependent upon Ephialtes, but that the Persians were aware of it at their arrival and planned their attacks at Thermopylae, Artemisium, and against the Phocians accordingly. And third, that the best explanation for the Phocian behavior is that they were from Delphi and betrayed their allies as part of a bid to restore local control over the sanctuary. Termopile x 3. This article aims at reconsidering the explanations concerning the relatively easiness with which Rome overcame the Hellenistic powers.
300 (2007)
We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. A small boy… frail to the eye, but skilled in his combat, watching the wolf and how it looks at him thirsting for blood. If the boy wishes to return to his people he must utilize all the skills he has learned up into this point. To come back to his people of Sparta as a man is his only wish. He is scarcely dressed, probably cold and tired, but expressions of emotion elude his face. With spear in hand he stalks the wolf as his prey. The boy waits for his perfect moment and takes out his target, honing his fear from deep within and using it to his advantage. Spartans are taught at a young to hone this fear, throughout this is showcased. A messenger sent by Xerxes attempts to present King Leonidas of Sparta with two options: either have to sacrifice the well-being of Sparta or have it burn to the ground.
