History vs. Hollywood paper on the movie 300
The movie “300,” directed by zack Snyder, is one of the fascinating films that pays significant attention to the history as it is based on actual events believed to have taken place in the B.C era. The 2006 fictional action movie 300 and fought 400 B.C is one and plays a critical role in understanding and appreciating history. The film majorly focuses on the battle of Thermopylae, one of an essential battle in the Greco-Persian era, which occurred during the second invasion of Persians into Greece. The war has gone down in history to be one of the most heroic feats of bravery to have occurred ion any war(Snyder, Johnstad, and Gordon, 2007). The movie portrays pivotal the happening that took place many years ago, and although many people may see the film as a myth, it sheds light on the Persian war. Although the film is somewhat fiction and bears only imprecise resemblance to the historical events, many people may hold contrary opinions on its historical accuracy.
The movie 300 is based on a true story and is centered on one of the great battles of Thermopylae, and it rotates around the great victory of some brave warriors. The film is majorly rooted in the invasion of King Xerxes of Persian into Greece, with a large number of army aiming to extend his territory. Even though the film pays significant attention to events that occurred during the war, numerous historical inaccuracies are evident in the movie.
In most cases, entertainment and history always cross as life is much exciting and stranger compared to fiction. The movie 300 combines history with entertainment by portraying the events that took place during the battle of Thermopylae after the Persian invasion(Snyder, Johnstad, and Gordon, 2007). The Persians are believed to have been amazing warriors as portrayed by movies even though most of the events in the film show significant differences. Most of the events depicted in the Snyder movie are accurate and sheds light on what transpired during the war. The Persian invasion and the battle of the Thermopylae are believed to have erupted in the 546 BCE after the Persians have conquered the Lydia and its subject states. The Persians imposed taxes on all citizens and were forced to serve the Persian army. This sparked rebellion as the Persians had caused significant suffering to their subjects.
The movie portrays some of the actual events in line with Persian history. In the Spartan culture, young boys were allowed to leave home at the age of seven for warrior training referred to as agoge. The agoge was believed to give children a sense of belonging, as shown in the movie. The Spartans babies were inspected at birth to check for any defect, and this is evident in the film. According to Plutarch, “If after examination the baby proved well-built and sturdy they [the state] instructed the father to bring it up, and assigned it one of the 9,000 lots of land. 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”(Brackin, 2007)
The movie contains numerous incidents of historical inaccuracies beginning from Sparta’s political system as the film portrays the members of the Spartan senate as unpleasant monsters. The author presents the Spartans fighting half-naked, which is contrary to the culture of the Persian soldiers. The Spartan warriors wore heavy red garments made form iron, and this was believed to hurt the opponent. Another evident inaccuracy in the movie is portraying it as fiction rather than a reality. The film shows Xerxes sending Leonidas messenger, demanding him to surrender. However, this is a fallacy as Leonidas never committed murder. According to Herodotus, this had happened in the past; therefore, Xerxes never sent and messenger asking the Spartans to surrender.
The Spartans were good people as the movie portrays them to be as they conquered their neighbors to acquire land and acquire cheap labor force from slaves. Most of the soldiers who take part in the war were forced to fight as they were slaves. Another inaccuracy is showing the king Xerxes to be leading the war while in the history of the Persian war, he never leads any war. The movie also portrays the 300 soldiers as irredeemable evil, but historically they were known to be merciful conquerors compared to the people(Murray, 2007). Another inaccuracy in the 300 films is portraying the Spartans as atheists, although they believed in the existence of gods. According to Greek writer, Herodotos Leonidas believed in gods as he occasionally offered sacrifices before going to any war. The idea of the 300 films showing the 300 hundred Spartans at Thermopylae as Leonidas’s bodyguards are wrong as the king had only one hundred bodyguards.
In conclusion, the movie 300 links well with history, even though there are significant historical inaccuracies. Most of the events that take place in the film deviate significantly from the real events during the Thermopylae battle. The movie portrays king Leonidas to have uttered the catchphrase, “tonight we dine in hell” during the war.Snyder did excellent work in bringing the history of the Spartans and Persian into the light.
References
Murray, G. N. (2007). Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, and Herodotus: Three Takes on the 300 Spartans. Akroterion, 52(1), 11-35.
Brackin, J. (2007). Historical Inaccuracies of the Movie: 300.
Snyder, Z., Johnstad, K., & Gordon, M. B. (2007). 300 [Film]. USA: Warner Bros. Entertainment.