300

[jonessoda]

Originally posted by: Jeeebus
and this movie is better than <insert random army in leather armor swordplay film here> because? So, they added some nifty new special effects. I don't see anyone telling me how this is better/different than Gladiator or "300" other similarly situated movies.

It's a fantasy adaptation of the Battle of Thermopylae, one of the most well-known battles of the ancient world, as well as an excellent demonstration of the legendary bravery and strength of the 300 Spartans of Leonidas.

The 300 Spartans were the hand-picked, best-of-the-best, sire-only unit of the Spartan army at the time. They'd all already had sons (hence, sire-only), so they were sent as a sort of suicide unit for the purpose of slowing down the Persian advance.

Xerxes I, leader of the Persian army and emperor of Persia, sent a message to Leonidas, king of the Spartans, asking him to surrender and offering him kingship of Greece. Leonidas refused, stating he'd rather die for Greece than be king over his compatriots. Xerxes then sent a message ordering him to have his troops surrender their arms. Leonidas' reply to this is very famous: ????? ?aß?, "come and take them;" in other words, the Greeks would perfer to die fighting than to surrender.

Some time into the battle, Leonidas dismissed all but the Spartans and Thebans, because he came to realize it would be a futile battle there, but he needed to slow the Persian advance. About 700 Thespians, led by Demophilus, refused to leave.

Some say the Thespians' dedication was of more significance than that of the Spartans; the Spartans were trained, professional soldiers, trained since birth, whereas the Thespians were citizen-soldiers, still ready to give their lives.

At the last stand of the Greeks at Thermopylae, as the numbers began to dwindle, the Thebans surrendered to the Persians, while the Spartans and Thespians continued to fight. As their spears broke, they switched to short swords; when those broke or were lost, they fought by hand. Many, many Persians died, including two of Xerxes' brothers. Leonidas was struck down, and instead of surrendering, the Spartans fought to defend his body until the last of them were killed (finally by arrow, since Xerxes didn't want to risk any more men).

In a rage, Leonidas' corpse was decapitated and crucified, which was a terrible act to both Greeks and Persians; Xerxes was said to regret this for years. Estimates of the Persian dead range from 20,000 to 50,000, killed by roughly 6,000 Greeks (1,000 at the last stand, where most of the Persians died).

So, the reason it's considered to be a good movie is that it's one of the few that goes into the Battle of Thermopylae, one of the most epic battles ever, showcasing the power of the dedication of a few against many.

 

[Vegitto]

WTF! I'm so going to get that! I translated the ancient texts concerning Xerxes and his crazy actions :laugh:.. Whipping the river, damn..

Wait, don't take it from me, here's a direct translation (I translated this ):

When Xerxes has heard of this disaster, he, being very outraged, ordered that the Hellespont be given 300 lashes with the whips.
Those that were ordered to do this, were ordered to say the following, godless words:
"Bitter water, our ruler punishes you in this way, because you were unjust to him, while he has done no unjust thing to you.
And king Xerxes will cross you, whether you allow it or not: not one of these men honours you in a righteous way by giving you sacrifices, because you are a filthy and salty river."
And he ordered the sea to be punished in this way, and that the heads of the watchmen (those who had watched the bridge be built) be taken.
And when the other bridges were ready, Xerxes moved to Abydos.
Having arrived there, he wanted to see his whole army.
Sitting on a hill on a seat of white stone and looking down upon the beaches, he saw the infantry as did he the ships en seeing this, he longed to see a match between these ships.
When this happened, and the Phonicians won, he longed to see battle.
When he saw that the whole Hellespont was hidden by ships, and all of the coasts and hills were filled with people, he thought of himself a lucky man and cried.

It's still kind of unkown why he cried. It was because he knew that almost all of these men would die. We don't know if he cried because he was happy they would die, or because he was sad.