by Glendon Hubner

Created on: September 09, 2007   Last Updated: January 24, 2012

The movie '300' is both a good movie and a bad movie, depending on the perspective from which it is judged. This statement, in fact, reflects my own mixed feelings after watching it. I must admit I was titillated by the relentless violence of the film, but then again as an historian I was appalled at the misuse of historical fact to suit a political purpose.

One cannot deny that the film is rich, graphically speaking. Most two-bit psuedo-historical dramas churned out by Hollywood are graphically rich. Troy and Alexander are good examples of this fact. The violence was exhillarating, blood flowed in rivers, there was a wall made out of slain Persian warriors and the Persian soldiers were, shall we say, exotic. To someone who just goes to the cinema to be entertained by violence and freakshows this movie was, as I said before, a good movie. It has everything Hollywood considers needs to be added to historical fact to make a 'good story' - good guys need to be made into incorruptible, unblemished paragons of virtue, there needs to be a sexy woman to act as a love interest, a woman who is vulnerable but also (in relection of changing attitudes towards gender in our civilisation) able to advocate for herself and act independently of the male hero. Also, bad guys who are so bad as to be visually disgusting (as if we didn't know that they were bad, Hollywood makes it obvious for us), and there we have the formula for success. So, yes, from this perspective the move was a good one, as such movies go.

I could not help but be somewhat anxious at the version of events being presented to those who have not the inclination to research the history of the Persian Wars. There was no evidence to suggest that the Spartan Ephors were corrupt and in league with the Persians. Nor is there notable evidence to suggest that the Spartans were reluctant to send troops to engage to Persians north of the Isthmus of Corinth. A sizable Greek force had already been deployed north of Thermopylae, at another chokepoint, the valley of Tempe. This force was bypassed by the Persians by means of the navy, a manouvere which prompted the Athenian navy to embark for Salamis, and a small force to be quickly dispatched to Thermopylae, which was deemed the next suitable bottleneck to engage the Persians and nullify the Greek numerical disadvantage. So, it can be seen that the Greek strategy at Thermopylae was never to attempt to destroy the Persians, as the movie seems to suggest. Rather, Thermopylae

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