The 300 myth.

I can't believe I have waited over a year to post this. I watched 300 back when it was released in Korea and I was impressed. However, as that and many other events are part of my heritage I knew there were many liberties taken to make an entertaining film.

1) The Spartans were professional soldiers bred for war. They wore a bronze helm, carried a long spear and large bronze shield emblazoned with a red 'lambda', not for their own protection but for the protection of the man on their left. Demaratus to Xerxes, "The Spartans are equal to any man when fighting individually; fighting together as a collective, they surpass all other men". They also wore bronze greaves on their legs with a spike attached. Along with their short iron sword, this would prove deadly to troops not used to close combat fighting.

2) The majority of Xerxes army consisted of slaves or troops armed for a defensive battle. It is said Persians were taught three things: to ride, use the bow and tell the truth. Their reasoning being if they could shoot their enemies at range what need would there be for heavy armour? They wore little armour and only carried daggers or short spears for hand-to-hand combat. Obviously, they were not monsters.

3) Leonidas was not the last of the 300 to die. There was a struggle for his body, the Spartans fighting with broken spears and short swords. Herodotus writes they resisted with hands and teeth until they were overwhelmed. He was decapitated and his body crucified, contrary to Persian customs.

4) In the film, Leonidas abandons his shield. It was an interesting device for the film but egregiously inaccurate. Abandoning the shield was taboo in Sparta as the shield was the real strength of the phalanx. Also, before departing for battle Spartan mothers would say to their sons 'With this, or on this'.

5) 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians perished, along with about 20,000 Persians, most of which were secretly burned by Xerxes to hide the true number of casualties.

6) There was no room for horses, let alone an elephant or rhinoceros in Thermopylae. Selecting the pass as the battlefield denied the Persians the advantage of numbers and protected the Spartan right flank. In most open battles, the phalanx would stray to the right as each man knows how vulnerable that side is to a flanking maneuver.

In all, I prefer the 1962 '300 Spartans' as it is closer to reality but the newer version is so pretty. And if you understand Greek this might be interesting to you;

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=abZHlik1cWM