Historians bash the movie 300 constantly, I can 100% see why. The cheesy lines, the small inaccuracies in historical references, the absurdity of the fights and how they were acted out. Yet there was one thing, and ONE THING ONLY, that I believe the movie absolutely nailed, and that is the absolute might of the Spartans.
DISCLAIMER: All of the information that I have comes from lectures by Mr. Bedore, along with a collection of other various websites for small tidbits of information. Along with this i haven’t seen the movie 300 in a couple years, but my memory has served me well so imma just keep going with it.
Now for those who don’t know, the Spartans (Hoplites specifically) were one of the most elite fighting forces in Greece, as they were quite literally bred to be like this. The overall mortality rate of a child in Sparta was around 50%, as they were raised so be what basically amounts to a machine. Mr. Bedore had a very good way to explain, which is that the Spartans “Were the most radical social experiment ever attempted successfully in history.” They became soldiers that had a lack of empathy, would never surrender, and only swore their allegiance to their brothers and arms.
Now even with all the militarization of the country for some random reason, the Spartans could not have turned out more quick witted, and Badass. They were an elite fighting force, and NOONE, and I mean NOONE, not a single Greek city state has attempted to fight them in over 20 years, when the Persians finally invaded Greece. Now due to religious festivals, only 300 Spartans were sent to defend Greece, and there were a total of 7000 Greeks there. Now you see… The Persians numbered around 150,000, and the fight lasted for 3 days. This has become known as the Battle of Thermopylae.
Now THIS is where we get to the fun part, which is the exchanges that occurred between the Persians, and the Spartan army. There are two quotes that I want to explain, because I have been thinking about them consistently for over 8 years (Ever since I watched 300) and I just recently learned from Bedore, THAT THE QUOTES WERE ALL TRUE.
Quote Number 1: The Persian king sent a letter to the Spartans, saying that if they laid down their weapons, they would let them live and not have to overrun them with the largest army ever amassed in human history. With which the Spartans in kind responded with “Come and get them”. Leonidas, king of the Spartans, faced an army of 150,000, and actually disrespected the Persian king. I don’t think that there will ever be something that comes quite as close to this is the history and future of human warfare. He is egging them on, not because of his own ego, but because the Spartans are just that good….
Quote Number 2: The Persian king, then sent a messenger to tell the Spartans that they will fire so many arrows into the sky that it will block out the sun. Which then Leonidas, the coldest man to ever live on this earth, responded with, “Fine, then we will fight in the shade”. The Persians are threatening to send the ancient equivalent of a nuke, and Leonidas instantly counters it, with what I believe is the single best quote in human history. Immediately striking fear into the hearts of the Persians
(Pictured above, Spartans fighting in the shade)
Now, the 300 Spartans ended up holding the Persians back for a full 3 days, and left a story that will be passed down, for many more millennia. The reason I talked about this topic, is because I simply think acts of heroism like this should be passed down. I also think that these quotes are some of the greatest things uttered from a human beings mouth, and that I have never seen an enemy general disrespected so much, so quickly.
