All I ask is that you kneel...

7/1/08 | dinokr

[redstateconfidential]

Use it , post it, spread the word.

[redstateconfidential]

[Old Sarge]

[Grizzled Bear]

I just wanted to make clear which picture I was snatching!

[Dead Corpse]

It take a Viking to raze a village...

[dr_lew]

Yes. While the movie drew on various historical elements, it molded them to its own purposes, and there was no real attempt to reflect the actualities of the ancient era.

While it may be true that these actualities are inaccessible to us, the closest we can get to them is to read the words ( whether in translation or not ) of the ancient Greek chroniclers, starting with Homer.

The written legacy of ancient Greek culture is breathtaking to behold, and held the greatest minds of Europe in awe throughout the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Now it suffers neglect, and even disparagement, as never before. The greatest service that a movie such as The 300 provides is that it directs the popular attention towards this legacy, and it may not be going too far to say that our culture cannot survive if it loses its consciousness of its roots therein.

[Hyzenthlay]

Well, the movie was meant to be a graphic-novel adaptation, not a historical movie, so I really liked it from that perspective.

[AppyPappy]

What is “crewel”?

[Condor51]

*** I didn’t particularly care for the movie since, historically speaking, Sparta was a brutal military dictatorship and Leonidas was not fighting Persian Muslims, despite popular belief... ***

Exsqueeze me but Sparta wasn't a 'military dictatorship'.

The constitution of Sparta was socio-military. It was ruled by a dual hereditary monarchy, and an oligarchy consisting of magistrates (ephors), a council of twenty-eight elders (gerousia) (all over 60 and appointed for life), and a supreme consultative assembly of all those over 30, with power only to ratify war. The rest of the population were either perioikoi with some independence or helots (serfs).

Life in Sparta was definitely no bowl of cherry's, but a 'dictatorship' it wasn't. The Duel 'Kings' reigned for three years IIRC and then new ones took over. And I've never heard 'that popular belief' that Xerxes' Persians were Muslims.

maybe I should get out more? 'Historically speaking' /s

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Well, I’m sure that the Helots have their own opinions about Spartan rule, and yes, I do actually have to correct a lot of folks about the ancient Persians, especially after they have seen this movie.