Posted on 03/11/2007 1:53:24 PM PDT by freedom44
Fair enough. 'History', as it was written then, tended to gloss over those kind of internal politics in favor of the conflict without. Most historians that I have read agree with you -- that the delay, and the small size of the Spartan force destined for Thermopylae had to do with their strict observance of religious festivals.
I find that explanation unsatisfying. Still I have no evidence to the contrary, only speculation.
BTW, if the Athenian Navy was such a threat to an amphibious operation, why couldn't they have destroyed the Hellespont bridgehead just as easily? Seems to me the bridge was a fat target.
The Athenians still had a smaller Navy than the Persians. Attacking far away from their home base was much more risky.
Check out these posts:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0703110434mar11,1,5700401.column?coll=chi-news-col
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson101106.html
--...Star Trek, Super girl, Superman, Incredible Hulk, Batman and Bat Boy--
Main characters will be played, respectively, by Algore, John Edwards, Richard Clarke, Ted Kennedy, Barack Hussein Obama, and Henry Waxman.
Good that some sense prevailed in Greece. This movie does nothing but provoke hatred against non-white, mid-eastern looking people like me.
Considering most Greeks are registered Democrats, what do they know?
hey guys ! if u ve read a little history instead of watching FAKE movies , from US ! u ll understand many things ! even if u ve read ur bible ! u ll understand that xeres is the son of darius ! which in bible is a man of a god ! like Cyrus , founder of persian empire ! and who has written the first human rights and ... ! ;) and xeres was the husband of esther ! even in bible all of these people are respectful 1 and .. ! none of you have read your bible ! neither any history !
hey by the way < I respect greeks culture and .. !
This report is full of it. Greek critics might not have liked the movie, just as American critics didn't but most Greek movie goers liked alot from what I have read and heard on Greek media. It was a hit with the general public. It broke box office records in Greece even in its second weekend.
Greek new article about the movie: The first few paragraphs talk about how records are being broken at Greek cinemas over Leonidas 300 even though some mediocre reviews were given by said critics, but who listens to critics anyway. In its first showing it broke all Greek records bypassing the very popular Greek film Politiki Kouzina, by the way that is of the best Greek movies ever, and another domestic Greek hit Sirens in the Aegean. The 300 also bypassed Troy and Pirates of the Caribbean. The news article also comments towards the end about how the 300 premiere in North America was one of the few instances where movie theaters were sold out days in advance.
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:_mT1Es2-1qYJ:www.in.gr/news/article.asp%3FlngEntityID%3D786347%26lngDtrID%3D253+%CE%9B%CE%B5%CF%89%CE%BD%CE%AF%CE%B4%CE%B1+%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9+%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD+300&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
300: A raving success in Greece
'However, this week's big surprise is 300, Zach Snyder's retelling of the battle of Thermopylae. Even though the movie was shown in just 337 cinemas around the world, it was a winner with audiences, raking in $6.2m (£3.2m). In Greece, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, it accounted for over 50% of cinema tickets sold. In particular, 300 was a raving success in Greece, where the battle of Thermopylae took place. It raked in $2.9m (£1.5m) in a week, more than the hit Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest did there in the same period last year.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2032650,00.html
'Homecoming' for '300' on Wed. in Sparta
Leonidas and his heroic band of 300 Spartans will enjoy a "homecoming" of sorts Wednesday evening in the eponymous southern Greek town of Sparta, nearly 25 centuries after falling to a man at Thermopylae, as Zack Snyder's big-screen epic "300" will be shown in tandem with a weeklong exhibition devoted to Frank Miller's comics, whose graphic novel is the basis for "300". "The film '300' isn't a historical movie but an artistic one, the visualisation of a comics novel. If you distinguish this crucial point, then you'll be liberated; if you see it (the film) differently, then you'll have several objections," exhibition director Panos Papadolias, himself a native of modern-day Sparta, said. Anticipation for the Warner Bros. production has been brewing in the east Mediterranean country for months, with an "avant premiere" Tuesday evening of the film shown on all 15 screens of an upscale Athenian mall's cineplex. Press reports on Wednesday cited figures of up to 15,000 tickets sold for Thursday's nationwide debut of the unabashedly gory and at times surrealistic account of Leonidas' last stand before the immense army led by Persian emperor Xerxes at Thermopylae, central Greece, in 480 BC. Meanwhile in Sparta, the distinctly laidback seat of Laconia prefecture in the extreme southeast of the Peloponnese, local officials hope the film will spark increased interest and more tourist arrivals through their inland town. "It's an opportunity to promote Laconia and Sparta and to show that ancient Sparta was not just a war machine, as depicted in the film, but that it also had its own civilisation, poetry, music and culture," prefect Constantinos Fourlas told an Athens daily on Wednesday. In response to criticism over the movie's colossal doses of violence and certain historical inaccuracies, Sparta Mayor Sarantos Antonakos said the movie still qualifies as a distinct honor for the area, despite occasional divergences from the actual battle, "which is sacred for us and for all humanity." The exhibition on Frank Miller features large stills of his works displayed along a pedestrian way adjacent to Sparta's archeological museum. Caption: Film-goers at a northern Athens mall wait in line on Wednesday, March 7, 2007, for tickets to see Zack Snyder's "300", which debuts around the east Mediterranean country on Thursday. ANA-MPA / S. Pantzartzi.
http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=5131825&maindocimg=5130862&service=102
Greece should produce more of its own movies so they can portray things correctly.
HUH? I don't think that's a political party in Greece... Greece, NY maybe, or Athens Georgia... or Spartanburg, SC
Geeze, U.S. politics isn't everybody in the world's obsession.
FWIW---"300" is breaking all records in Greece among the Greek people.
The cultural nobs don't like it because it upsets the ridiculous descent into Euro dhimmitude but the people are not ready to submit.
Molon Labe!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.