Interestingly, one of Xerxes’ women in real life was Queen Esther from the Bible.
Although he was clearly the bad guy in the invasion of Greece, Xerxes was actually not too bad as ancient despots go. Of course he was nothing like the weirdo portrayed in the movie.
I know. They portrayed him as androgynous, which was not true.
And the Spartans weren't exactly paragons of freedom either - go ask the Helots.