Honestly, all this calling Spartans good and free men is too much for me. You guys are pulling my leg, right?
Sparta had two kings.
Sparta had an unelected, oligarchical council of elders from aristocratic families.
The 5 ephors of Sparta were the closest they came to democracy.
The size of the citizenship that could vote was extremely small and limited to those passing agoge. The agoge was not cheap or easy and the voting citizenship was effectively reduced to mere hundreds around 1 BC/AD.
They kept a class of people who were essentially slaves called Helots.
Sparta went on to conqure and rule all of Greece for a short time. They were hardly defending themselves on the principle that empire-building was wrong.
Etc., etc. This Spartans as the good and noble free people is fun for pretend movies but it is not the real world.
The film is an adaptation of a graphic novel which itself takes grand liberties.
"300" has never, as part of its promotion, claimed "Based on a true story" or "Based on actual events". This ain't the History Channel.
Geez, lighten up, already. It's just a movie.
So the absolute dictators of the Persian Empire looking to subjugate new lands by slaughter and rapine were the "good guys" in your view?
Amazing. For all the critisms you make, without Sparta, Greece as we know it would never have come into being, and all those other little details (democracy, etc.) wouldn't either. So easy even a caveman could get it. :)
"They kept a class of people who were essentially slaves called Helots"
Well, America keeps a class of slaves called conservatives, and the teachers, media, and academics are our rulers. Since they hate this movie, I think I'll give the director some historical creativity since it is a movie and not a documentary.
I understand and don't dispute a word you wrote. However, I saw it as a fictional account around a historical event. It had some philosophical statements which I found to be somewhat germaine to today's world. I enjoyed it - which is simple, really. And I was gratified by some of the inferred messages. I don't recall admiring the Spartans, as such. Or, did I? The movie did not insult my intelligence, unlike...........