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The movie "300" - based on a "graphic novel" (read comic book), itself loosely based on the battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) - has drawn the usual thoughtful and nuanced response from the turbaned thugs who run Iran. The last stand of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans denigrates the glorious Persian antecedents of present day Iran, charges Javad Shangari, art advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Art advisor" to a terrorist state - now there's a non sequitur. Does he critique artists who work in body parts? "Hollywood declares war on Iranians" blared the headline in a Tehran daily....

Zack Snyder?s 300: a spirited take on a clash of civilizationsOn Monday night in Hollywood I attended an advance screening of the entertaining new Zack Snyder movie 300, starring Gerard Butler as Leonidas, king of Sparta. This past October, I had seen an earlier version when screenwriter Kurt Johnstad asked me to take a look at an advance copy of the film. He drove down to my farm, I liked what I saw, and I then wrote an introduction to the book accompanying the film. So I am not a disinterested observer. In truth, I think that many critics will...

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When a messenger warned Leonidas, The Spartan King, that the Persian Army under Xerxes was invading Greece to destroy Democratic Greece, and that the Athenians were afraid and badly needed help, Leonidas replied, "What do you expect from a nation of philosophers and boy-lovers?" And, strapping on his war gear, took his men and marched into history. And yes, there is a direct parallel between the modern day Marines and their willingness to die to save Democracy and the clueless Liberal boy lovers it so tragically spawns...

I keep seeing threads about the movie 300, and comments about its portrayal of the fighting spirit, freedom isn't free, etc. I haven't seen this movie, even though peoples' comments are almost all in favor of it. I'll go see it soon enough. People here and in the media are making a connection between ancient Sparta and the modern United States. That bothers me. Sparta was not a symbol of freedom, nor was it much of anything else we admire. The term spartan means ". . . sternly disciplined and rigorously simple, frugal, or austere." dictionary.com Personally, I like stuff....

Let us focus on the people and issues that truly matter Nema Milaninia is right [See "The ridiculous truth"]. Iranians, especially those with "political" motivations and Zoroastrian ideals, ought to have far greater priorities than drafting petitions against 300. The fact that this movie has gathered their attention only indicates the lack of proper priorities and power these "groups" possess. If 300 was touted as an actual historical portrayal, the outrage indicated by this petition would be valid. However, it is based on a comic book. It is the creative fantasy of a comic book genius. The mere connection drawn...

HH: Joined now by one of our favorite guests, Victor Davis Hanson, professor of military history, noted author, and observer of the war. Victor, good to talk to you again. VDH: Thank you for having me, Hugh. HH: I want to start with a little bit of an off-the-wall question, Professor, because Sparta is the subject of the movie, “300.” It made $70 million dollars this weekend. You are an expert on the Greeks, and what is the appeal of the story in modern America? VDH: I think Americans always identify with an underdog, remember our own mythology of the...

I just watched a trailer of the new movie coming out - 300. It looks fairly decent. Anyone have anything to say about the movie? There are scenes where the talk about freedom and being free. I do not know the history of back then, but watching the trailer, I seemed to get a connection with what is going on in the world right now concerning the WOT and the storyline of the movie. They go against Persia - modern day Iran. 300 against one million - the United States against the world. Am I reading too much into this?...

I need some expertise on reading the greek language, or greek translated to latin. . . to english. I'm a bit lost.

The clash of east and west is truly ancient. The lastest trailer for "300" is must see! http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/300.html

Just wanted to give everyone who likes actions type movies the heads up about the new Frank Miller movie depicting the Battle of Thermopylae called 300. No doubt all Freepers knows the story. Either you like FM or you don't. Here is a link to a preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KvXZJ2S5FY Looks interesting, if you don't like movies try the book Gates of Fire, that should get ya to the movie. I hope the movie lays of the whole homo erotic themes.

Virgil's demi-god city 'found'Castor and Pollux fought Aeneas at Amyclae (ANSA) - Rome, April 6 - Italian archaeologists believe they have found an ancient city where the demi-gods Castor and Pollux fought Aeneas, the Trojan hero whose descendants founded Rome . Lorenzo and Stefania Quilici of Bologna and Naples universities claim the large, massive-walled settlement dating from the VI to III Century BCE was the city of Amyclae, believed by Renaissance scholars to be somewhere near Lake Fondi between Rome and Naples . "The road there is a perfectly preserved stretch of the ancient Via Appia," said Lorenzo Quilici ....

the Lacedaemonians posted their cavalry in front of their squares of infantry, and the Thebans imitated them. Only there was this difference---the Theban horse were in a high state of training and efficiency, thanks to their war with the Orchomenians, and also their war with Thespiae; the Lacedaemonian cavalry was at its very worst just now. The horses were reared and kept by the richest citizens; but whenever the levy was called out, a trooper appeared who took the horse with any sort of arms that might be presented to him, and set off on an expedition at a moment's...

Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller’s (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale. Warner Bros. Pictures Presents in Association with...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version November 07, 2005, 11:15 a.m. Ruin? Was is death or renewal in Athens? EDITOR'S NOTE: Victor Davis Hanson's latest book, A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War has recently been released by Random House. This week National Review Online will be excerpting Chapter 10 of the book. Below is the first part. Check back tomorrow for part two and click on Amazon to purchase A War Like No Other here. Was Athens — or Greece itself — destroyed by the war? An entire...

NEW JERSEY — An administrator at a private high school has threatened students with suspension unless they erased all personal profiles and blogs from the Internet. Rev. Kieran McHugh, Principal of Pope John XXIII Regional High School in Sparta, N.J. banned students from accessing social networking sites such as MySpace.com, citing student safety as his primary concern, according to the Daily Record, a newspaper serving the northern New Jersey community. Web sites such as MySpace.com allow users to post biographical information and pictures in personal profiles. These profiles help users communicate with others who share similar interests. "I don't see...

Priming the Pump of Envy June 10, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Lee Duigon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the New York Times, the labor unions, and the MoveOn.org crowd just keep on and on lamenting "the unequal distribution of wealth" in the Bad Old U.S.A., it might be useful to take a look at the only state in history that made a serious, sincere effort to equalize wealth among its citizens. That state was Sparta, ancient Sparta. Starting at around 600 B.C., the Spartans tried to re-engineer their society so that all Spartans would be equal. Credit for this idea usually goes to the...

Our main sources for early Hoplite warfare come from the writings of Herodotus, who was born in the Greek city of Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, in 484 bc. He was an Ionian Greek who traveled widely and lived for a while in Athens, before settling in Thurii, a Greek colony in southern Italy. He died about 424 BC. We also get information from Thucydides, an Athenian who wrote of the Pelopponnesian Wars. We can also find references in the works of several of the Greek playwrights' material on Hoplite warfare. We can find an account of...

A team of astronomer gumshoes has pinned down the date of an ancient Greek-Persian battle at Marathon that led to a long-distance run and the sport that survives today in its honor. Analysis of lunar records show the 490 B.C. battle occurred not on the long accepted date of September 12, but a full month earlier, researchers said. How important is a month for a professional runner more than 2,000 years ago? Apparently it's a matter of life and death. According the Greek historian Herodotus, Plutarch and others, after the Greek army routed their Persian attackers at Marathon the long-distance...

Boy's bear visit speaks volumes about hunt Thursday, May 22, 2003 By RICHARD COWENSTAFF WRITER It's been a wild two days for a kid still in diapers who can't talk, but Mark Tregidgo of Sparta has suddenly become the poster child for New Jersey's proposed bear hunt. Tregidgo survived a close encounter with a black bear that wandered into an enclosed front porch Tuesday afternoon and touched him. Now the bear is dead, the child was to appear with his family today on "Good Morning America," - and the state Division of Youth and Family Services is investigating whether the...