Plus, the move was absolutely awesome if not 100% accurate in every detail.
Thank GOD you cleared that up.
Remember.......Comic book......
The Immortals were only a small part of the Persian army. They were the elite troops not used on ordinary tasks.
You guys are forgetting a critical fact. This battle gave the rallying cry to the anti-anti-gun folks.
When Xerxes told the Spartans to lay down their weapons, he was told "Molon Labe" (come and take them).
With the Dems in power in Congress, this is something to keep in mind.
What? The movie shows that the Greeks lost and all the Spartans were killed.
"On the third day, Leonidas led his 300 Spartan hoplites (elite troops selected because they had living sons back home) plus the allied Thespians and Thebans against Xerxes and his army of "10,000 Immortals." (Not ONE MILLION)"
This is a mistake. The Immortals were an elite force within the larger contingent variously estimated from some hundreds of thousands and as many as two million men. Xerxes drew troops from all over his empire, which, at the time stretched from Asia minor to India and to Egypt as well, so it is not beyond possibility for him to raise an enourmous force. The Immortals were essentially the palace gaurd, consisting of fanatically loyal and superbly trained soldiers. It was these that the 300 Spartans met with Leonidas and defeated. Only the betrayal of a Greek, giving away the secret of a pass that enabled Xerxes to encircle Leonidas, brought about the ultimate slaughter of the 300.
Not according to Historian Victor David Hanson who wrote about the famous battle & advised the makers of the movie for historical accuracy.
Is this a live thread?
Well .. I'm sorry to destroy your "fantasy" .. but the Greeks losing is not the moral of the story. The movie is not a fantasy .. it actually happened. Victor Davis Hansen was a consultant on the movie.
In case you have never read anything about Greek history - then watch the History Channel - they have done an excellent job explaining the story .. and as far as I can tell, they have done a good job. I got to watch most of it last night .. and I'm hoping they will run the story again.
The REAL MORAL OF THE STORY IS: Is it worth sacrificing 300 of your best and brightest in order to SAVE YOUR NATION ..??
Greece ultimately DEFEATED THE PERSIANS .. and saved Greece as a nation; and saved that part of the region from becomming Muslim territory.
The liberals are whining because they see a correlation between this war and the current battle in Iraq. Has it been worth sacrificing over 3000 of our best and brightest to SAVE OUR NATION ..?? The answer is .. absolutely YES!
you've got a real stick up your butt about this movie. And the funniest part is your complaints are based on your imagination not the movie. In the movie the Greeks lose that battle, because they're betrayed by Ephialtes who leads the Persians to a pass they can use to suround the Greeks. Hmmm not so much fantasy now.
Obviously there's plenty of dramatic license taken, it's not trying to be a historical recreation after all. But there's more truth to it than you're admitting.
i've forgotten how to post images...
http://www.attackcartoons.com
1) Xerxes had an army of 100,000. Who knows how many got to the "front" at Thermopolae? Certainly neither Greek nor Persian historians would have been able to tell.
2) The Greeks won. The time bought at Thermopolae allowed all the city-states to rally and defeat the Persians at Platea.
3) In two consecutive wars over 10 years, the Greeks killed approximately 100,000 Persians without modern weapons. Alexander finished the job a few years later. It is absolutely true, also, that had Greece failed, much of what we now know as "civilization" would have disappeared.
Actually there was about 5 to 7 thousand Greek troops from various cities (Thespia, Thebes, Phocia, etc)defending the pass.Plus a Greek fleet consisting mostly of Athenians were guarding the land forces sea flank (defeated the Persian fleet at a place called Artemesia). All Greek foot soldiers were known as Hoplites.
Sparta sent between 1000 and 1500 men. The famous "300" were Spartiates (sp?). They were the famous warrior class that is much written about. They were the ruling class of Sparta, trained as a warrior from childhood. The other classes of Spartan society were the freemen, and the Helots. The Helots were basically serfs but, were armed in time of war. The Spartans actually had a memorial to the Helots who fought at Thermopylae for a time however, after a Helot revolt which was put down savagely by the Spartans, the Spartans went to Thermoplyae and tore down the memorial.
As for the Persians, only the Iranian elite troops were called the immmortals. They were the palace guard something like Napoleon's imperial guard and Hitler's waffen SS.
Also, there is no proof of a traitor who sold "the secret of Themoplyae" to the Persians. This may well have just been made up as the legend of the battle grew. The Persians were from a mountainous country and finding the other pass to flank the Greek force at Thermoplae wouldn't have been too hard for them. The story may have been made up just to make the Persians seem not to be smart enough to find the other pass without help.
Leonidus did order the rest of the Greek force out of the pass when he found out the Persians had turned his flank and the Spartans made their famous last stand, remaining true to their vow that a Spartan returned home either with his shield or on it.
I wish someone would make a film depicting the battle as it happened. Truth is always better than fiction.
I don't go to movies to get educated.
.
The Persian VersionTruth-loving Persians do not dwell upon
The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon.
As for the Greek theatrical tradition
Which represents that summer’s expedition
Not as a mere reconnaisance in force
By three brigades of foot and one of horse
(Their left flank covered by some obsolete
Light craft detached from the main Persian fleet)
But as a grandiose, ill-starred attempt
To conquer Greece—they treat it with contempt;
And only incidentally refute
Major Greek claims, by stressing what repute
The Persian monarch and the Persian nation
Won by this salutary demonstration:
Despite a strong defence and adverse weather
All arms combined magnificently together.— Robert Graves.
This was Greece's Alamo, the loss against overwhelming forces that convinced the Greeks they could fight and eventually defeat the Persians, which they did.
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