Secondly, for Greeks the most perfect beauty in the world was the human (male) body. How we see barbarians – wild, violent, savage – is how the Greeks saw anyone who was not Greek. You made a sound like ‘bar bar bar’, hence the onomatopoeic origins of the word barbaros and then barbarian. To the ancient Greeks, if you did not speak Greek then you were not civilised. Our word ‘barbarian’ comes from the Greek word barbaros, meaning someone who does not speak Greek. The ancient Greeks were not themselves the most tolerant. There are some clear racist tones that can be read in this depiction, and that needs acknowledging. The other issue where 300 is accurate is in its portrayal is the most problematic: the depiction of the Greeks and the Persians. Whether that source is correct is another question entirely, and one I certainly cannot answer. As a timeline of the events to the prelude, battle and immediate aftermath, 300 does not actually veer far from the source. Over a million Persian troops (Herodotus VII 186), the attack of the Immortals (Herodotus VII 211), “our arrows will blot out the sun” and “we shall fight in the shade,” (Herodotus VII. The two are very similar, to the point that key events and quotes from the film are lifted directly from Herodotus. His account of the wars is also the basis of 300, and there we come to our first surprise.
One of our key sources for this time period is Herodotus, a Greek historian and near contemporary. Going back to Zack Snyder’s film, then, 300 follows the Greco-Persian wars, from around 499-449BC, when Persia tried to incorporate the Greek states, or poleis, into the Persian empire. It is dramatised history, but gives an idea of what people felt, and what permeated their psyche. I believe it was Thucydides who goes as far to start a key text by essentially saying, ‘I was not there but I think this was said, and if it wasn’t then it should have been.’ For them, it was the essence that was central, a view of history that expressed the ideals. Today, we try and be as accurate as we can, look at what events have happened and record them as precisely as we can. To simplify and condense hundreds of volumes of academic tones, the Greeks viewed historical recording very differently from us. 300 shows the events and people as the Greeks arguably saw it – idealised and perfected – but they would recognise it.Ī quick detour into Greek historical recording, then. It’s not how they looked, but maybe how they saw themselves. Perhaps even cheering along and commenting “yes, exactly”. It’s a comic book: a stylistic choice to highlight atmosphere, dread and contrast.īut show this film to an audience of Spartans? I’d reckon they’d be really quite happy with it.
The Persians, for the purpose of clarity, were not deformed giants, and the sky was not permanently amber and cloudy. One thing we neglect therefore is the psyche, the atmosphere and identity of the people the film portrays how did they act, think and feel? What would they think of their portrayal on the screen? Would they recognise themselves (albeit likely taller and with better teeth)? And I’m going for it: it’s in this area that Zack Snyder’s 300 really excels.Īddressing the inevitable elephant in the room, 300 is in no way how ancient Sparta looked, or how the Spartans themselves looked either.
#How accurate is the movie 300 full#
And when we look at history films, oftentimes we fixate on the chronology and what items look like, with someone generally piping up something along the lines of “he wasn’t there, they did not wear that, she was four years old at the time and not a full grown woman!” (I’m looking at you, Braveheart). After all, people change and our approach to the past does too. While funny, it does highlight a key point and problem with our approach to historical films: we like to pick them apart, point out all the inaccuracies and bemoan any deviation from the actual events, no matter how necessary it is for the plot or aesthetic. History professor: Do you like history films? There is a meme that did the rounds a few months ago amongst history fans taking the form of a conversation. But to see how and why we need to look at current thinking of historical film accuracy. I promise you that whilst 300 is not the most accurate historical film, it is certainly a better depiction of life in ancient Greece than you might think. Is 300 the most accurate historical film ever? No, it is not. But that’s clearly not the end of the article. Zack Snyder’s hugely successful movie 300 is often sneered at for its treatment of history – but there’s an argument it got things closer than it’s given credit for.
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