Zack Snyder’s 300 is a movie filled with offensive comments and brimming with controversy, yet it is the most refreshing sword and sandal film I have recently watched. It is not because of the blood, gore, or muscular men running around in black underwear and red capes. No, it is because this movie gave us Gorgo, Queen of the Spartans. Gorgo is not a standard weak woman who is isolated, glamourous, and on display (Mulvey, 753). She is “a loyal wife and Spartan patriot who fights the good fight on the home front” (Scott).
The movie begins with a Persian messenger requesting the submission of the Spartans to the Persian King Xerxes. During the diplomatic talk between the messenger and King Leonidas Gorgo intervenes by saying “Do not be coy or stupid, Persian, you can afford neither in Sparta” (9:35). Outraged, the messenger replies, “What makes this woman think she can speak among men?” (9:39). Misogyny was not uncommon in antiquity. In Hesiod’s Theogony he writes that women are “a great infestation among mortal men” (Hesiod, 596). He also believed that Zeus “made women as a curse for mortal men,” calling women “evil conspirators” (Hesiod, 605-6). Needless to say the Persian messenger’s reaction towards Gorgo’s interjection is expected. But, instead of backing down or hiding behind her husband Gorgo gave a heated response, “Because only Spartan women give birth to real men” (9:42). The messenger was left speechless and wore a shocked face because a woman had the audacity to stand up to a man.
The next scene that solidified Gorgo as being an unconventional weak woman was during the departure of King Leonidas and the 300 men. In Zack Snyder’s 300 Gorgo broke the traditional mold of having an emotional breakdown. In fact, her farewell was the exact opposite. “Spartan” she said, “Come back with your shield or on it” (25:35). That is it. No crying, no falling into a heap on the ground, nothing. Gorgo stood fast and represented a pillar of strength to Leonidas as she said farewell. With a handful of words Gorgo reminded Leonides of what he stood for and who he was as a Spartan.
The most monumental scene for Gorgo is her passionate speech to the Spartan council. Gorgo stood in front of a room filled with men without fear or uncertainty to plea for the council to send their army to aid Leonidas in the fight against King Xerxes. “Send the army for the preservation of liberty. Send it for justice. Send it for law and order. Send it for reason. But most importantly, send our army for hope — hope that a king and his men have not been wasted to the pages of history” (1:30:36). Gorgo did the unthinkable when she, a woman, infiltrated a place where only men were allowed to speak and decide the law. Yet, by going against what was acceptable and voluntarily putting herself in a vulnerable position she showed how strong she is as a woman and the lengths she would go to help her husband and protect her people.
Even though Gorgo exhibited great strength and fierceness, she is not exempt from being a weak woman. Gorgo had to gain the support of Theron, a councilman, in order for the council to agree to send the army to help King Leonidas against the Persians. Unfortunately, to receive his help Gorgo had to exchange her body. This scene shows how Gorgo is weak because as a woman she could not confront the council on her own she needed the support of a male benefactor. Then, she had to be raped to even get the support that she needed. Finally, she had to depend on Theron to uphold his end of the bargain which of course he did not. In response to Theron’s betrayal Gorgo took the sword of a nearby guard and stabbed Theron killing him. Vincent Tomasso believes that Gorgo loses her authority as a strong woman when she kills Theron stating “her murder of Theron is a mirror as well as a foil to the Spartan masculine violence occurring simultaneously at Thermopylae” however I disagree (Tomasso, 122). Gorgo in front of the entire council is brave enough to kill Theron. She even repeated the words he said when he began to rape her. “This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this” (1:33:22). I believe in that scene Gorgo regained the authority that Theron took when he raped her.
Zack Snyder’s Gorgo broke away from the traditional weak woman. She did not sit in her palace waiting for her husband to come home. She took an active role in trying to send reinforcements to aid King Leonidas on the battle field. She went against gender roles and evoked the sense of women empowerment (Tomasso, 113). She did not cry or back down when faced with adversity, instead she stood up and showed why she is not your average weak woman.
Sources Cited
Tomasso, Vincent. “Gorgo at the Limits of Liberation in Zack Snyder’s 300 (2007).” Screening Love and Sex in the Ancient World. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2013. 113-126.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism. By Gerald Mast, Marshall Cohen, and Leo Braudy. Ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1992. 746-757. Print.
300. Dir. Zack Snyder. Perf. Gerald Butler. DVD. Warner Bros. Picture, 2007.
Hesiod. Works and Days and Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indiana/ Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc
Scott, A. O. “Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath With a Message” The New York Times 9. Mar. 2007. Web. http://movies2.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/movies/09thre.html?ref=movies
WB Movies. “A Queen’s Revenge – 300.” 17 January 2010. Online video clip. YouTube. Accessed on 29 October 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axIFeCPvyQs
Haller, Sam. “Rhetoric clip 300.” 17 November 2010. Online video clip. YouTube. Accessed on 29 October 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X61QeEDxPcY
ComandoBBL. “This is Sparta Scene (full) HD.” 23 March 2013. Online video clip. YouTube. Accessed on 29 October 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAacE5ukzrs
Mortimer, Alexandru. “300 – “Goodbye My Love. He Doesn’t Say It” – Leonidas Farewells Queen Gorgo – Full HD.” 21 November 2012. Online video clip. YouTube. Accessed on 29 October 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tH1FzD1YY8
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