In the movie 300(2007) by Zack Snyder who is known for action movies. Throughout the whole movie you can see how brutal and relentless the three hundred soldiers were. One common thing you notice while watching the movie is the solders’ ability to work together. Yes, they are exceptionally good individually while fighting but when they work together and stay on the same page, they are unstoppable. They are a small army, but their skills and togetherness help them take down huge armies like the Persians. The three hundred solders held their own against thousands. People work better together than they do alone and that’s one thing this movie teaches you. The Spartans knew their brothers would be next to them in battle and you can really see it in all fighting scenes.
You can see the shields are a huge part of the Spartans battle style. Every movement the Spartans make with their swords and shields are so smooth and precise. There togetherness and closeness are unreal, they all stay close and tight to each other while they fight since they are stronger as a unit. Which is smart since they don’t have a lot of Spartans, they must stay tight and together. If they were separated it would be easier for the enemies to pick them off one on one.
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This is a vase that has the Spartans fighting style during the battle of Thermopylae. Very close and ready to fight. You can also notice the art on their shields and the hats on their head. Makes me wonder if that stood for different ranking among themselves. They are also shirtless which was something you notice while learning about Spartans. That is their style, most if not all the Spartans are strong and visible muscular. The Spartans are always ready to fight and have a unique intimidating look to them, like in the movie 300(2007) when they noticed the arrows that the Persians shot at them. The Spartans were aware, and King Leonidas yelled “Tuck tail”(three hundred). Then started to laugh and refer to the Persians as cowards for firing arrows at them from a distant. The way that they all immediately dropped, and no hesitation shows how well trained they are. The Spartans are Elite soldiers “the Battle of Thermopylae would go on to serve as a reminder for what the Greeks could do when they worked together”(Jones). This battle is the definition of individually we are one raindrop, but together we are a whole ocean. People use this battle as motivation. It is not always about the size of your enemies it is all about how work you want to put in to become elite. It all starts with the training, “Spartan men learned not only how to fight but also how to trust in and work with one another, something that proved to be rather effective when fighting in the phalanx”(Jones). When raised to fight together and have each other’s back developed a strong and elite army. It is in their blood to fight together and love each other.
“If the 300 Spartans had stayed home and if Persians had won the Greco-Persian Wars, the Western concept of freedom most likely would not exist”(Basinger)
The reason the battle of Thermopylae was so important is because of the quote above this. If the three hundred Spartans never got involved there is a good chance the world would be different for us today. That is why togetherness, closeness, and bravery come to my mind while researching Spartans and watching the movie “300”. It takes a lot of bravery to take three hundred soldiers and fight the biggest army at the time. Not only just fight them but hold their own and make the Persians know were not going anywhere and we will fight till the death because that is what the Spartans were born to do.
Citations
“The Battle.” The Battle of Thermopylae, battle-of-thermopylae.weebly.com/the-battle.html. Accessed 1 Nov. 2021.
Jones, Matthew. “The Battle of Thermopylae: 300 Spartans against the World.” History Cooperative, The History Cooperative, 12 Mar. 2019, historycooperative.org/the-battle-of-thermopylae-300-spartans-against-the-world/.
Chan, Amy. “The Significance of Thermopylae: Why We Ought to Thank the Spartans for the Constitution, Chick-Fil-a, and Capitalism.” HistoryNet, HistoryNet, Sept. 2016, http://www.historynet.com/the-significance-of-thermopylae.htm.
UR Ancient World In Cinema 
The movie certainly stresses your point through dialogue. The Hunchback is denied his plea to fight with Leonidas because he can’t stand in the shield wall with the other Spartans. What I find funny is how often the film throws that point out the window in favor of a striking visual. Almost all of the action we see, outside of the very first meeting of Persians and Spartans, shows a lone Spartan standing alone and slaughtering waves of enemies.
You’re right, the film 300 does emphasize the point that working as a team is more effective than working individually. The Spartans had the most success when they fought as a unit, displaying trust, honor, and consistency. I find it interesting that the final battle scene in the movie is when we see the Spartans fighting the most individually and not as a unit, and this is the scene in which the Spartans ultimately lose. Perhaps it is because Artemis’ son Astinos was decapitated in the scene prior, and without this important member of the original team the Spartans did not function as well together.
Carson, your post does a good job of describing the Spartan philosophy as well as the style in which they conduct their lives. Although the movie isn’t historically accurate, your points are still accurate showing you did your own research to find out these things. One thing that stuck out In your blog post was the vase with the art of the Spartans on it, where you question if the helmets or head wear indicated rank in a way. That interested me because I actually never thought of what shows high rank in the Spartan Way. In Greece and Rome, high ranking officials wear distinctive garments to indicate ranking and power.
I like your post, but I think that this is kind of irrelevant in a way. This movie is fiction, and a class that focuses on history should entail a mention of ancient history. I think that post has a lot of potential and there are some very valid claims, but I think that if you could relate the very few historically true things or talk about why it is not historically accurate, then the post would be much stronger.
I think the point you are trying to make in this blog post is definitely valid but somewhat obvious at the same time. Historians everywhere would agree with you that the Spartans revolutionized the idea of warfare and how they used their strong sense of coordination and teamwork. While I think that 300 may not have been the best film choice to use in order to prove this point, the blog post still does a good job of getting what you want to say across. Overall I think its a good post with the potential to stress more points such as other historical inaccuracies or the other way around.
It is interesting to think about the quote used by Basinger. While the much of modern western society stems from Greek culture, the idea that our idea of freedom would not exist if the Persians had won the Greco-Persian is a bold statement by Basinger. While not at the level of the Greeks at the time, there were still cultures in Italy and other western areas of Europe at the time which would have been capable of continuing the thought process which got us to today modern freedom. While one could argue that if the 300 spartans had not been at Thermopylae then the Persians likely would have won the war, the idea that they would have engulfed the rest of the world is unlikely.