Essay --

Liam ConnellyFinal ProjectGolden Age of Greece involvement of battle of Thermopylae and the 5,200 an Analysis of Creative License in FilmThere is possibly no last stand than the famous ccc Spartans at Thermopylae who held the massive Persian army for three days in a narrow mountain pass, nearly two and a half millennia ago. When the celluloid 300 premiered, I was beginning to appreciate military history and I found the story of these hopelessly outnumbered classical patriots absolutely riveting. I had know that more than a little creative license was taken aft(prenominal) seeing some of the more fantastic scenes but some of the heavy historical nuances were lost in the depiction. My objective today is not to pedantically nitpick every anachronism and erroneous fact, but simply to give away why the get hold ofmakers augmented the history with them. My primary source for comparison is Herodotus concord VII of The Histories, in which he describes the background and facts known t o him about the battle itself. The origin of the 5,200 from which this project takes its name is the fact that Herodotus counts not only 300 Spartans but at least a full 4,900 other host from other classic regions who fought against overwhelming odds to hold the Persians at quest (Herodotus, 511). While the Spartans may have earned the lions function of the glory for their self-sacrifice, the 4,900 or so other soldiers deserve a stick in this epic tale of courage and discipline. The primary organic law of Greek infantry is the hoplite phalanx. Each hoplites hoplon, or shield, protected the man to his leave and long spears gave the ranks behind the first allowed them to bring to bear a ring of bronze spears in front of them. The phalanx is a strong formation but it is vulnerable to flanking maneuvers, ... ...eks doesnt need any tweaking or embelishments its already extraordinary on its own. Indeed, nearly every genre of film audiences love today can be found in the stories of Greek dramatists, myth, tradition, and history, from romance to comedy and war. Theres a rich ethnical well waiting to be drawn upon by other filmmakers to itemise the story of Greece in her finest hours. I hope more directors discover that. Until then, Ill remember the 300 as they were, not what Id wish them to have been.Works CitedHerodotus. The Histories. Trans. Aubrey De Selincourt. Ed. Betty Radice. Middlesex Penguin, 1954. Print.Miller, Frank. Interview by Steve Daly and Entertainment Weekly. 13 Mar. 2007.Snyder, Zack, dir. 300. Prod. Gianni Nunnari, Bernie Goldman, trail Canton, and Jeffrey Silver. 2007. Warner Bros, 2007. DVD.