Expert points out errors in film portrayal of Spartans

By: Paul Squire

Posted: 9/24/08

As a clip from the 2007 movie "300" played on the screen, Paul Cartledge sat in the front row and scribbled some notes on a pad of paper. He then stood up, rolled his eyes and announced, "Enough already!"

Cartledge, a University of Cambridge Greek history professor, spoke at Syracuse University Tuesday afternoon about the historical accuracy of ancient Spartans portrayed in popular culture. The event was the first of the 2008-2009 Moses I. Finley Memorial Lecture Series, which honors the memory of the '27 SU alumnus.

Cartledge focused on "300," a movie based on Frank Miller's comic series of the same name, which was inspired by an earlier 1962 film, "The 300 Spartans."

While Cartledge didn't hesitate to point out the inaccuracies in the two films, he cautioned against over-analyzing popular culture.

"It is a mistake, I think to take a movie such as '300,' which is literally cartoonish, that seriously," he said.

Cartledge did correct the historical errors with enthusiasm. He cleared up the first myth quickly: There were actually 301 Spartans including their king who made their famous last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae.

"The films should have been called 'The 301 Spartans' or '301,'" he said. "But that doesn't have the same ring, does it?"

The Spartans were also supplemented by another 700 Thespian troops who fought alongside them until the last man died, Cartledge said, but they were left out of both films.

Cartledge also said not all 301 Spartans died in the final battle. Two Spartans actually escaped before the battle began, though one hanged himself immediately out of disgrace upon his return. The other survivor threw himself onto enemy spears a year later.

Cartledge then launched into a critique of the movie "The 300 Spartans," which he called "specifically a Cold War movie." The film's attempt to compare ancient history to Cold War era events was one of its largest miss-steps, Cartledge said.

Both "300" and "The 300 Spartans" used the Spartans' last stand as an analogy to the struggles for freedom in the current world, such as the Cold War or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Cartledge criticized "300" for its inaccurate use of over-the-top weapons, such as armored rhinoceros and elephants and for its biased good-and-evil portrayal of the Spartans and the Persians, which he found to be the film's largest problem.

"(In the movie) all Greeks are good, and all Persians are bad," he said.

Cartledge condemned the "flamboyant" depiction of the Persian king Xerses I as a narcissistic God-King obsessed with body piercings.

Contrarily, he praised "300" for its more accurate portrayal of Gorgo, the Spartan king's wife, as a powerful, driven woman.

"Spartan women, unlike Greek women, were allowed a public role," Cartledge said.

Cartledge also said that films like "300" were a good way of getting the public interested in history and that more people would be interested enough to learn about the actual history than take the film as historical fact.

James Adams, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences, echoed that sentiment. Adams called Cartledge's lecture "extremely interesting" and said he was inspired to go to the event because of "300."

"I wanted to see how accurate the movie really was," he said.

Films like "300" and "The 300 Spartans" are valuable because they preserve the legend of ancient Sparta, Cartledge said, especially in today's armed forces. He recounted stories from soldiers he had spoken to who see the ancient warriors as inspiration.

"The tradition of Sparta is still very much alive and kicking," he said. "What they are kicking, I think you can guess."

pjsquire@syr.edu