Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Strengths and weaknesses of sparta
Strengths and weaknesses of sparta
Strengths and weaknesses of sparta
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Strengths and weaknesses of sparta
I will analyze the movie 300 in comparison to the historical events at the Battle of Thermopylae. 300 is a collection of historical accounts and a creative narrative of the writer and director Frank Miller. The movie begins with the birth of a child that is being thoroughly inspected to ensure it is the correct size and the child is not deformities. If the child was found to be faulty, the child would be discarded and thrown off a cliff. This is a true fact, since Sparta was a military state and its emphases on the military began at birth. After birth a mother would bath the child in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child had any visual deformities it would be cast off a cliff on Mount Taygetos. While Spartan males began military training at the age of seven, in the movie a young boy is seen hunting a wolf as a right of passage. This would be true in ancient Sparta with one major exception, instead of a wolf a male would be required to hunt a human slave because …show more content…
The movie does not mention that the Spartans had formed an alliance with other Greeks from other cities. The actual number of the Spartan was closer to seven thousand; many of these soldiers were slaves forced against their will to fight the Persians. Zack Snyder also presents the Spartans fighting partially clothed, wearing leather under garments and cape, this was inspired by Superman’s costume. According to Snyder, he based the movie on Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s 1998 comic series with the same name, rather than history. The typical Spartan warrior war equipment weighed several kilograms and was made of iron. The theory behind the Spartan warriors wearing red over their military uniforms, according to legendary Spartan legislator, Lycurgus, is the color red has a negative effect on their opponents, and if the Spartan warriors are wounded, it will the Spartan warrior blood. IS THIS A
The Greeks, who were made up of only 300 Spartans under the rule of Leonidas and about 7000, allied Greeks these included; Arcadia, Mantineans, Arcadian Orchomenus, Orchomenians, Corinth, Phlius, Mycenae, Boeotia, Thespians and Thebans, noted by Herodotus. Persians waited 3 days to march up to the Greeks to start the battle; they opened the battle by shooting arrows. The Greeks took it in turn to be in the front line of their phalanx and fought off wave
Sparta was known for being strong, but was it really? In case you don’t know, Sparta was a Greek city-state. Sparta only focused on war. Spartans were only taught the basics of other topics. Spartans were trained for 13 years just to fight. Reading and writing were only taught in Sparta for practical reasons. The strengths didn’t outweigh the weaknesses. There were more weaknesses to Sparta than there were strengths. The strengths of Sparta didn’t outweigh the weaknesses for three reasons. The first reason is that the babies were killed just if they looked weak. The second reason is that the Spartans barely new anything about other topics (math, reading, writing, etc). The third and final reason is that the helots outnumbered the Spartans 50 to 1.
The Role of Themistocles in the Greek Defeat of the Persians in 480 - 479 BC.
“A New Historicist article… teases out the many contributing causes that brought about disparate social elements in that way” (Mays, 2352). The movie shows the build-up to the battle of 300 Spartan soldiers against the armies of Persia, albeit in artistic and stylized manner. It covers the tensions and political drama that led to the clashing of men, as well as showing the historical context in which it took place. “..New Historicism doubts the accessibility of the past, insisting that all we have is discourse” (Mays, 2351). 300 doesn’t concern itself with trying to trying to access the past, but puts on an artistic representation of what happened that can be discussed in a modern
The battle of Thermopylae was the Greek’s first stand against the massive army of King Xerxes, and was the most influential battle of the entire war. Up to this point, the Persian army was seen as too massive and powerful to be stopped. The once warring city-states of Greece knew they couldn’t stand against the Persians alone, and knew in order to defend their homeland they would have to unite. A unity of command was agreed upon; King Leonidas of Sparta was chosen to lead the Greek forces. He was chosen to lead because of the unsurpassed warring abilities the Spartans were so well known for made him perfect for the objective of stopping the Persians.
Miller illustrates the separation both visually and textually. Several times Leonidas refers to the other Spartans as “children.” Once in the beginning when he is telling the Spartans to be quite and go to sleep and another is when the Spartans start attacking the Persian Messengers, “The children frolic.” Leonidas in like a parent to the other Spartans. He is watching over them and guiding them. He is their parent, King and leader, thus he must stand above them and apart. A visual form of separation is that throughout the graphic novel Leonidas is in the foreground alone, while the other Spartans are in the background. Like at the beginning of chapter 2, when Leonidas is walking towards the audience while all the Spartans are sleeping behind him. Another way Miller illustrates separation is that Leonidas will be a silhouette; where as all the other characters are drawn with light shining on them. Such is the case when Leonidas is talking to his advisors before going to war. One key reason Leonidas is the only individual isolated from the Spartans is that the audience needs a hero to love. Frank Miller’s 300 was ultimately a piece of entertainment and without a likable main character no one would be interested in reading his story. Heroes are found throughout society, whether it is storybook characters, celebrities, or sports stars. Heroes inspire us because they show us the impossible. They are always struggling and overcoming everything, encouraging us to believe we will overcome whatever we face. Heroes are symbols for all the qualities we want to posses. The individuality of Leonidas is the antithesis of historical Spartan
Every Spartan male was trained to become a soldier from birth. While this was true for Sparta, the Macedonian hoplites had little to no training before war. Even with no training, they became experienced through the many battles they fought and through Alexander’s directive. Many Macedonian soldiers instead were normal citizens who were recruited to join the army and in return for their service, they would become citizens and have the right to vote and etc. To start off, the Spartan’s armor and weapons were exceptional. They had bronze helmets and armor. The armor was decently heavy but when you are made of pure muscle, bronze becomes very light on the body. Along with their armor, the famous Spartan shield was also bronze. Their weapons consisted of one long spear and a steel sword sheathed on their side for close combat. However, it was not their weapons and armor that won them limitless battles and war, in fact, it was their strategy that is known as the “phalanx” formation. Alexander and the Macedonians used a similar formation for their army, but the Spartans used this formation in a simple but very effective way for its troops. The “phalanx formation,” in general, is when soldiers form a square, standing shoulder to shoulder and protecting the soldier next to them instead of themselves. It requires soldiers to move and fight as one unit instead of breaking formation and fighting uncoordinatedly. As a result, staying in formation allowed Spartans to look after their fellow brothers more easily on the battlefield. This Spartan system had such a reputation that even King Philip did not want to go to battle with Sparta. Philip even sent Sparta a message while he was on his way to claim Athens. The message told Sparta to “submit immediately” because if he (Philip) were to win the war with Athens, Sparta would be the next Macedonian target and he would “destroy the people of Sparta and all they have.”
Like most Greek states of the Archaic and Classical Era, the Spartan city-state was a militaristic one. Sparta, however, took the idea to its extreme. In order to become the best soldiers, Spartan citizens had to dedicate their entire lives to the occupation. In fact to be a soldier – a hoplite – was the full infrastructure of Spartan society. While most Greek city-states looked down on labor, physical work, and even working for profit, they still had to work for a living, produce something. “The Spartans a...
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Spartan was trained to be physically and mentally fit for war.
Sparta was a strict military city-state. The people were Dorians who conquered Laconia. This region lies in the Peloponnesus, which lied in southern Greece. The invaders turned the conquered people into state owned slaves, called helots. Since the helots greatly outnumbered their rulers, Spartans established a strict and brutal system of control. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who advised the monarchs. An assembly made up of all citizens approved all major decisions. From child-hood, a Spartan prepared to be part of the military. All newborn were examined and the healthy lived and the sickly were left to die. Spartans wanted future soldiers or mothers of soldiers to be healthy. At the age of seven, boys trained for a lifetime in the Spartan military. They moved to the barracks and endured brutal and extensive training.
The Battle of Thermopylae began in 480 BC and was a product of the Greeks attempt help defend the Ionians from the Persians. This irritated the Persian Emperor, Xerxes, because he thought of Greece as a small kingdom that had no place revolting against the Persian Empire. The Athenians sympathized with the Ionians because the Persians had also tried to invade Greece on multiple occasions. The Athenians provided feeble help to the Ionians and in retaliation the Persians struck at athens (23B). Xerxes was known to be irrational with his temper, and may have thought of his invasion as retaliation for the fact that his father, Darius the Great, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon against the Greeks. His temper was so great that at Hellas Point he had the water whipped because it would not obey him (E49). One of several Greek war leaders in the Battle of Thermopylae was Leonidas, the second born son of King Anaxandridas. It was not until his half brother was killed under controversial circumstances that Leonidas rose to power (G72). Apart from misconceptions spread by the popular film “300,” the three hundred Spartans did not go into battle alone, and were accompanied by over eight hundred allies. Nevertheless, the Persians still outnumbered the Greeks ten to one, which is why it is incredible that the Greeks were able to hold them for three days before eventually losing that specific battle. Despite losing the battle in terms of soldiers and defending greece, the battle of thermopylae was somewhat successful in that it was a demonstration of the courage of greek soldiers, impressive battle tactics,
To look at this epistemologically, there is an understanding that almost every aspect involved in this culture was derived for the good of the polis. This seemed to be a very proud and arrogant people. A city with no walls, and in almost certainty, only natural born were allowed to earn citizenship. To even be called a Spartan meant years of fighting, service and status. Tyrtaeus states this argument best in the last line of his work. “Thus a man should endeavor to reach this high place of courage with all his heart, and, so trying, never be backward in war.” These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion.
As with most historical re-enactments, 300 places significant exaggeration on each civilizations central city-state ideologies and this is reflected in each scene by the actions of the individuals throughout Zack Snyder’s film. The representation of the Spartan warrior mentality through scenes depicting young Spartan children throughout their childhood participating in multiple life threatening challenges; are seemingly accurate as the primary purpose of Spartan schooling was to produce perfect soldiers, through strictly disciplined military training that began for all boys at the age of 7 as they left home to join the agoge. The agoge was set up in order to weaken family ties and create personal identity. These children were usually allotted no shoes, little clothing and educated through a vigorous training schedule of boxing, wrestling, javelin and discus throwing. They suffered through harsh conditions and were taught to take satisfaction in enduring pain and hardship, as well as to value strengt...
In the movie 300, the Spartan army, of 300 fight in the Battle of Thermopylae. The Spartans fight the Persians, however they are greatly outnumbered. The Persian King Xerxes sends thousand of his soldiers to fight the Spartan warriors in hopes of gaining Greece. The Spartans, along with Athenians, and slaves, fight the Persia army in one last attempt to save Greece. 300 tells how the Spartan warriors are trained and taught. The filmmakers of 300 chose to historically keep that weak babies were rejected and that children were trained at seven years old to become Spartan soldiers, while; the filmmakers chose to change battle techniques, the portrayal of the Spartan men as "family men”, and made the Persian warriors "immortal”, for reasons of dramatic, emotional, and theatrical effect.
In utmost anticipation of the second part of the story about 300 Spartans, It is impossible not to mention the first movie dedicated to this topic, filmed by Zack Snyder in 2006. I’m yet to watch the second part, as it is hard to imagine what the continuation of the story would be like, considering that all the main characters in the first part died; however, I think it is safe to assume that it is going to be as epic as “300.”