IS THIS

SPARTA? The

Allegorical Interpretations of

Zack Snyder’s 300

Chris Davies

“American cultural officials thought they could get mental satisfaction by plundering Iran’s historic past and insulting its civilisation. Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities in the US initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture. Certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies.” - Javad Shamaqdari, cultural advisor to

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

“. . . the current state of political divisions in

America being what they are, it is hard to

imagine a film more calculated to induce the

vapors among sensitive liberals, or to

provoke wild whoops of delight from among

the ranks of the gung-ho.”

– Tom Holland, ‘Mirage in the Movie House,’ 2007

“Over the protests of the highest

government (the Ephors or the U.N.), a

commander-in-chief goes to war with an

undersize army against a formidable

Middle-Eastern power.”

– Richard Corliss, Time, 14th March 2007

Political Structure Head of State

Senators Elected Body

SPARTA & U.S. CULTURE Ideology

Strong/Free Women No Slavery

Fight For Freedom Image Strong Military Athletic Culture

“The weak had been weeded out. The strong had stepped up. Then came weeks, months, years of constant training. The Hoo-ahs couldn’t wait to go to war. They were an all-star football team that had endured bruising, exhausting, dangerous practice sessions twelve hours a day, seven days a week – for years – without ever getting to play the game” (pp.24).

“I was getting bombarded with political questions…When someone in a movie says, ‘We’re going to fight for freedom,’ that’s now a dirty word . . . Europeans totally feel that way. If you mention democracy or freedom, you’re an imperialist or a fascist. That’s crazy to me.” - Zack Snyder, qtd. in Daly, ‘07

“The film 300 uses technological innovation and spectacular special effects not so much to engage with contemporary moral questions and problems of war and politics but rather to communicate a stylized portrayal of the Spartan warriors as the unquestioning defenders of the universally desirable paradigm of ‘freedom’” - Monica Silveria Cyrino, 2011, pp.34.

I. Representing History On Screen

II. Problems Of Portraying Greece

III. Adaptation Of Comic

IV. Source Of Narration

Philosophical / Intellectual

Complex Political

Organisation

Geographic Complexities

Lacks Visual

Identifiers

No Blood Sports

(Homo- ) Sexuality

Interior as Exterior Appearance

Faithfulness of Adaptation

Symbolism of Comparison

Freedom versus Slavery

CONCLUSIONS

Chris Davies – cogd201@ex.ac.uk

300 does feature a number of similarities between Spartan and American culture.

These are largely the product of simplification of history, adaptation of Ancient Greek culture to the screen for Western audiences, and adherence to the graphic novel source.

The depiction of Persian culture is the result of a unreliable narrator and comic book visuals interpreting history.

The film is NOT an allegory for the Iraq War.

It touched a nerve with audiences because of its elements of wish fulfilment fantasy.