Winning was everything to the growth and development of the Greek civilization. By defying the odds against them, the Greeks defeated the enormous Persian army which gave them an image of strength and power that lasted for centuries. Being a winner would allow Greek civilization to enjoy a period without war. Greek culture flourished.
Herodotus wrote in “The Histories” that the Greeks had been badly outnumbered by the Persian army during the Battle of Thermopylae. King Leonidas knew the Persian army had only one road through which they could pass through. Blocking the Persian army’s access was successful the first day. He had his men block the only access point preventing the massive Persian army from reaching them. The next day, a local resident…show more content… Herodotus had reported the number of men in the Persian army including allies and support groups as closer to 5,283,220 men while the Greek army had only 300 (Herodotus VII). In the movie “300” the numbers of Greeks to Persians is incorrectly shown as being 300 to 1 million. The movie also depicted the Spartans as having no body armor while fighting. This is true. Herodotus wrote in Book 9 that the Persian infantry were unarmored at the battle of Plataea (Herodotus IV). The movie also depicts Queen Gorgo, wife of King Leonidas I, as arguing that her husband needed them to send additional troops to Thermopylae. Herodotus makes no mention of Queen Gorgo or her request to send additional troops. The movie does portray the character of Ephialtes in a similar manner described by Herodotus. In “The Histories” Herodotus wrote, “Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a man of Malis, came to him and was admitted to a conference. Stirred by the hope of receiving a rich reward at the king's hands, he had come to tell him of the pathway which led across the mountain to Thermopylae; by which disclosure he brought destruction on the band of Greeks who had there withstood the barbarians."
Like “The Histories” the movie does show Ephialtes as a broken down, disfigured Spartan hunchback.
