Thermopylae in Popular Culture
In today's society, fascination with the Battle of Thermopylae is prominent and has become a symbol of standing up to overwhelming odds and for some the fight for what is right. A lot of these ideals can be seen through the portrayal of the battle within popular media. In recent years, the most influential of these media resources would be considered the film 300 (directed by Zack Snyder). In this film it is conveyed that the entirety of the battle was fought by Leonidas and his Three Hundred with only the slightest help from the unskilled Arcadian "brawlers". Due to the popularity this media resource has gained, it has led to many people being misinformed on the events of Thermopylae. In this film, narrated by Dilios (a fictionalised version of Aristodemus) we see the occurrence of many fantasy themes, whereas in truer retellings the battle remains a purely human conflict with only the slightest divine help from Zeus in destroying some of the Persian battle fleet.
In a slightly older source, we see another blockbuster film, The 300 Spartans (directed by Rudolph Maté) again see the theme of few triumphing over many, though they do not take so many liberties as displayed in 300. They acknowledge Themistocle’s planning of the defense and the presence of other city-states at the battle. The film also makes direct reference to the fact that without the conflict at Thermopylae Greece would likely have fallen to the Persians, thus making it a truer resource than the former in spite of the derogatory depiction of Xerxes and his forces.
In a slightly older source, we see another blockbuster film, The 300 Spartans (directed by Rudolph Maté) again see the theme of few triumphing over many, though they do not take so many liberties as displayed in 300. They acknowledge Themistocle’s planning of the defense and the presence of other city-states at the battle. The film also makes direct reference to the fact that without the conflict at Thermopylae Greece would likely have fallen to the Persians, thus making it a truer resource than the former in spite of the derogatory depiction of Xerxes and his forces.