300 (COMICS)

'''300''' is a historically-inspired comic book limited series (later collected into a single hardcover volume) written and illustrated by Frank Miller with painted colors by Lynn Varley.
The comic is a retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. ''300'' was particularly inspired by the 1962 film ''The 300 Spartans'', a movie that Miller watched as a young boy.^[1] The work was adapted into a film with 2007's ''300''.

Contents

Publication and awards

Synopsis

Differences from history

Criticism

References in other works

Collections

References

External links

Publication and awards

Every page of the comic was illustrated as a double-page spread. When the series was gathered into hardcover form, the individual pages were twice as wide as a normal comic. Miller's art style for this project was similar to his ''Sin City'' work, although the addition of consistent color is an obvious difference.
''300'' was initially published as a monthly five-issue comic book limited series by Dark Horse Comics, the first issue published in May 1998. The issues were titled ''Honor'', ''Duty'', ''Glory'', ''Combat'' and ''Victory''. The series won three Eisner Awards in 1999: "Best Limited Series", "Best Writer/Artist" for Frank Miller and "Best Colorist" for Lynn Varley. The work was collected as a hardcover volume in 1999.

Synopsis

King Leonidas of Sparta gathers 300 of his best soldiers to fight the upcoming Persian invasion. Because he knows this is a suicide mission, Leonidas selects only men who have sired male children to carry on their legacy. They plan to stop King Xerxes's invasion of Greece at the narrow cliffs of Thermopylae, forcing their soldiers to funnel through a small opening in a cliff that will prevent the Spartans from being overwhelmed by Xerxes' army's numbers. Ephialtes, a deformed Spartan, begs Leonidas to let him fight but is not allowed to due to his hunchbacked form, which prevents him from lifting his shield high enough. In his depression, Ephialtes betrays Leonidas and his men by telling the Persians about the existence of a small pass that allows Xerxes to surround the 300 Spartans, who are consequently overwhelmed.
Before engaging the Persians for the last time, Leonidas orders Aristodemus/Dilios to leave, so that he might survive to tell the Story of the 300 who fought for Sparta.
After three days of battle, the Spartans seem almost defeated. Xerxes decides to savor the moment, and shows himself to Leonidas, giving the Spartan king one final chance to surrender and kneel in front of the Persian ruler. After some hesitation, Leonidas finally complies. He throws down his shield, his helmet and his spear. This, however, turns out to be a ruse, as Leonidas sets a few events in motion that allow him to throw a spear that scars the face of Xerxes, proving he was not the God-King he claimed to be, and thus proving no man, king or slave, is free from mortality. This also fulfills his promise that by the end of the fight even the god-king will bleed. Xerxes frantically orders his archers to finish off the Spartans.
The story then shifts about a year later and ends as Dilios describes the heroic sacrifice of Leonidas and his Spartan comrades before charging forward in the Battle of Plataea.

Differences from history

The graphic novel is historically accurate to a degree. As a historical fantasy, it differs in some regards from the historical Battle of Thermopolae. These discrepencies are attributed to the bias of the Spartans, as the tale is told by a Spartan. Therefore, the Spartan soldiers are depicted as heroes without flaw, while non-Spartans are often depicted as weak, corrupt, cowardly, or monstrous. It is common military practice throughout history to demonize the enemy, in order to raise troop morale. Some of these differences are:

★ The ephors are depicted as an apparently unelected priestly group of corrupt, diseased (leprous), inbred men who secretly betray Sparta to the Persian king Xerxes by counseling Leonidas against going to war, masking their betrayal as showing honor for the Carneian festival. Curiously, they are depicted as being keepers of an oracle that appears to at least have been inspired by the Delphic Oracle.

★ Much of the Persian fleet was destroyed by the Athenian navy, commanded by Themistocles, before the massive storm depicted hit.

★ The Persian Immortals (elite guards) are covered fully in black, with metal masks covering their faces. The 1962 film The 300 Spartans includes similar depictions, although far less stylized.

★ There is no evidence that elephants or rhinoceri were used in the battle.

★ Xerxes' clothes, baldness, shaven face, and excessive makeup do not match the appearence of Xerxes on ancient stone reliefs, though eyeliner was worn by ancient Mesopotamians.

★ Some 700 Thespians refused to abandon the Spartans and took part in the last stand, where all of them died.

★ Leonidas was not the last Spartan to die, although he did survive to see the final engagement.

Criticism

Renowned comics writer Alan Moore has criticized ''300'' as historically inaccurate, with particular reference to the characters' attitudes towards homosexuality:
Miller, in the letters page of the original series, admits the inaccuracy, and angrily defends it. He insists that the Spartans were not scholars themselves, and that the offending passage was intended to portray the Spartans as hypocrites. The Spartans, he argued, so maligned the Athenians that any Athenian action was worthy of scorn. Miller states that their hypocrisy is a character flaw, but not unrealistic. Beyond that, the evidence of institutionalized pederasty in both Athenian and Spartan culture is unclear in regards to actual sexual practices. Both extolled chaste relationships in theory, while accusing each other of using pederasty as a means of purely physical gratification.

References in other works

There are references to the Battle at Thermopylae in several of Frank Miller's other graphic novels. In ''Sin City: The Big Fat Kill'', Dwight considers Leonidas' choice of "where to fight" and manages to loosely recreate the Spartan defense tactics by cornering the enemy gang in a tight alley; they then annihilate them with heavy gunfire and explosives. In ''The Dark Knight Returns'' and ''The Dark Knight Strikes Again'', Miller's "omega" Batman stories, there are references to a character named "Hot Gates" (the literal translation of ''Thermopylae''), an adult film star who first makes a version of Snow White, and then declares herself Dictator of Ohio.
In Episode 25 of Samurai Jack, Jack meets a group of Spartan warriors fighting Aku's minions. This episode was partially inspired by Miller's comics.

Collections

★ ISBN 1-56971-402-9 Hardcover, 88 pages, Dark Horse Comics

References

1. Frank Miller, ''300'' #3 (July 1998),"slings & arrows" letters page, Dark Horse Comics

External links

★ Dark Horse Product Page

★ Sparta Pages: ''300'' Review

★ Frank Miller`s Sin city & 300 & Spirit - Database articles, images and other files about Frank Miller and his comics.