Liam ConnellyFinal ProjectThe Golden Age of GreeceThermopylae and the 5,200: An Analysis of Creative License in CinemaPerhaps there is no last stand of the famous 300 Spartans of Thermopylae who held the massive army Persian for three days in a narrow mountain pass, almost two and a half millennia ago. When the movie 300 premiered, I was beginning to appreciate military history and found the story of these hopelessly outnumbered Greek patriots absolutely compelling. I knew that after seeing some of the more fantastical scenes more than a little creative license had been taken, but some of the important historical nuances had been lost in the portrayal. My goal today is not to pedantically pinpoint every anachronism and incorrect fact, but simply to find out why the filmmakers enriched the story with them. My main source of comparison is Book VII of Herodotus' Histories, in which he describes the context and known facts. to him about the battle itself. The origin of the 5,200 from which this project takes its name is the fact that Herodotus counted not only 300 Spartans but at least another 4,900 troops from other Greek regions who fought against overwhelming odds to keep the Persians at bay (Herodotus, 511). While the Spartans may have earned the lion's share of the glory for their self-sacrifice, the other 4,900 or so soldiers deserve a place in this epic tale of courage and discipline. The main formation of the Greek infantry is the hoplite phalanx. Each hoplite's hoplon, or shield, protected the man to their left and their long spears gave ranks behind the first allowing them to bring a wall of bronze spears before them. The phalanx is a strong formation but is vulnerable to flanking maneuvers,......middle of paper......eks needs no tweaking or embellishment; It's already extraordinary in itself. Indeed, nearly every genre of film loved by audiences today can be found in the stories of Greek playwrights, in myth, lore, and history, from romance to comedy and war. There is a rich cultural heritage waiting to be used by other filmmakers to tell the story of Greece in its best moments. I hope other filmmakers discover this. Until then, I'll remember the 300 as it was, not as I wish it were. Works Cited Herodotus. The Stories. Trans. Aubrey De Selincourt. Ed. Betty Radice. Middlesex: Penguin, 1954. Print.Miller, Frank. Interview by Steve Daly and Entertainment Weekly. March 13, 2007.Snyder, Zack, dir. 300. Prod. Gianni Nunnari, Bernie Goldman, Mark Canton and Jeffrey Silver. 2007. Warner Bros., 2007. DVD.