Liam ConnellyFinal ProjectThe Golden Age of GreeceThermopylae and the 5200: An Analysis of Creative License in CinemaThere May Be No Last fight as the famous 300 Spartans of Thermopylae who held off the immense Persian army for three days in a narrow mountain pass, almost two and a half millennia ago. When the film 300 premiered, I was beginning to appreciate military history and found the story of these hopelessly outnumbered Greek patriots absolutely captivating. I knew more than a little creative license was being taken after seeing some of the more fantastical scenes, but some of the important historical nuances were lost in the depiction. My goal today is not to pedantically nitpick 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 background and known facts. tell him about the battle itself. The origin of the 5,200 from which this project takes its name is that Herodotus counted not only 300 Spartans but at least 4,900 other soldiers from other Greek regions who fought against overwhelming odds to keep the Persians at bay (Herodotus, 511). . Although the Spartans may have earned the lion's share of the glory through their self-sacrifice, the other approximately 4,900 soldiers deserve a place in this epic tale of courage and discipline. The main formation of the Greek infantry is the hoplite phalanx. The hoplon, or shield, of each hoplite protected the man to his left and long spears allowed the ranks behind the first to carry a wall of bronze spears in front of them. The phalanx is a strong formation but it is vulnerable to flanking maneuvers, ...... middle of paper ......eks needs no adjustments or embellishments; that’s already extraordinary in itself. Indeed, almost every genre of film that audiences enjoy today can be found in the stories of Greek playwrights, in myths, traditions and history, from romance to comedy to war. There is a rich cultural heritage waiting to be exploited by other filmmakers to tell the story of Greece at its finest. I hope more directors discover it. Until then, I will remember the 300 as they were, not as I wish they were. Works Cited Herodotus. The Stories. Trans. Aubrey De Sélincourt. 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.