An extra point I will be making in this project is the differences between the historical facts and events of the tale of 300, and the Frank Miller graphic novel 300 with Zack Snyder’s movie interpretation of the novel. First it is important to note that any fictional aspects of the novel and movie that are inaccurate were likely done on purpose by Frank Miller, considering he once said, “It took a lot of distillation of the genuine history and I’m taking an awful lot of liberties with everything, but that’s my job. If you want reality, catch a documentary” (14). Though there are many things in the film that are more fictional, I will try to narrow it down to the more obvious and important aspects changed. One of the more obvious things the film shows is a lack of body armor for the spartans, when history tells us that their armor was very important to them. This alteration was made so the actors could be mobile and so you could tell the difference between them (15). But the biggest problem with the movie was that it didn’t include the other Greek groups that were with the 300. Early I stated that there was actually 4,900 men from other Greek city-states, not just the legendary 300 Spartans. So, although the 300 are most known, they did not stand alone. There were a few other Greeks willing to face certain defeat next to Leonidas in his final moments of defiance.
Death of Leonidas
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Final Speech
Final Speech
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This source gives information on the choices Frank Miller made when he wrote the graphic novel 300 and why he decided to change some of the historical facts.
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