Media Representations

In Three Hundred the main protagonist is King Leonidas. He is based upon the real King of Sparta 520-480BC. Throughout the film he is not just showed as a King, but as a husband, Spartan, father and war hero. King Leonidas is shown as a product/exemplar of the warrior culture is Sparta at the time. As a Spartan we see him being raised from a boy who fights with his bare knuckles to a young man who faces combat with a wolf in the wilderness.

All Spartans are raised with such trying tasks to overcome. Those who didn’t survive were not seen at being fit to be Spartans. This is an accurate representation of Spartans. The where known to be trained from the ages of 6/7 to become warriors and underwent a severe training course. He is shown as a Husband in the scene where he makes love to his wife and when he tells a message to tell her he loves her.

He is also shown as a father in the scenes when he is shown training his son to fight. He is shown as a war hero throughout the film; he only takes 300 soldiers to face millions of men. He himself slaughters a huge amount of them. In a minute long scene king Leonidas slays a dozen men the tracking shot follows Leonidas as he walks only Dollying in and out to emphasise each kill showing how tremendously powerful he is. He is further shown as a war Hero towards the end of the film as he is willing to die for his country, with thousands of arrows heading towards him he stands his ground waiting for the impact showing him as fearless and brave.

Women in this film are shown both in a positive and negative light. For example Leonidas’ wife Queen Gorgo was allowed to speak freely. When this was challenged by a messenger he was killed. Queen Gorgo also gave a speech in the courts with was probably not allowed at this stage in time nevertheless it showed women as independent. Women were also shown as sexual objects in the film elders would sleep with them and they were made hosts for spirits.

The colour used in the film is unsaturated; the only bold colour that is seen is red which connotes violence and bloodshed which were on the robes of the Spartan army. The low key lighting created a sense of danger and evil, as at that time in Sparta it was a battle zone and it was a dark time for the Spartan Empire.