Who is xerxes in 300 movie

When the Persians outflanked the Greeks on the third day of fighting, Leonidas ordered his Spartans, as well as Thebans, to cover a withdrawal by the rest of the Greeks. According to Herodotus who provides a pro-Athenian point of view , Leonidas hoped to "secure the whole glory for the Spartans. According to Herodotus, the Thebans eventually surrendered and were branded by the Persians pro-Theban historian Plutarch wrote an angry response to this claim, entitled The Malice of Herodotus , whilst the Spartans and the Thespians fought to the death.

Robbins and Herodotus' twenty-second logos, Thermopylae. Spartan policy was not set by the kings, but by the Ephors, five men who formed an executive council that was elected annually in , the Ephors are lecherous mystics who live on a mountaintop. According to Herodotus, the Ephors concluded that Sparta could afford to wait until after the city had celebrated the Carneian festival before deploying the army.

Xerxes had been delaying his invasion for months, so the Greeks did not realize that the main Persian thrust was imminent. Advised of the festival by exiled Spartan king Demaratus, Xerxes altered his plans so that the attack would take full advantage of the distraction offered by the festival. Other Greek states withheld troops because they were celebrating the Olympics, thus leaving the defense of Thermopylae seriously undermanned.

Sparta traditionally restricted its military activity to the Peloponnesus southern Greece , so it is possible that the Ephors favored a defense centered on the Isthmus of Corinth and were reluctant to send troops to the rescue of Thebes and Athens.

This theory is part of the storyline of The Spartans , the movie that inspired Frank Miller to write the graphic novel on which is based. The graphic novel and the film fit the tradition of Greco-Roman art's concept of "heroic nudity," in which armor is not depicted in order to show the beauty of the human body. In reality however, it was the Spartans' heavy armor and perfect phalanx formation that helped give them such staying power against the more lightly armored Persians.

Spartan and other Greek troops wore a bronze breastplate, a bronze helmet with cheek plates, greaves, and a bronze-plated shield approximately 1 meter in diameter, called an aspis or hoplon from which the word "hoplite" derives. The armor weighed a total of about 60 pounds 27 kilograms. Their primary weapon was a spear around 2. Since this tended to break in battle, they also carried a 0. Less commonly used was the Greek saber called a kopis. Yes, although Ephialtes of Trachis was simply a normal looking man, without any physical deformities.

As in the film, however, he did betray the Greek forces in exchange for money. He was most likely made to look disfigured in the film to imply that he is a tragic character. By having Ephialtes malformed in the film, it gives Leonidas a practical reason to reject him from serving as a Spartan, and dramatic motivation for Ephialtes to turn to Xerxes in his need to prove himself. To say "May you live forever" to a Spartan is to insult them, as a Spartan's goal in life was to die in the glory of battle.

So to say to a fellow Spartan that you hope they live forever, is to deny them their glory. It also has a double-meaning when Leonidas says this, because he also wants Ephialtes to live forever with the guilt and shame of betraying the Spartans. Theron Dominic West had control over the Senate, who could overrule the king in relation to state matters. So while Leonidas was in command, the Senate had more power than he did.

It isn't shown on camera, but it was likely during the battle where Astinos Tom Wisdom is killed. Prior to this battle, he was uninjured, but after it there is a scene showing him bandaging his eye. The Captain Vincent Regan is shouting, "Tuck tail! If one looks at the comic, it is clear that Leonidas hadn't intended to miss Xerxes. So if one accepts the film as a fundamentally straight translation of the graphic novel, Leonidas did not miss Xerxes on purpose.

It could actually be that only wounding Xerxes caused more damage in the Persian ranks than if Leonidas should have killed him. If he had killed him, then the next king could easily claim that Xerxes was a false god. However, by merely wounding Xerxes, the Persian leadership itself would be weakened. Additionally, the Persians would now have a leader who is scarred and can thus no longer deny his own mortality, hence his entire basis as ruler is fundamentally jeopardized.

Whether Leonidas intended to kill Xerxes or not, the outcome benefited Sparta. At first glance it looks as if the Spartans would have been perfectly covered from the arrows if they had all stayed grouped together with their shields. When Leonidas pretends to kneel before Xerxes, he calls for Stelios Michael Fassbender , so all the Spartans break free and are subsequently killed by arrows. This was done for one reason and one reason only. They knew they were going to die, even if they had stayed protected from the arrows, they would not have been able to defend themselves from ground troops for too long.

So they used this moment to achieve a moral victory of sorts see next question. The reason they break loose was to simply protect Leonidas from the arrows long enough for him to make his throw at Xerxes. As requested by Leonidas, Dilios returns to Sparta, carrying back with him Leonidas' necklace to give to his wife Queen Gordo Lena Headey , who places the necklace around the neck of her young son.

Addressing the Council, Dilios concludes his account of the Battle of Thermopylae by assuring them that Leonidas did not want to be honored with tributes, songs, and monuments but asked only that Sparta "Remember us.

Remember why we died. Relatively speaking in relation to our society it was not, however in relation to other non-Greek ancient societies at the time it was, but not as free as Ancient Athens.

All Spartan males were required to serve in the military. Men and women were educated in the subjects of war, battle, poetry and dance. Male children were separated from their parents at seven years old, and began their agoge a program where the child was indoctrinated in devotion to the State and military training. This was required of all male children. Sparta, as a society, did not produce the level of literature, art, architecture that their biggest city-state competitor Athens had produced.

However, it's important to keep in mind that since the Spartans seldom wrote anything down, most of what we know about Sparta comes from the descriptions given by their bitter rivals the Athenians. The helots, descendants of an earlier conquered race of inhabitants from the region of Laconia, near where Sparta was located, were enslaved by the Spartans and forced to labor on large estates. When Spartan warriors were in shortage, Helots were forced into the military.

They were slaves-for-life, however they could gain Spartan citizenship if they fought bravely in battle, as they sometimes did to augment Spartan troops. It's important to note however that slavery was a part of life in all ancient societies, including ancient Athenian society. So the Spartans were not unique in this regard, and slavery has been, and continues to be, practiced throughout most of human history.

Also what's interesting to note is that the founders of the United States borrowed their idea of a three-branched government with checks and balances from the Spartans. Sparta had two kings, who served as commanders-in-chief of the Spartan military, and each King could veto the other in military affairs. Then there was the Gerousia, a body of 28 elders elected by democratic vote amongst the Spartan citizenry. The Gerousia was a kind of Senate, that could write bills, but the passage of such a bill into law required the approval of the Spartan citizenry through democratic vote.

There was also the Ephors, five elders who were chosen by popular election who had most of the political control in Sparta. For example, the Ephors could strike down a law passed by the Gerousia as unconstitutional, similar to the power of the United States Supreme Court.

Every piece of Greek parchment shall be burned. Every Greek historian, and every scribe shall have their eyes pulled out, and their tongues cut from their mouths. Why, uttering the very name of Sparta, or Leonidas, will be punishable by death! The world will never know you existed at all!

King Leonidas : The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed. Xerxes : Unlike the cruel Leonidas, who demanded that you stand, I require only that you kneel.

Sign In. Showing all 28 items. Jump to: Photos 22 Quotes 6. Create a list ». Pam Must watch. My favorites movies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My favourites. F-F: my top medieval movies. Xerxes I of Persia is a legendary king of Persia. He is the overall main antagonist of Film Series and the archenemy to the protagonist, King Leonidas. He is man antagonist of the film and central antagonist of the sequel Rise of an Empire.

He is based on the real king Xerxes. He wanted to rule the entire world and conquer Greece, especially Sparta. He was the son and successor of Darius the Great r. Like his father, he ruled the empire at its territorial apex. He ruled from BC until his assassination in BC at the hands of Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard. His forces temporarily overran mainland Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth until losses at Salamis and Plataea a year later reversed these gains and ended the second invasion decisively.

However, Xerxes successfully crushed revolts in Egypt and Babylon. Roman Ghirshman says that, "After this he ceased to use the title of 'king of Babylon', calling himself simply 'king of the Persians and the Medes'. Xerxes is identified with the king Ahasuerus in the biblical Book of Esther, which some scholars consider to be historical romance. There is nothing close to a consensus, however, as to what historical event provided the basis for the story.

In Rise of an Empire, more of Xerxes' past is revealed. Ten years ago, prior to the first flim, Xerxes is a prince while his father, King Darius, leads the Persians to attack Greece. The Athenians attack first before the Persians could prepare for battle. In this battle, Testicles kills Darius with a single arrow, causing the Persian forces to retreat back to their kingdom.

With his father's dying breath, he states to Xerxes to give up the campaign, saying, " Only the Gods can defeat the Greeks". For seven days, Xerxes mourned for his father, making him vulnerable for the vengeance-starved Artemisia to plant the seeds of madness within him.

After being blessed and wrapped in annointed bandages, Xerxes sets out on a journey through the desert. Xerxes finally reaches a cave and bathes in an otherworldly liquid, emerging as the "God-King", with every bit of his humanity surrendered to give him the form he is now.