becoming

the trail of a family becoming

Mar 12, 20072

300: What does it take to be free?

"The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, that even a god-king can bleed."

—  King Leonidas, in the movie 300.

I don't claim to watch the movie because of Xerxes' link to the books of Ezra and Esther in the OT (I will save that excuse for something else in the future). As the first movie I watched in 3 years (since Passion of the Christ), I went because I am fascinated by the freedom-loving culture of Spartans. What were they thinking to have only 300 men fighting against the Persian army in millions (or so the legend has it)? 

(Spoiler ahead…. read at your own risk) 

The Battle of Thermopylae Pass was one of the many confrontations during the Greece-Persia war during 5th century BC. The Spartan king Leonidas led his 300 "bodyguards" to the pass at Thermopylae, near present-day Lamia, the main passage from northern into central Greece. It was a narrow valley adjacent to the sea. The attacker could not pass to the seaward side, and to go inland would mean a significant detour.

Other armies could risk this, but Xerxes could not. He announced his presence and waited four days for them to leave.

But the Spartans refused to bow. Xerxes ordered an attack on the fifth day. He sent the Medes, the Immortals (his best troops); but one after the other, they were all defeated.

Xerxes was furious. Another day's fighting yielded no better for the Persians. At last, Ephialtes, a man from Malis, went to King Xerxes and told him that he knew of a goat path that went around the Greek position and debouched behind their lines. Xerxes made his preparations.

The Spartans knew they were about to die and they fought all the more fiercely for it. They put up the stoutest resistance, taking their stand on a little hill and fighting in a circle facing outward with enemies all around.

At last, the Spartans were killed by a hail of spears and arrows, the Persians fearing to close with these fearsome warriors.

The Spartans lost the battle. They had come hoping for a victory and instead had been routed. But Thermopylae was always hailed as a triumph for Spartans because the Persian army was crucially delayed.

The Greeks were actually heartened by the example of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans plus allies who fought at Thermopylae. The battle served as an example to officers and soldiers alike of what courage and self-sacrifice could achieve, led to the subsequent Greek victories at the Battle of Salamis and ultimately at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC.

I enjoyed the movie very much. Yes, no doubt it is extremely violent (what else do you expect from these 300 men?), but its primitivism brought out the cruelty and brutality in every war (as it should be). It is visually stunning: in a dim and blurred sort of way, the contrast and highlights and shadows and shades give this movie a surreal, fantastical, one-of-a-kind look.

I give my thumbs up. 

What does it mean when you know from the beginning that going to a battle would mean your own death and yet you remained at your position with your very last breath and offered fearless resistance, only to buy some time (a few days) for others who have yet to decide whether they will join in and support you in battling against your enemy? In the face of overwhelming odds, what is your bottom-line?

On a different battle-ground, the Apostle Paul was fighting the same battle for freedom. In the face of overwhelming odds, and well-aware of the consequences, he fought fearlessly to defend the sufficiency of Christ in His redemption and liberation to all of God's creation. 

"A new age has come, an age of freedom. And all will know that 300 Spartans gave their last breath to defend it." said Leonidas.

And what will Christians today give to defend the freedom from sin and slavery? 

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From YouTube (History Channel):

Also from YouTube (Updated: Mar 18, 2007):