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The Gender of Heroism in Zack Snyder's 300 and Rudolph WITH YOUR SHIELD OR ON IT: THE GENDER OF HEROISM IN ZACK SNYDER’S 300 AND RUDOLPH MATÉ’S THE 300 SPARTANS Thorsten Beigel Since Russell Crowe succeeded in 2000 as a gladiator not only in the vir- tual Colosseum in Rome but also at the box offices all over the world, antiquity has continued to provide a fashionable genre for directors and film producers. One of the recent examples of the genre is Zack Snyder’s 300, an adaptation from Frank Millers graphic novel about the last stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae 480 bc.1 Miller’s award-winning graphic novel narrates the story of Leonidas and his men through the eyes of the sole Spartan survivor Dilios, who has been dismissed by Leonidas before the final battle in order to “make every Greek know what happened here.”2 Starting with a flashback that deals with the young Leonidas surviving the last trial of the agoge and returning back to Sparta as king, the story line continues with the arrival of the Persian envoys demanding the submission to King Xerxes. Leoni- das decides to kill them – the incident is related by Herodotus (7.133), though referring to the envoys of Xerxes’ predecessor Darius – and to face the imminent attack at Thermopylae. But since the Ephors, bribed by the Persians, refuse to send out the entire army on religious grounds, Leonidas resolves to “take a stroll” to the Thermopylae accompanied by three hundred chosen warriors as his personal body guard. The further course of the story follows more or less the well-known outlines of the Herodotean account but from a exclusively Spartan point of view.3 The frontal assaults of the Persians fail with heavy casualties but the traitor Ephialtes – depicted as a heavily deformed Spartan who is refused mem- bership in the three hundred – helps Xerxes to outflank the lines of the Spartans, who are annihilated in their famous last stand. 1 Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, 300 (Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Books, 1999). 2 As revealed at the end, Dilios tells the story on the eve of the battle of Plataea 479 bc. 3 The role of the Greek allies, represented by an Arcadian force, is heavily downplayed. Being amateurs in contrast to the Spartan professionals they engage only after the main work has been done. © Thorsten Beigel, 2013 | doi:10.1163/9789004241923_005 This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Thorsten Beigel - 9789004241923 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 10:09:15PM via free access 66 thorsten beigel Zack Snyder’s 300 closely follows Miller’s narrative and seeks to imitate the visual artistry of the graphic novel by making lavish use of computer technology and special effects. As a consequence, the film looks more like a historical fantasy than a typical historical drama. Nevertheless, it is not entirely a shot-for-shot adaptation, but shows some marked differences.4 The most obvious is that Snyder added the subplot in which Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas, tries to convince the Spartan council to send reinforce- ment. Perhaps the most striking difference is the heavily biased depiction of the Persians which significantly exceeds the original. While the Spartans are depicted as semi-nude, overly masculine heroes, their Persian coun- terparts appear as effeminate or even include such monstrous and gro- tesquely disfigured characters as the “Berserker” and the “Executioner.”5 The Persians use weapons like a giant rhinoceros or grenades hurled by magicians and commit atrocities to civilians. Nevertheless, even their sin- ister, ninja-like elite corps, the Immortals, is no match for the brave Spar- tans. Soon after its release, the film engendered a controversial reception. The uncritical celebration of Spartan heroism and the biased depiction of the Persians brought protest upon Snyder for fostering racist, homopho- bic, and even fascist ideas.6 Also, popular culture parodies like Meet the Spartans and United 300 can be understood as a reaction to the blunt use of such cultural and sexual stereotypes.7 Since 300 focuses on a specific form of male heroism which Snyder (and probably the majority of the film audience as well) considers typically “Spartan”, it may seem paradoxical to write about the role of women in this film. However, Snyder’s portrayal of his male heroes does not depend on only the Spartiates themselves but also on the contrastive interplay between Leonidas and his men on the one hand and their counterparts on the other hand. Thus the digitally perfected, semi-nude bodies of the Spartans stand in contrast to the monstrous, disfigured horde of their Per- sian enemies, and the androgynous portrayal of King Xerxes as well as the derisive remarks about “boy-loving” Athenians and Arcadian amateur- warriors serve to sharpen the idealization of the Spartan protagonists. Even within the Spartan cosmos counterparts to the brave and straightforward heroes can be found, such as the corrupt politician Theron or the Ephors, 4 Cf. G.N. Murray, “Zack Snyder, Frank Miller and Herodotus: Three Takes on the 300 Spartans,” Akroterion 52 (2007) 11–35. 5 See Jeroen Lauwers, Marieke Dhont & Xanne Huybrecht in this volume. 6 Lauwers in this volume and Murray, “Zack Snyder, Frank Miller and Herodotus,” 12f. 7 Ralph Poole in this volume. Thorsten Beigel - 9789004241923 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 10:09:15PM via free access with your shield or on it 67 who are depicted as boil-covered, lecherous old priests. Drawing on the example of Leonidas’ wife Gorgo, this paper seeks to analyze in what way female gender roles contribute to the construction of male heroism. It will be demonstrated how the character of Leonidas is shaped by the portrayal of his wife, particularly when compared to Miller’s original graphic novel. Finally, the comparison with Rudolph Maté’s The 300 Spartans (1962) will show a different method of using gender stereotypes. One thing that can be clearly stated about Miller’s graphic novel is that women are virtually absent. Gorgo appears once only when the three hun- dred decamp. In Miller’s typically expressive style, highlighted with dynamic facial expressions and an imperious gesture, she supports Leonidas’ plan to leave for the “Hot Gates,” i.e., Thermopylae. The subsequent farewell of the married couple is truly “laconic” and does not allow any time for sen- timental emotions (see below). Only at the end of the film does the fatally wounded Leonidas think of wife again. In contrast, Snyder creates for the character of Gorgo a much greater role. At the beginning of the central story he focuses first on the royal family in their private quarters, and only then does he bring in the Per- sian envoy who abruptly interrupts them. Unlike Miller, Leonidas gains here an important facet. While Miller portrays him merely as the dutiful King, Snyder first of all establishes Leonidas as an affectionate father and husband. In the following scene the queen takes it for granted that she is allowed to participate in the hearing with the envoy and even addresses him at a personal level. To his indignant enquiry, “What makes this woman think she can speak among men?” she replies with a well-known Spartan apophthegm: “Because only Spartan women give birth to real men.”8 As the story continues Gorgo is the one who ultimately motivates Leonidas to make his irreversible decision: before the king forces the Persian envoy into a deep cistern, he looks around to his wife to reassure himself that she concurs with his actions. Not until she nods in agreement does he carry out his plan, which provides the casus belli for Xerxes. Gorgo appears in both scenes as an active, self-confident wife and queen who advises and supports her husband. This continues in the 8 See Plut. Lyc. 14.4: When some foreign woman, as it would seem, said to her: “You Spartan women are the only ones who rule their men,” she answered: “Yes, we are the only ones that give birth to men.” and Plut. Mor. 240 E 5 (Sayings of Spartan women): Being asked by a woman from Attica, “Why is it that you Spartan women are the only women that lord it over your men,” she said, “Because we are the only women that are mothers of men.” Thorsten Beigel - 9789004241923 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 10:09:15PM via free access 68 thorsten beigel following scenes. Pretending religious objections (but in fact being bribed with Persian gold), the Ephors refuse to pursue Leonidas’ plan to send out the entire Spartan army against the Persians. At night, when the sleepless Leonidas is brooding over his further steps, Gorgo urges him to act as a “free man” and to do everything necessary for the sake of Sparta.9 The dialog evolves into love-making, which gives the director the opportunity to display the completely nude bodies of his protagonists. While the film uses male semi-nudity otherwise as a symbol for military heroism (clearly a reference to “heroic nudity”), Leonidas and Gorgo serve here as a speci- men of an idealized sexuality, thus forming a contrast to deviant forms of sexuality as, for instance, in the rape of Gorgo or the sexual orgy in Xerxes’ tent. As a preliminary result it can be stated that Snyder’s Leonidas is por- trayed not only as a king and warrior but also, due to the role of Gorgo, as a loving husband and father. Accordingly Gorgo appears as a wife and mother but nevertheless a queen who stands by her king’s side and con- sequently subordinates her own fortune to the welfare of the state.
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