Frank Miller's 300 and the Classical Tradition

Thermopylae Graphic Novel Draws Skilfully From Ancient Sources

Apr 13, 2009

Frank Miller's graphic novel 300 faithfully depicts the Spartans who fought at Thermopylae, according to accounts from authors such as Xenophon, Herodotus, and Plutarch.

Frank Miller's 300 is the latest work in a long tradition of reinterpreting the legend of Thermopylae, the famous 480 BC battle in which King Leonidas and his band of 300 Spartans resisted a huge invading force led by the Persian King Xerxes.

The comic book retelling, while done in Miller's own inimitable style, nevertheless stays true to how the Spartans were seen by their fellow Greeks.

Frank Miller depicts the 300 Spartans more accurately than they are in many neoclassical works, such as Jacques-Louis David's painting Leonidas at Thermopylae (see below). In 300, the Spartan warriors, or hoplites, are drawn bearing spears, period-specific helmets, and red cloaks. Their shields are large, bronze, and circular, with a lambda, the symbol of Sparta, emblazoned on each.

All these details are mentioned in Xenophon's Spartan Society, and Frank Miller even shows the Spartan troops coolly combing their long hair before battle, a habit they were known for according to Herodotus (Histories 7.209).

Herodotus notes that the Persians, on the other hand, “wore on their heads loose caps called tiaras, and on their bodies sleeved tunics of divers colors, with scales of iron that looked like the scales of fish, and breeches on their legs.” (7.61) 300 depicts these accurately, and Frank Miller also includes other nationalities that made up Xerxes’ army, such as turbaned Medes, Bactrians, Arabians, and Ethiopians.

As for Xerxes himself, the Persian despot is portrayed in all his regal splendor, with bejeweled finery and ear- and nose-rings. 300 effectively shows the effeminate excess and hubris of Xerxes at Thermopylae, especially in comparison with the frugal Greeks, which is well in keeping with the classical Greek (and later Roman) disdain for "orientalism."

Indeed, the Battle of Thermopylae, and the other engagements of the Persian wars, marked the beginning of Greek cultural stereotypes toward so-called “barbarians." Aeschylus' contemporary tragedy The Persians (c. 472 BC) is the earliest example of this, just as 300 is among the most recent.

Frank Miller Captures the Laconic Spirit of the 300 Spartans

300 is also faithful to the Spartan ethos, as passed down in the Greco-Roman tradition. For instance, Plutarch's Sayings of the Spartans records some of the terse, "laconic" quips attributed to famous Spartans. Plutarch reports that when Xerxes wrote to Leonidas to surrender his arms, Leonidas replied, “Come and take them.” Frank Miller interprets this anecdote into modern English idiom when his Leonidas tells the Persians to “come and get it.”

Plutarch also notes that at Thermopylae, “When someone was saying: ‘It isn’t even possible to see the sun because of the Persians’ arrows,’ Leonidas said: ‘How pleasant then, if we’re going to fight them in the shade.’” While this particular exchange is left out of 300, the idea of Persian arrows blocking out the sun is included in a descriptive caption.

Moreover, Miller invents some sarcastic Spartan dialogue of his own, which would not be out of place in Sayings of the Spartans. In one scene, Xerxes tries to convince Leonidas to surrender after the first day of fighting at the pass of Thermopylae. But Leonidas refuses.

“Brave words,” Miller has Xerxes say. “Spartan words. Yours is a fascinating tribe. There is much our cultures could share.”

The Irony of the Three Hundred at Thermopylae

Ancient Sparta, a culture renowned for such epigrammatic wit, left no record written by its own authors. Yet other Greeks, and those who came after them, made up for this by retelling the story of Thermopylae. Frank Miller's 300, in following this tradition, convincingly reinterprets Sparta for the modern age.

Plutarch, Plutarch on Sparta, translated by Richard J. A. Talbert, Penguin, 2005. ISBN: 0140449434

Herodotus, The Histories, Vol. 3, translated by A. D. Godley, Harvard University Press, 1957. ISBN: 0674991303

The copyright of the article Frank Miller's 300 and the Classical Tradition in Graphic Novels/Comics is owned by Luke Arnott. Permission to republish Frank Miller's 300 and the Classical Tradition in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.