The trailers for 300 have me pumped

[Occhidiangela]

Hi,
Especially if all historical accuracy is flushed away. Might be an OK movie in a mindless way, but when the trailer got into the 'freedom' mode in discussing one of the most oppressive slave societies ever, I didn't know whether to laugh or hurl. And if the Spartans were such bad assed warriors, how come the 'decadent' Athenians (lovers of arts, poetry, and intellect) kept whooping Spartan ass -- last I checked it was Athens, not Sparta that won the Peloponnesian wars. And while Athens survived as a city from antiquity till the present, Sparta just faded into obscurity.

Other than drinking ox blood boiled in vinegar and keeping their Helots subdued, the Spartans never really did much. And don't go quoting 'Stranger who passes here . . .', that hasn't impressed me since before I learned to shave.

--Pete

Pete:

Sparta and its allies (which eventually included Persians) won the Peloponnesian War, reference Thucydides study of that same conflict, the one that lasted about three decades and saw Pericles die, whereafter Athenian leadership led to a series of follies that resulted in Athenian defeat.

The expedition to Sicily, and the plague that destroyed roughly a third of Athens' population, led to their defeat. As a condition of surrender at the end of the last act in that war, Athens was required to dismantle the city walls.

Occhi