For the in class research we did, one of the things I focused on were the differences between Athens and Sparta. It's an interesting comparison to make, and I'll save the details for the discussion in class, but one thing I found interesting in researching both cities is how both have been sort of mythologized throughout history. When dealing with history from this long ago, there are only a few sources to refer to which are often of questionable reliability. There are a few main historical sources of information about both cities, for example Herodotus' Histories, Xenophon's works, and Plutarch's Lives, but these very early works of history are not exactly up to modern standards of historiography. As an example, Plutarch traces back the lineage of Lycurgus back to Heracles, so also to Zeus, so clearly there is an element of legend to all of this history.
So even from these nearly contemporary histories of Sparta, the city has been idealized. It's difficult to determine how much of what was written about Sparta was really historically accurate and how much is just sort of myth or propaganda. Later on in Western history, this idealized version of Sparta has had a great impact, with many philosophers like the early Platonists and later thinkers like Rousseau considering Sparta a sort of ideal state. There's even a term for such admiration, Laconophilia, typically focusing on praising the discipline and order of Spartan society.
All of which brings me to the action movie 300, referenced in the title of this post. 300 is a somewhat absurd action movie depicting the Battle of Thermopylae, where the titular 300 Spartans, along with a few thousand other Greek soldiers who didn't make it into the movie, fought bravely against an invading, much larger Persian army. The movie makes no attempt at historical accuracy, with weird magicians and other things to add excitement, but it takes its basic premise from a story of Spartan bravery. It's sort of interesting how this ridiculous action movie is really a part of a centuries-long admiration and idealization of Spartan society that seeps into pop culture even today.
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The idealization of Sparta in 300 and other movies is more a of problem in the whole film industry in my opinion. Many movies now make little to no effort to make sure that their movies are historically accurate. When a movie comes along nowadays that is both historically accurate and entertaining to watch, it is a spectacle to see. One of the most recent movies that has done this successfully was Dunkirk. Dunkirk was a movie that is still in theaters that portrays the evacuation of Dunkirk, France during World War II. (It also features one of my favorite artists in Harry Styles). This movie wonderfully explains this evacuation with a compelling story line while still being historically accurate. As I have said though this is not common. Movies like JFK, 300, and Gladiator, while they may have good plots (and memes), they fail to do history any justice in their portrayals. The idealization of Sparta is not a stand alone issue in today's world of films, but rather a representation of a greater issue at work.
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