Movies and Edged Weapons Pt. 2

David · 5th April 2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manolo

Your doubts are well founded, David. The scimitars they used were nonsense, and I somehow doubts that Spartans ever fought naked (with loincloth and mantle).

But how else would we get to see their fabulous (and CGI identical) six-pack abs?

ariel · 5th April 2007, 05:48 PM

Perhaps, an opinion from the American pre-eminent military historian, Victor Davis Hanson, could be of help.
http://washingtontimes.com/commentar...5421-8261r.htm

David · 5th April 2007, 09:42 PM

From the above mentioned article:
True, 2,500 years ago, almost every society in the ancient Mediterranean world had slaves. And all relegated women to a relatively inferior position. Sparta turned the entire region of Messenia into a dependent serf state.
But in the Greek polis alone, there were elected governments, ranging from the constitutional oligarchy at Sparta to much broader-based voting in states like Athens and Thespiae.
Most importantly, only in Greece was there a constant tradition of unfettered expression and self-criticism. Aristophanes, Sophocles and Plato questioned the subordinate position of women. Alcidamas lamented the notion of slavery.

And yet is is my understanding that at that time Persia had already banned slavery and gave far more rights to their women than the Greeks or any other Western culture did at the time, much to the distain of the Greeks.
Pederasty was also the norm in ancient Greece. I didn't see any of that depicted in the film though.

Hey, it's a comic book. I wouldn't argue with anyone about many of the more detail oriented inaccuracies in the film. Exact numbers are unimportant here. 300, 600, 1500, who cares. And yes, the story line was basically taken from the writings of the greeks themselves. Of course the Greeks would depict their attackers as being lesser beings then themselves. This is the way of all war, to depict ones enemy as less than human. But i also see using that skewed Greek viewpoint as dangerous propaganda for our modern times.
But politics and accuracy aside, this film still sucked!
BTW, i didn't find the line, "Then we shall fight in the shade." in reference to the Persian arrows blotting out the sun to be among the corny ones as the author suggests. Rather it was probably the best line in the whole film.

S.Al-Anizi · 5th April 2007, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

But how else would we get to see their fabulous (and CGI identical) six-pack abs?

Hey, how do you suppose they got all those actors packed with those abs? Or was it just CGI? Most even had 8-packs, let alone the few unlucky with 6

5th April 2007, 05:48 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Perhaps, an opinion from the American pre-eminent military historian, Victor Davis Hanson, could be of help. http://washingtontimes.com/commentar...5421-8261r.htm

5th April 2007, 09:42 PM	#3
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,218	From the above mentioned article: True, 2,500 years ago, almost every society in the ancient Mediterranean world had slaves. And all relegated women to a relatively inferior position. Sparta turned the entire region of Messenia into a dependent serf state. But in the Greek polis alone, there were elected governments, ranging from the constitutional oligarchy at Sparta to much broader-based voting in states like Athens and Thespiae. Most importantly, only in Greece was there a constant tradition of unfettered expression and self-criticism. Aristophanes, Sophocles and Plato questioned the subordinate position of women. Alcidamas lamented the notion of slavery. And yet is is my understanding that at that time Persia had already banned slavery and gave far more rights to their women than the Greeks or any other Western culture did at the time, much to the distain of the Greeks. Pederasty was also the norm in ancient Greece. I didn't see any of that depicted in the film though. Hey, it's a comic book. I wouldn't argue with anyone about many of the more detail oriented inaccuracies in the film. Exact numbers are unimportant here. 300, 600, 1500, who cares. And yes, the story line was basically taken from the writings of the greeks themselves. Of course the Greeks would depict their attackers as being lesser beings then themselves. This is the way of all war, to depict ones enemy as less than human. But i also see using that skewed Greek viewpoint as dangerous propaganda for our modern times. But politics and accuracy aside, this film still sucked! BTW, i didn't find the line, "Then we shall fight in the shade." in reference to the Persian arrows blotting out the sun to be among the corny ones as the author suggests. Rather it was probably the best line in the whole film.