300 Redux

In the Star today there is a much more comprehensive article about the historical Spartans and how 300 does not depict them. From what I'm reading, the movie essentially sets up the Spartans as supermen and everyone else is either a freak, or gay, or both.

Thinking about this further, it should tell you something though about the Spartans that the only legacy they left was a fearsome reputation. While the Spartans were creating a warrior state, the Athenians were building, thinking, and writing - in addition to having a superb military.

I don't want to do this to slam 300 or ruin your movie-going experience generally, as a rule I try not to let historicity ruin historical fiction for me. Gladiator had more than a few embarrassingly bad historical interpretations of ancient Rome, but I'll still tell you that I enjoyed the film. Why? It was (I thought) a well-told story with decent actors and superb visuals. Just don't use it as a study aid.