{"id":4841,"date":"2013-12-10T08:05:30","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T08:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=4841"},"modified":"2014-09-23T11:15:26","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T11:15:26","slug":"this-is-sparta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/carls-thoughts\/this-is-sparta\/","title":{"rendered":"This is Sparta"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For Threads 300th post, they asked Carl Beech to tell us just why he loves the epic testosterone-fuelled film 300\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Battle of Thermopylae is the stuff of legend.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s around 480BC and 300 Spartan warriors face an invasion force of 300,000 Persians.<\/p>\n

Against the odds they determine to hold them off at a narrow pass called \u2018The Hot Gates\u2019 to enable the Greek city-states to muster their various armies and form a united front. It\u2019s a suicide mission and they know it. They fight hard and to the last man. Historians tell how the last men standing were so ferocious they fought using their hands, feet and teeth.<\/p>\n

Basically, the Greek city-states gained much needed time to muster their armies and eventually, after a brutal war, the Persian army was driven back and Greece was saved.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that there were some epic moments among the tragedy of the slaughter.<\/p>\n

In a famous exchange captured in the 2006 film\u00a0300<\/em><\/a>, the historian Herodotus said this of one of the reputedly bravest warriors called Dienekes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was told by a native of Trachis that the Persian archers were so numerous that their arrows would block out the sun. Dienekes, however, undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh: \u2018Good. Then we will fight in the shade.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, for all you history geeks out there, the historical version differs a bit from the film but it\u2019s true they held the line, true they all died and true that they enabled the Greek armies to overcome and win the fight.<\/p>\n

As a film,\u00a0300<\/em>\u00a0rocked the world. It\u2019s still the 24th highest-grossing film for an opening weekend, having taken more than \u00a3456 million and has a cult following to this day.
\nInterestingly the film is said to be popular with men and women, particularly because it has a strong female and male lead. There\u2019s no denying it though that many men love the film and the story. I\u2019m one of them.<\/p>\n

Yes there\u2019s glorified and over-stylised violence and I\u2019m sure it says something about our culture that violent films do so well at the box office, but I confess that the film just gripped me. Why? Because it\u2019s a band of brothers fighting against the odds who have each other\u2019s backs. There\u2019s unswerving loyalty to each other and to a cause. There\u2019s pride in who they are and the nation they represent. They refuse to quit and stay upbeat even in the face of certain death. They are well-trained, drilled and motivated. I can\u2019t explain why, but all this, and the sense of heroic struggle, deeply appeals to me.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s because I\u2019m a throwback dinosaur of a man (I can picture the nodding heads) or perhaps it\u2019s because something deep within me wants to fight for a noble cause and get into a scrap. I think it\u2019s probably something to do with my testosterone levels. Society wants me to be tame and so does the Church \u2013 or at least that\u2019s what it tends to communicate.<\/p>\n

My role model however isn\u2019t King Leonidas, the Spartan warrior, or a gentile parish vicar; it\u2019s Jesus, and in the words of C S Lewis: \u201cAslan is not a tame lion.\u201d<\/p>\n

This blog was first published here…<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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