Julia Meehan 10/22/19

AAH 404

300 Brave Men and One Woman: A Look at the Portrayal of Women in 300

In recent years, ancient Greece has become a popular setting for all types of

media including movies and video games. When thinking of Spartans in modern times,

one iconic line usually comes to mind. The scene in the movie 300 where King Leonidas

definitely yells “This is Sparta,” before kicking a messenger down a hole has become a

popular line that is oft-quoted and oft-referenced. 300 is a 2007 movie based on a comic

book series of the same name and historical Greek figures, mainly Leonidas and his

300 warriors, who really existed. It’s comic book influences are clear as the movie tells

an over-the-top and exceptionally gory tale of conflict between the Spartans and the

Persians. The movie centers around the 300 brave men that Leonidas brings with him

to fight against the Persian forces. The movie 300 paints a flashy picture of ancient

Sparta and achieves this. Queen Gorgo, who was a real person, is an attempt at a

feminist character that just avoids falling flat. However, the lack of female characters

other than the Queen Gorgo takes away from the impact of the film despite mirroring the

records of history.

This film does not claim in any fashion to be historically accurate. The scenes of

mass murder backed by screeching heavy-metal guitar riffs and the seas of male extras

with oiled-up eight-pack abs are not factual depictions of life in Sparta. The film is

clearly a violent romanticisation of the past done in comic-book style. Many of the shots

are visually stunning and the sepia overtones help set the stage. The purpose of this

movie is pure action movie style entertainment with gallons of fake blood and shocking
moments that keep the audience’s attention. This purpose is extended to the depiction

of the one major female character. Queen Gorgo played by Lena Headey, is the only

female character with a name or any lines. Throughout the movie, the Spartan men

make references to the fierceness of their women. If all women were Gorgo, this would

be true. However, they are not. The depiction of women in 300 falls in line with the long-

standing tradition of tokenism in comic-books and their movies. However, Gorgo is an

interesting take on the classic wife character archetype.

Right at the beginning of the film when she is introduced with a loving gaze at her

husband and young son, Gorgo’s character is easy to figure out. Above all, she is a wife

to Leonidas, mother of his child, and his most loyal supporter. However, the backdrop of

the notoriously violent and combative Sparta lends an interesting edge to her character.

She is unabashedly outspoken, criticizing the Persian messenger as he accosts her

husband. She is right alongside Leonidas as he executes his iconic kick and sends the

messenger plunging down. She is not afraid of the action and not afraid to speak her

mind. When her husband goes off to battle, she bids him goodbye with the words,

“Come back with your shield, or on it,” and gifts him a token for good luck. This is a

classic scene, but the harsh words drive the point home that Spartans have no room for

sentiment, if it wasn’t clear already. Up front, she has promise to be an empowering

female character and the audience is eager to see what she will do next.

Gorgo’s character gets off to a strong start. However, she is absent throughout

the majority of the film. Of the hour and forty-five minute runtime of the movie, Gorgo is

present for about fifteen minutes by generous estimate. The film checks in on her from

time to time while Leonidas is out being assaulted by arrow storms and God-kings.
During these check-ins, we see that she is using her political connections to gain an

audience with the council in order to ask them to send reinforcements to the 300, who

have dwindled in number since. She speaks with different men, goes around the city

with her son and doesn’t do much else. Her interludes are largely boring, a stark

contrast from the gratuitous scenes of violence and CGI decapitations. However, her

character picks up again in the last third of the film. Gorgo is making her case for

sending support to her husband to the corrupt politician Theron. After she asks what

she can possibly do to convince him, he rapes her, promising that “it will not be over

quickly and you will not enjoy it.” This scene is distasteful at first and seems

unwarranted and unnecessary, and for the most part it is. However, that scene is the

prologue to the event that makes Gorgo’s character shine. When Theron later orders

her removed from the council chambers and calls her a whore, she stabs him abruptly,

throwing his words of, “it will not be over quickly and you will not enjoy it,” right back at

him as he dies. The scene is shocking and immensely satisfying and without it Gorgo’s

character would fall flat. She is the archetype of the wife and damsel, however she

rescues herself and proves herself just as ruthless as the men, making her a somewhat

feminist character.

Although Gorgo’s character is a multi-dimensional depiction of a woman in

antiquity, it cannot be forgotten that she is the only female character. Women other than

Gorgo are more props than anything else throughout the duration of this film. They

stand in marketplaces, clutching children by the wrist, nod and smile at their queen as

she walks past, and in the case of the oracle and the persian servants, dance around

with their breasts exposed for an uncomfortable two minutes. Women in this film are
sexualized and scantily clad, clearly meant for the male gaze. However, they are not

less scantily clad and exposed then the male characters, most of which run around in

little more than leather speedos and capes for the entire film. No character is safe from

the hypersexualization that comes with the comic book tradition. Although this film has

one character that may be considered somewhat feminist, the whole movie is by no

means a feminist work.

It should also be noted that the lack of female characters is a direct mirror to the

historical evidence that came out of Greece. In much of Greek literature and art, women

are not depicted unless they are divine. Gorgo was one of the only real Greek women

who has available information about her. She was known for her wit and political savvy,

and the film depicted those traits. It is difficult to find historical evidence of what women

did in ancient Greece and their stories are always overshadowed by the stories of men.

Most people can name at least five famous Greek men, but not one woman. It is hard

for films and other media to depict powerful Greek women when history has given them

so little to go off of in a society where everything was written down.

300 is a hyper fictionalized, over-the-top depiction of the ancient world. It’s goal is

to be violent and entertaining and to speak to the warrior culture of Sparta. The token

female character is a ruthless and violent take on the classic wife archetype, which

makes sense with the film’s setting. However, the lack of other female characters is

disappointing although it mirrors historical sources concerning Greek life and war.