King of Sparta Leonidas I put aside problems with his greatest rival Athens because of the Persian threat, in order to fight this bigger enemy. As one could imagine the greatest of all enemies originates from the East. The Eastern enemy is mystical, numerous, multinational and possesses bizarre creatures and unknown tools. The masterpiece of the Persian army is the “God King.” Killing them would be a sign that their mystical faith can’t save them all the time. The king of Sparta is not fighting this enemy only for his own home, his own family, nor only for Sparta, but in order to protect the whole Greek, or Western civilization. Sparta’s king is totally free from mysticism and he refuses to act according to religious beliefs, moreover he is conducting this war in the name of protecting freedom. The only military power that could resist the barbarians and assure the West’s freedom appears to be Sparta. Sparta’s king and soldiers are sacrificing themselves for the whole West. They are fighting some distance from their territories because it would be easier to stop the Eastern enemies there. Combating at a crossroads would mean blocking the enemy’s advance and pushing the danger away. The Spartan king fights kilometers away from home in the name of freedom and risks his own life in order to stop the barbarians and terrorists from staging an asymmetric war. He trusts that the Spartan and allied armies would back him up and he tries to gain some time while convincing Congress. But when the Spartan victory is close, a Western politician called Ephialtes sides with the Persians, fueled by anger with the Spartans due to past events. Before this agreement he proposed joining with the Spartan forces and imposing his own conditions, but King Leonidas refused, fearing that this would undermine the unity among his troops. Thus Ephialtes stabs Sparta in the back. The image of Ephialtes reminds us of the “Quasimodo” character in Victor Hugo’s novel “Notre-Dame de Paris.”
The movie portrays the East as the center of the terror, atrocity and aggression. Thus, the movie’s main message is geared toward Westerners. The movie’s objective is to legitimize the West’s war before its own public opinion. A West that fights a war far away from home, that makes its decisions democratically and in which women are present in political life (represented by Leonidas’ wife). And if we replace Leonidas’ name with that of George W. Bush, other important meanings appear.
The US, which is in a conflict of interests with some Western countries, had to send its powerful army abroad in the name of common values and expectations and because the system requires this. His allies had to act on his side, but as they were dealing with domestic issues and trying to obtain economic gains, they didn’t fully support him. As he couldn’t get all the help he expected, the war became more difficult. But the main reason for the failure is the cooperation of a supposed ally with the enemy. However even if the US troops fail and some of its allies refuse to play their part in the game, the dimensions of the threat will bring them together.
Those who are fighting abroad call for help and those who are not helping should realize the consequences: that’s the real message of this movie.
