300-1 🎥 2007 Movie Info

Plot Summary

Dilios, a hoplite in the Spartan army, narrates the story of a Spartan king named Leonidas I from childhood to kingship through the Spartan child-rearing system and the Battle of Thermopylae. A Persian herald arrives at Sparta one day, urging Leonidas to present an offering of “earth and water” as a token of submission to King Xerxes. Leonidas and the Spartan soldiers decline, throwing the herald, who insulted Queen Gorgo, and his envoy into a bottomless pit. Visiting the Ephors, Leonidas proposes driving back the Persians through Thermopylae by funneling them into a narrow pass, giving the Greeks’ heavy infantry the advantage over the numerically superior Persian light infantry.

The Ephors warn Leonidas that Sparta should not wage war during the up coming Carneia and consult the Oracle, who corroborates their advice. As Leonidas angrily departs, an agent from Xerxes appears alongside a Spartan politician, Theron, rewarding the Ephors for their covert support. Having been denied permission to mobilize Sparta’s army, Leonidas gathers 300 soldiers, with many of them leaving behind sons to carry on their name. Theron and the Council confront Leonidas and his men about defying the Ephors. Leonidas denies going to war, yet they depart for the Hot Gates shortly afterwards.

Joined by a few thousand Arcadians and their leader Daxos along with other Greeks, they reach Thermopylae, watching a storm sinking many Persian navy ships at the Aegean Sea. The Spartans then scout out a large Persian encampment and construct a big wall, using slain Persian scouts as mortar. Meanwhile, Leonidas encounters Ephialtes, a deformed Spartan whose parents fled Sparta to spare him certain infanticide. Ephialtes warns him of a secret goat path the Persians could use to outflank and surround the Spartans. Although sympathetic, Leonidas rejects him since his deformity could compromise the phalanx formation.

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