Are the immortals in 300 real?

Frank Miller's 1998 comic book 300 and the 2006 feature film adapted from it present a heavily fictionalized version of the Immortals at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE.

Are the Immortals real?

The Ten Thousand Immortals were the elite force of the Persian army of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE). They formed the king's personal bodyguard and were also considered the shock troops of the infantry in Persian warfare. They are among the most famous fighting forces of the ancient world.

Who do the Immortals represent in 300?

The Immortals were Xerxes personal bodyguards. See an ancient rendering of the Immortals. They were an elite fighting unit. In the film, they wear shiny masks to hide their horrific faces, which is an element of fiction created by 300 author Frank Miller.

Is there any truth in 300?

The film 300 is an adaptation of a comic book based on historical events, but it makes no pretense of being historically accurate. However, the battle of Thermopylae was a real event, with 300 Spartans at the center of the story.

Did the Spartans fight the Immortals?

According to Ctesias, the first wave was "cut to ribbons", with only two or three Spartans killed in return. According to Herodotus and Diodorus, the king, having taken the measure of the enemy, threw his best troops into a second assault the same day, the Immortals, an elite corps of 10,000 men.

300 (2006) - Immortals Put to the Test (1/2) | Movieclips

Is the story of Leonidas true?

530-480 B.C.) was a king of the city-state of Sparta from about 490 B.C. until his death at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian army in 480 B.C. Although Leonidas lost the battle, his death at Thermopylae was seen as a heroic sacrifice because he sent most of his army away when he realized that the Persians ...

How much of 300 is accurate?

The director of 300, Zack Snyder, stated in an MTV interview that "the events are 90 percent accurate. It's just in the visualization that it's crazy.... I've shown this movie to world-class historians who have said it's amazing. They can't believe it's as accurate as it is."

Does the city of Sparta still exist?

Sparta (Greek: Σπάρτη Spárti [ˈsparti]) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. It lies at the site of ancient Sparta. The municipality was merged with six nearby municipalities in 2011, for a total population (as of 2011) of 35,259, of whom 17,408 lived in the city.

Is Artemisia a real person?

Artemisia was real enough, we learn from Herodotus, her contemporary and historian of the Greco-Persian Wars. She was indeed a Greek queen, who did fight for the Persians at Salamis. But far from being admiral-in-chief of the Persian navy, she contributed a mere handful of warships out of the total of 600 or so.

Who betrayed Sparta?

In the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, Ephialtes was portrayed by Kieron Moore and is depicted as a loner who worked on a goat farm near Thermopylae. He betrays the Spartans to the Persians out of greed for riches, and, it is implied, unrequited love for a Spartan girl named Ellas.

Who created an army of 10 000 Immortals?

Ten thousand-strong, the Immortals represented the absolute cream of the empire's troops and operated as both the emperor's guard and part of the standing army. Founded by Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenid empire covered a vast territory across western Asia.

Is the Battle of Thermopylae real?

The Battle of Thermopylae was a battle in 480 BCE in central Greece at the mountain pass of Thermopylae. It was fought between Greek and Persian forces during the Greco-Persian Wars.

Where did the Immortals come from?

Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) attempted to give an origin to immortals by revealing that they were criminals from the planet Zeist who were exiled to Earth, becoming immortal in the process.

How tall is Xerxes?

Xerxes, the king of Persia, is portrayed as seven feet tall. Actor Rodrigo Santoro is only 6'2". Not too shabby, but the other 10 inches are special effects.

What can make you immortal?

By preventing cells from reaching senescence one can achieve biological immortality; telomeres, a "cap" at the end of DNA, are thought to be the cause of cell aging. Every time a cell divides the telomere becomes a bit shorter; when it is finally worn down, the cell is unable to split and dies.

Who killed Artemisia?

One legend reported by Photios, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 858 to 867 and from 877 to 886, has Artemisia falling in love with a man named Dardanus. According to Photios, when Dardanus rejected her, Artemisia threw herself over the rocks of Leucas and was swallowed by the Aegean Sea.

What did Artemisia look like?

Commonly known as artemesia, individual species also may be known as wormwood, absinthe, southernwood, and mugwort. Artemisias have alternate leaves in various shapes, often lobed and covered with whitish hairs that give them a silvery, grayish look.

What did Artemisia say to Xerxes?

Artemisia suggested to him that he should retreat back to Asia Minor and she advocated the plan suggested by Mardonius, who requested 300,000 Persian soldiers with which he would defeat the Greeks in Xerxes' absence.

How do I become a Spartan?

Does Troy exist today?

Troy is an ancient city and archaeological site in modern-day Turkey, but is also famously the setting for the legendary Trojan War in Homer's epic poems the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." In legend, the city of Troy was besieged for 10 years and eventually conquered by a Greek army led by King Agamemnon.

What happened to the lion of Leonidas?

After the battle in Thermopylae a stone lion was built for everyone to remember the name of the king that died in this location. His body was sent to be buried in Sparta in 440BC.

How long did 300 Spartans hold?

He is the author of the History in an Afternoon textbook series. One of the all-time great stories of ancient history involved the defense of Thermopylae, when a narrow pass was held for three days against a vast Persian army by just 300 Spartans, 299 of whom perished.

How tough was a Spartan?

Spartan hoplites were well-trained and the fiercest of the Greek soldiers. Their constant training made them dexterous in the formation of a phalanx. The highlight of the phalanx formation was that the success in the battle was a team effort and no one man could take credit for the victory.

Does the Spartan bloodline still exist?

The Maniots (inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula) therefore are considered direct descendants of Spartans. Almost three thousand years ago, Greece consisted of multiple 'polis' that were mostly controlled by Sparta. Spartans, as depicted in the 2006 movie 300, were highly trained fighters.