Much of the Greek force retreated rather than face the Persian army. An army of Spartans, Thespians and Thebans remained to fight the Persians. Leonidas and the 300 Spartans with him were all killed, along with most of their remaining allies.
Spartans were wearing helmets that looked like ones from the movie,they had a shield that was made out of wood with a bronze cover on the top and the famous Spartan sign(If you played God of War 2 or 3 or if you watched the movie you know what I'm talking about,they had swords that were smaller but they were ONLY used in case of a really close combat and if they lost their spears,they had spears that were main combat weapon(spears were 3 meter's long),they were wearing a body armour that was shaped like an athletic male torso,and they had NO arm protection because their shield would cover them, if Spartan lost his shield he would be a shame to the Sparta,Spartan whamen were saying to their husbands and I quote:Come back with your shield or on it.In the movie you can see a Spartan droping a baby ffom the cliff and that was true(Spartans would drop the babies that showed any sign of illness or weakness).
this is the one most true tough, only 300 spartans, 1000-7000 in total depending on source - and depending on what account you believe, facing off against something between 100'000 and 1 million persians depending on who you believe...they were still outnumbered at least 1:100
Mr. Nobody actually they started with 1000 but leonidas asked If anyone wanted to leave they could so there were left 700 Thespieis from the city Thespia and 300 spartans
Another fact: "Tonight we dine in hell!" There was no hell in ancient times, only the underworld. Hell is a rather new concept with the new religions like Christianity, Jewish and Islam.
Actually, the word "Hell" was blatantly stolen from Pagan Germanic religion to form bridges between the religions so conversion would become easier for Christians. Incorporation of similar terms would lower the amount of martyrs and whatnot.
lol No. You're confusing the etymology. The Proto-Germanic was used to help convert pagans to Christianity. You can't reverse a conditional: if A then B does NOT mean B therefore A. The incorporation of the term was to demonstrate connotation and had nothing to do with martyrdom.
I am Greek and I verify that your video has some accurate facts. I am not sure how many defended Thermopyles but it was certainly not only the 300 Spartans. I might have been even more than you refer to in the video, but your basic idea is absolutely right.
The thing i find funny is that there were 300 Spartans! But, 7,000 Greeks in all. And in the movie 300 it's not just 300 Spartans, Daxos and his men are there. And Leonidas says position the Thespians in the path that surrounds them!
You forgot the biggest myth that the movie tried to pro-trey! King Leo was one of the earliest Spartan's to die in real life! He was NOT the last Spartan to die!
also: the reason why there where only 300 spartans, was because they where meant to hold their position until greece was completely united, they all agreed on that and there was a truce with sparta and athens after the spartans won't the battle against athens, the spartans new they where going to die, and also the politicians, and atheneans new that, it was all a strategy that proved successful, there was no sacred festival or corruption that prevented it
On the pederasty, what are you even talking about? The movie 300 did not even portray the Spartans as engaging in pederasty. Heck, even Leonidas mocks the Athenians for supposedly practicing it.
If you'd actually read xenaphons written work on Sparta he actually explains how the relationship between men and boys were mainly for guidance and mentoring
Actually, recruits were expected to steal from the Helots (slaves) without getting caught, otherwise their COs would beat them. Also, the thing about Thebes and Thespiae was that those cities allied with Persia, so the contingency from both cities had no home to go back to, as the Thebans and Tespians were effectively branded as traitors to their respective city-states.
A myth I believed was that the Greece was for "free men" when in reality a larger percentage of their population were slaves as compared to Persia and the rest of the ancient world.
I completely agree with these myths. 300 was entertaining, but in no way should be thought of as a historically accurate film... if you dare think of it in any way possible.
Contemporary quotes give us a idea of Spartan views Plutarch as well: Affectionate regard for boys of good character was permissible, but embracing them was held to be disgraceful, on the ground that the affection was for the body and not for the mind. Any man against whom complaint was made of any disgraceful embracing was deprived of all civic rights for life. (Moralia, The Ancient Customs of the Spartans, 7)
well there are several historical accounts and modern estimates, and while they vary, it was still a very small number of greeks (the hihgest estimate is a few 10009 vs a huge number of persians (smallest estimate is 100'000 largest ive seen over 2 mio)...dont forget that htey were defending a narrow passage
Kyp Durron No it isn't. It is based on all recordings plus archeological evidence. MILLIONS of arrowheads have been found and countless equipment and bodies. The Persians were at least 100.000 and Greeks started with 7000 and when most left to fight another day, 1200 stayed to hold
The coincidence here is that CinemaSins just sinned 300: Rise of an Empire And of course they had armor! Kratos from God of War is a supreme badass and he fought with armor as the General of the Spartan Army
Be like running into the mena bath room with only a under wear, a towel as a cape, and some cardboard as a helmet and just kick everyone into the stalls yelling, "DIS IS SPARTA!!!!"
The only thing I feel you got wrong was the thing about the training. They would be relegated, more like only those who survive the training become spartan citizens
Babies weren't thrown into a pit they were set outside the city for small animals to eat. Sparta had many kings. It was also highly unlikely the spartan hoplites wore linothorax or cuirasses like the video suggests because they were very expensive and impractical. You could easily make a better case that they fought naked.
One Correction and one addition. Thespians, are not a group of greek nationality. Thespians is a term for actors, named after Thesbis, the first actor of greek plays according to Aristotle. And one myth I would have added was that King Leonidas, was not the only king of Sparta. Spartans lived in a dual monarchy. Also he was 60 during the battle and died on the third day. According to Greek historian Herodotus. Sadly he was not the sexy young man being the last to die as the movie showed.
PS. The part in the movie 300 where those soldiers bow before the young Leonidas is complete BS. He was a prince of Sparta and the second son of one of the two Kings . Which means he was treated just like his classmates.
Clearly this video is made for people that get their historical knowledge from movies. Therefore i will not argue but rather state how bad and insulting this was.
Spartans had to stay in battle and die because the had one saying that either you will return from the battle victorious and with your armor or the they will carry dead into your shield.
What about that the Spartans were not super soldiers? And that we don’t know if they for sure practiced infant killing? What about that Sparta has considerably fewer male full citizens then just about any other Greek city state? What about that Thermopylae was never planned or known to be a suicide mission? What about that during their training they didn’t receive an exceptional amount of specific martial training. Spartiates lived a leisurely life, unlike the Perioekoi and their contemporaries in other Greek city states who lived a life of work. They recited poetry, they trained, they danced, they drank, they slept around. As for the Helots who were slaves, they occupied the lowest place in Spartan society. Spartans However were significantly outnumbered by their Helot underlings and lived in constant fear of revolt.
Was this video made mostly just to disprove 300? That movie never claimed to be accurate; they didn't even put "based on a true story" in the beginning. It's based on a comic book, so...
Fun fact: Spartans judge a child if they look strong enough to join. If they look "weak" to them, they'll leave them out of the city because they don't want weaklings in their army.
They also forgot the myth about them being the good guys in 300 and the Persians being the bad guys, in fact the Spartans were tyrannical baby murdering slave drivers while the Persians were peaceful people who invented diplomacy.
Actually there was a survival part of Spartan training when at around age 12 a Spartan boy would be given a single red cloak possible a knife and sent out in the wild to survive on his own. This wasn't a rite of passage it was part of testing the boys ability to survive off the land. Modern special forces teach this as well. It's not that hard ...make shelter and find food . That's about it. Killing a Helot which was more of a midevil surf rather than a slave was a rite of passage but the objective wasn't the murder itself. The objective was to not get caught doing it. Just like stealing wasn't frowned upon but getting caught stealing would be punished for being caught. Spartan military training was ment to teach combat skills and survival skills as well as stealth . You know skills that make good soldiers in their time and have carried over to modern militaries in some form or another.
I started the writing of a book whose main character was a spartan soldier and I watched 300 out of curiosity later. So weird. I almost stopped the story because of how people would consider it with 300 in mind.
I never believed in that crappy myths and as I was reading about everything always, not believing, but finding out the truth for myself I knew all this from when I was a boy. I never believe, I know or I don't know. When I hear something from someone - I always check for myself. People are mostly talking crap.
Pederasty is the right term, I think you mean it wasn't pedophilia. It's technically ephebophilia, which is the term when the younger one is a teenager.
Spartans never die, they're just missing in action.
Just like the goonies
No, they respawn.
This should be called "Top 5 Militant Myths About 300 movie"
Honourable mention: Spartans never die, they just go missing
Jake Fox ahaha u a legend
Thebes disagres
Well there were still 300 Spartans, so technically that wasn't a Myth lmao.
Travis Spalding But during the movie some people joined Leonidas army, you know, that famous scene
Ramon Francois, and you never see them again.
Timothy House ikr
its because they fought on another front not with spartans well in the movie atleast.
Much of the Greek force retreated rather than face the Persian army. An army of Spartans, Thespians and Thebans remained to fight the Persians. Leonidas and the 300 Spartans with him were all killed, along with most of their remaining allies.
Spartans were wearing helmets that looked like ones from the movie,they had a shield that was made out of wood with a bronze cover on the top and the famous Spartan sign(If you played God of War 2 or 3 or if you watched the movie you know what I'm talking about,they had swords that were smaller but they were ONLY used in case of a really close combat and if they lost their spears,they had spears that were main combat weapon(spears were 3 meter's long),they were wearing a body armour that was shaped like an athletic male torso,and they had NO arm protection because their shield would cover them, if Spartan lost his shield he would be a shame to the Sparta,Spartan whamen were saying to their husbands and I quote:Come back with your shield or on it.In the movie you can see a Spartan droping a baby ffom the cliff and that was true(Spartans would drop the babies that showed any sign of illness or weakness).
The only myth I feel for was the one about there being only 300 Spartans fighting alone
this is the one most true tough, only 300 spartans, 1000-7000 in total depending on source - and depending on what account you believe, facing off against something between 100'000 and 1 million persians depending on who you believe...they were still outnumbered at least 1:100
Counter Blast they fought the last battle alone but the rest they had help
The last battle on the third day had 1000 non-Spartan allies along with the 300 Spartans according to Greek sources....=P
Mr. Nobody actually they started with 1000 but leonidas asked If anyone wanted to leave they could so there were left 700 Thespieis from the city Thespia and 300 spartans
Mr. Nobody yea they had a few hundred or thousand allies but there were only 300 spartans
Another fact: "Tonight we dine in hell!" There was no hell in ancient times, only the underworld. Hell is a rather new concept with the new religions like Christianity, Jewish and Islam.
It would be more fitting if he said tonight we will visit Hades
Dai mon He meant Hades. It sounded better that way though
Actually, the word "Hell" was blatantly stolen from Pagan Germanic religion to form bridges between the religions so conversion would become easier for Christians. Incorporation of similar terms would lower the amount of martyrs and whatnot.
this movie is for dumb people. obviously.
lol No. You're confusing the etymology. The Proto-Germanic was used to help convert pagans to Christianity. You can't reverse a conditional: if A then B does NOT mean B therefore A. The incorporation of the term was to demonstrate connotation and had nothing to do with martyrdom.
Actually, all spartan men were warriors. Those who nursed for the city and take care of crops etc were female spartans and slaves called helots.
I am Greek and I verify that your video has some accurate facts. I am not sure how many defended Thermopyles but it was certainly not only the 300 Spartans. I might have been even more than you refer to in the video, but your basic idea is absolutely right.
The thing i find funny is that there were 300 Spartans! But, 7,000 Greeks in all. And in the movie 300 it's not just 300 Spartans, Daxos and his men are there. And Leonidas says position the Thespians in the path that surrounds them!
You forgot the biggest myth that the movie tried to pro-trey! King Leo was one of the earliest Spartan's to die in real life! He was NOT the last Spartan to die!
also: the reason why there where only 300 spartans, was because they where meant to hold their position until greece was completely united, they all agreed on that and there was a truce with sparta and athens after the spartans won't the battle against athens, the spartans new they where going to die, and also the politicians, and atheneans new that, it was all a strategy that proved successful, there was no sacred festival or corruption that prevented it
On the pederasty, what are you even talking about? The movie 300 did not even portray the Spartans as engaging in pederasty. Heck, even Leonidas mocks the Athenians for supposedly practicing it.
Since there was no mention of it i guess it's true then that the spartans used and abused their time slowing capabilities like in the movies.....
I knew most of the myth's didn't exist before seeing this video but the one on "Pederasty" took me by surprise.
300 isn't a historical movie. it's a movie based off a comic. it's histroical fiction.
Koba But it was amazing to watch
Koba lol stupid
Well it's all Frank Miller's fault
If you'd actually read xenaphons written work on Sparta he actually explains how the relationship between men and boys were mainly for guidance and mentoring
I am from Greece so I know about Spartans
Everyone on the earth who knows something about history knows about them
Zbychu Pokrzywa true
Alex Miner Gr cool?
Alex Miner Gr ολοι μας
Galva Tron Our ancestors would kick the crap out you and make you their bitch.
Actually, recruits were expected to steal from the Helots (slaves) without getting caught, otherwise their COs would beat them.
Also, the thing about Thebes and Thespiae was that those cities allied with Persia, so the contingency from both cities had no home to go back to, as the Thebans and Tespians were effectively branded as traitors to their respective city-states.
They didn't have "COs" bud
A myth I believed was that the Greece was for "free men" when in reality a larger percentage of their population were slaves as compared to Persia and the rest of the ancient world.
I completely agree with these myths. 300 was entertaining, but in no way should be thought of as a historically accurate film... if you dare think of it in any way possible.
Contemporary quotes give us a idea of Spartan views
Plutarch as well: Affectionate regard for boys of good character was permissible, but embracing them was held to be disgraceful, on the ground that the affection was for the body and not for the mind. Any man against whom complaint was made of any disgraceful embracing was deprived of all civic rights for life. (Moralia, The Ancient Customs of the Spartans, 7)
even if they were more than the 300 spartans, a 1000 men, the persiens were a 100 times more...its still an amazing war story
nemesis7884 Nope. I don't believe that rubbish lol.
well there are several historical accounts and modern estimates, and while they vary, it was still a very small number of greeks (the hihgest estimate is a few 10009 vs a huge number of persians (smallest estimate is 100'000 largest ive seen over 2 mio)...dont forget that htey were defending a narrow passage
dont forget that all of this is based on greek recordings
actually at the end only the 300 spartans stayed and everyone else left
Kyp Durron No it isn't. It is based on all recordings plus archeological evidence. MILLIONS of arrowheads have been found and countless equipment and bodies. The Persians were at least 100.000 and Greeks started with 7000 and when most left to fight another day, 1200 stayed to hold
Many, many years ago,
When Persia came ashore....
Heeding Leonidas' call the Spartans went to war
Spears and shields of oxen hide facing uniforms and guns
(OOps wrong song)
Joined by their brothers, a few against the fateful horde
Sabaton for life ❤
"I am a kind god,I ask only that you kneel" - Hillary Clinton
Furthermore all male spartans were apart of the military if they were labourers then they'd either be part of the perioikoi or the helots
The coincidence here is that CinemaSins just sinned 300: Rise of an Empire
And of course they had armor! Kratos from God of War is a supreme badass and he fought with armor as the General of the Spartan Army
David Taylor Kratos? Lmfao he is just as made up as the 300 movie
4:40 FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT!!!
there were 300 Spartans but they had significant help from other city-states
Be like running into the mena bath room with only a under wear, a towel as a cape, and some cardboard as a helmet and just kick everyone into the stalls yelling, "DIS IS SPARTA!!!!"
Actuary, none. I knew they existed. Thought that they made a really good movie, a great story, & with Spartans.
Spartans were the heaviest armored Greeks and one who did fight naked was arrested for "endangering his own life"
Not for Spartans only a worrier never DIE.
#5 is correct but it wasn't only the author who came up with the almost naked style. Spartans were dipicted as such by painters long before.
Pedestey didnt actualy include sex, their was no sexual interaction and in soarta it was ilegal with punishment of exile
The only thing I feel you got wrong was the thing about the training. They would be relegated, more like only those who survive the training become spartan citizens
WELL I WANT A BAD ASS MOVIE NOT A NERD TELLING ME THINGS THAT ARE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE
But your "bad ass" film was not and didn't contain any fact even though the movie was based on "TRUE STORY"
TimeGate84 ll History and Events The movie was based off a comic dumbass
Babies weren't thrown into a pit they were set outside the city for small animals to eat. Sparta had many kings. It was also highly unlikely the spartan hoplites wore linothorax or cuirasses like the video suggests because they were very expensive and impractical. You could easily make a better case that they fought naked.
Ok the 300 movie was based on a comic so its 100% fiction why the fuck do you keep mentioning it like its fact?
i like to push mow my lawn dressed in that fancy tunic, and noting more. this is sparta.... then the pol-ice tazed me
Its not about the myth... Its about the attidute
On the thumbnail, to the left, is that the co-director of John wick?
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Let's not forget the tradition of leaving children that were born too scrawny to die.
One Correction and one addition. Thespians, are not a group of greek nationality. Thespians is a term for actors, named after Thesbis, the first actor of greek plays according to Aristotle. And one myth I would have added was that King Leonidas, was not the only king of Sparta. Spartans lived in a dual monarchy. Also he was 60 during the battle and died on the third day. According to Greek historian Herodotus. Sadly he was not the sexy young man being the last to die as the movie showed.
Did people actually believed the Spartans faught with out armour,? did we really need Mojo to tell us that was a Myth.
Do top ten people who die from helping the main character in horror movies
PS. The part in the movie 300 where those soldiers bow before the young Leonidas is complete BS. He was a prince of Sparta and the second son of one of the two Kings . Which means he was treated just like his classmates.
Why you deleted video about serrial killers who confessed on social media?
They did fight more or less naked in the Corinthian wars. (This was way after the wars against Persia)
Clearly this video is made for people that get their historical knowledge from movies. Therefore i will not argue but rather state how bad and insulting this was.
There more than 300 people but there were only 300 Spartans
Spartans had to stay in battle and die because the had one saying that either you will return from the battle victorious and with your armor or the they will carry dead into your shield.
"aTtAcK!"
Lol that last clip was so anticlimactic.
*MORE GREAT CONTENT*
Here's another one the battle in 480 BC wasn't the only battle there, there were several over the ages and the last was in 1941... ANZAC's vs. Nazis.
that moment when you realised 300 isn't realistic
300 men did defend the pass my grandfather is from modern day sparta
Do Vikings next
My school mascot is a Spartan pretty bad ass
What about that the Spartans were not super soldiers? And that we don’t know if they for sure practiced infant killing? What about that Sparta has considerably fewer male full citizens then just about any other Greek city state? What about that Thermopylae was never planned or known to be a suicide mission? What about that during their training they didn’t receive an exceptional amount of specific martial training. Spartiates lived a leisurely life, unlike the Perioekoi and their contemporaries in other Greek city states who lived a life of work. They recited poetry, they trained, they danced, they drank, they slept around. As for the Helots who were slaves, they occupied the lowest place in Spartan society. Spartans However were significantly outnumbered by their Helot underlings and lived in constant fear of revolt.
i really didn't believe in almost none of those myths they described in the video...
The film was told from the perspective a soldier, ie an unreliable narrator. It wasnt supposed to be an accurate depiction of Sparta/Thermopylae
Actually they were out in the wild with just a red cape with friends they had to steal food so they were in the wild and naked but not alone
Who actually thought they fought naked??
I fought next to them RIP in peace my friends and remember...
THIS...IS...
SPAARTAAAA!!!!!!!
Boi
Do you forgot me?!!!!
If you're reading this comment, I wish you all the best in life 😀
This is Sparta!
Was this video made mostly just to disprove 300? That movie never claimed to be accurate; they didn't even put "based on a true story" in the beginning. It's based on a comic book, so...
Am i right that the general spartan armor had the shape of a chest with a sixpack to scare their enemy's?
there were 7000 Greeks at Thermopylae so...
I thought the guy on the thumbnail was Gavin Free
Fun fact: Spartans judge a child if they look strong enough to join. If they look "weak" to them, they'll leave them out of the city because they don't want weaklings in their army.
Bummer, I was hoping this was going to be lesser known facts.
The 300 movie was based on a book and not the real event
They also forgot the myth about them being the good guys in 300 and the Persians being the bad guys, in fact the Spartans were tyrannical baby murdering slave drivers while the Persians were peaceful people who invented diplomacy.
This video needs to be renamed to "5 reason the movie 300 was wrong"
This is Sparta
Nice Intro
so this video is not top 5 myths. its top 5 things the movie 300 got wrong
Actually there was a survival part of Spartan training when at around age 12 a Spartan boy would be given a single red cloak possible a knife and sent out in the wild to survive on his own. This wasn't a rite of passage it was part of testing the boys ability to survive off the land. Modern special forces teach this as well. It's not that hard ...make shelter and find food . That's about it.
Killing a Helot which was more of a midevil surf rather than a slave was a rite of passage but the objective wasn't the murder itself. The objective was to not get caught doing it. Just like stealing wasn't frowned upon but getting caught stealing would be punished for being caught. Spartan military training was ment to teach combat skills and survival skills as well as stealth . You know skills that make good soldiers in their time and have carried over to modern militaries in some form or another.
THIS IS SPARTAN
I'm never this early
I started the writing of a book whose main character was a spartan soldier and I watched 300 out of curiosity later.
So weird. I almost stopped the story because of how people would consider it with 300 in mind.
wasnt leonidas the political king and volunteered to protect because the real military and military king werent ready to fight the persians yet
Bro they fought with heavy armor
Also leonidas was 60+ years old
Nice
top 10 boondocks episodes
I never believed in that crappy myths and as I was reading about everything always, not believing, but finding out the truth for myself I knew all this from when I was a boy. I never believe, I know or I don't know. When I hear something from someone - I always check for myself. People are mostly talking crap.
The movie was in 2007 not 2006
Plus aren't they like 5'8? I'm almost that tall and I'm 12.
The Thebians didn't stay to fight but as a punishment due to other reasons. Sad that the research is so poor!
Was the speaker Charlie ?
Actually it wasnt pederasty , it involved teenagers not kids bellow 12.
johno doh oh definetly fine then, not if they are underage anyways. Both are wrong dude! Smh!
it's different time and culture. who know maybe in 1000 year people will think it was wrong to sleep with 18 year olds.
Pederasty is the right term, I think you mean it wasn't pedophilia. It's technically ephebophilia, which is the term when the younger one is a teenager.
I didn't know
Madness....?
Oh yea meet the spartans. I remember when parody films were a thing
Sparta were the greatest wariors ever!
*laugh in Theban*
(yes i know they spoke greek but the joke would not work otherwise)
Watchmojo don't ever show a clip from meet the spartans again unless it's a video that roasts that shitty movie
Battle of Badr army of 313 look that up the REAL 300