5 Myths About the Spartans You Need To Stop Believing
Myth #1: Spartans were almost invincible and never surrendered.
The film 300 sparked public interest in Spartans and spawned a worldwide fan base. It portrayed Spartans as badass warriors of the ancient world who never surrendered, fought in bare skin, and were noble souls who stood up to a despotic enemy. While historians criticized the film for its representation of Persians, they paid little attention to the depiction of Spartans.
Generations of Western literature, poems, and eulogies had created a renowned picture of the Spartans as an unbeatable war force. Post Second World War, academics avoided looking into ancient Spartans for decades because of the Nazi interest in the subject.
Research on Spartans became a taboo topic.
However, recent findings and a careful review of the actual accounts of ancient Greek historians reveal that, while the Spartans were a formidable military force, they were not the mythological warriors popular culture portrays them to be.
We may trace the origins of their legendary fighting abilities back to centuries-old propaganda about the Battle of Thermopylae, which, as we’ll learn, wasn’t as important as we think.
