Comparison of Theme in 300 and The Iliad
In every story, there is an underlying theme behind it. Theme is the unifying and dominant idea
in a work of art, such as a movie, song, or literary work. Themes relate to a specific aspect of humanity,
and there is at least one for almost every aspect. In this essay I will be comparing the theme of two
separate works, the movie 300, and literary work The Iliad.
First is the analysis of the movie 300. The theme in this work is te brutal undertaking and
endeavorare needed to achieve lasting glory and honor. From birth, the Spartans are conditioned to be a
true Spartan warrior. When a boy is born, they are inspected for any blemishes, any imperfection. If even
a single one is found, the child is discarded, thrown from a cliff to land among other imperfect babies. As
soon as they are able, they are baptized in combat, taught to never give up, never surrender, and never
show fear. They learn that death in the service of the great country of Sparta is the greatest glory possible.
At age seven they are taken from their parents, and plunged even further into violence. As a final test, the
young soldiers are thrust into the wild alone, and made to fend for themselves. The main character of 300,
Leonidas, went through all of these steps, emerging as king of Sparta. He proves, in his own brutal way,
the theme; hard work is needed for rewards. In our society, this is similar to our grading system. Good
grades mean passing classes, passing classes means graduating high school, and graduating high school
means more opportunities in life. Personally, I can work hard to achieve greater things.
The theme in The Iliad is similar to that of 300, but still quite different. This theme is that lasting
glory and honor is achievable, but flaws in character get in the way. This is shown by the character
Patroclus, who is Achilles’ best friend. One of Patroclus’ many flaws is his blind persistence. As it says
on page 143, “Three times Patroclus climbed upon a corner of the high was, and three times the Lord of
the Silver Bow raised his immortal hands, pushed against Patroclus’s shining shield, and threw him
back.” Common sense would dictate if you are up against a god it is better not to even try. Patroclus is a
good person, but a bit foolish, which does not end well in war. “Then did great-hearted Patroclus
foolishly relate to Achilles the plight of the Greeks and his wish to lead the Myrmidons into battle in
Achilles’ place, for he did not realize he was, in fact, pleading for his own death.” (P.142) However,
everyone has flaws. Our government is several trillion dollars in debt. Every day there is something on
the news about someone who has gone over the edge and done something horribly wrong. Though not all
flaws are as large as these, some can be quite small. I, for instance, have trouble waking up at five in the
morning. This does not necessarily make me a bad person.
Though there are many similarities to The Iliad and 300, in terms of theme they are very
different. 300 deals with the hard work needed to achieve glory, while The Iliad deals with character
flaws preventing that glory. These two themes combine to make a single aspect of society: even if we
work hard to achieve something, our own flaws get in the way. However, we can eliminate those flaws if
we really try. Now, it is your turn. Find one of your flaws that impedes progress, and eliminate it.
With a more thorough development of universality and personal relevance, this could become a “B”
paper. It needs quite a lot more development and textual support (both nonprint and print text) in order to
rise to an “A.”