A cultural inevitablity
I had said earlier that I would write an entry on the film 300 and some of the Christian imagery that I recognized.
I'm not sure what the backgrounds of the movie team are. But it is not surprising that some elements of the surrounding culture would permeate into works of art. And I do consider 300 to be a work of art, visually and cinematographically. Any serious visual artist would therefore spend large amounts of time assessing and reviewing the hundreds of examples and records available from a long tradition of art.
Perhaps the most compelling moment of Christian imagery is when a tree hung with corpses is first introduced to us in the form a cross.
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Later on, the camera zooms out to show us the whole tree, and later zooms in to show us the hundreds of corpses haphazardly on it. The bodies are of the Spartans' fellow Greeks, hung there by the Persian enemy.
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Near the end, when Leonidas and his men are finally slaughtered with Persian arrows, we have a close-up of Leonidas, with his arms outstretched, very much in the crucifixion pose. Since there is no spatial focus point, we are not sure if we are seeing an upright Leonidas. In fact, he is lying down, in the middle of the crimson robes that metaphorically delineate blood.
On further analogy, Leonidas’ arrow-pierced body is reminiscent of Saint Sebastian, himself pierced by arrows of the pagan Romans while tied to a tree. In fact, St. Sebastian was also a leader, in the Roman military, and converted many soldiers into Christianity.
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Saint Sebastian by Il Sodoma
Leonidas is tempted three times. Firstly when the Persian messenger threatens him, Leonidas temporarily wavers. Second, the Persian King Xerxes stands softly behind him, promising Leonidas all kinds of powers if he succumbs to the Persians. And finally when Leonidas falls to his knees before the superior Persian army (by the thousands, to his few men) to seemingly avoid death.
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And Xerxes as the idol, and as the devil incarnate, also has his own golden calves which adorn his throne.
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