I still have the whole season of Rome to watch. I don't know when I'll get around to it, since I don't actually want it to end—and if I watch one, I probably won't sleep until I've seen them all. Not healthy.
I actually don't care whether the images originate from the GN or not. The moviemakers chose to make the movie, and whatever stips the writer wanted, it was their choice to make the agreement.
This actually shouldn't be my culture either. The fact that I'm so pissed is a tip off about the dishonesty of the movie. I mean, Christ, I root for the Greeks when I read Herodotus. The Achaemenids are nothing to do with me. I'm not even Persian and so have no tendency to want to latch on them in the interests of pseudo nationalistic pride. And while, yes, Xerxes's army is supposed to come from all over his empire, and Herodotus does, in the tradition of the Homer's catalogue of the ship, run through the people who make up his army, and does include "Indians," "Ethiopians" and "Arabians," these are only a few among many people who would been from "Aryan" or Semitic descent. Certainly, from Herodotus own account, as I recall, the Medes and Persians lead off the assault at Thermopylae. (And I just have to mention, in a more amused away, wtf was up with the "hot gates"? Did they really think that "Thermopylae" was too difficult for movie goers? And are people so ignorant today that the name Thermopylae carries no resonance for them, no matter how dim and nebulous? Before the movie started to seriously piss me off, I was giggling every time a character said it, because, man, did it sound stupid.)
And to get technical, I don't think there's actually anyway to know, from Herodotus, the skin color of the peoples in Xerxes armies. Herodotus, as far as I can recall (although admittedly it's been awhile since I read him), doesn't tell us--what he does do is describe the clothing and weapons of each contingent. I do recall him saying that the Ethiopians were said to be the most handsome people in the world. I think he also does mention two types of Ethiopians--ones with straight and ones with curly hair. So, based on Herodotus alone, there is definitely a basis for thinking that there were black people in Xerxes army, but that hardly excuses the film. It is also interesting to me that not only did the creators chose to make Xerxes, an Aryan, dark/black, but that they did this while trying to make him an utterly evil character. That is not Herodotus' portrayal at all, but theirs. Ignoring the god delusions, gigantism, and bondage jewelry--Xerxes is simply not an evil figure in Herodotus. In fact, he is shown doing generous things, such as not killing the Spartans who are sent to him for punishment when the Spartans are trying to appease the gods/spirits (I can't exactly remember but there's someone in particular, I want to say Agamemnon's messenger?) for their sacrilegious act (under their own view of the world) of killing the Persian king's messenger. Anyway, the Greeks were apparently in some ways more sophisticated then we are today, and Herodotus was writing in the tradition that had produced Homer. No war brings true glory unless it is against a worthy foe.
no subject
I actually don't care whether the images originate from the GN or not. The moviemakers chose to make the movie, and whatever stips the writer wanted, it was their choice to make the agreement.
This actually shouldn't be my culture either. The fact that I'm so pissed is a tip off about the dishonesty of the movie. I mean, Christ, I root for the Greeks when I read Herodotus. The Achaemenids are nothing to do with me. I'm not even Persian and so have no tendency to want to latch on them in the interests of pseudo nationalistic pride. And while, yes, Xerxes's army is supposed to come from all over his empire, and Herodotus does, in the tradition of the Homer's catalogue of the ship, run through the people who make up his army, and does include "Indians," "Ethiopians" and "Arabians," these are only a few among many people who would been from "Aryan" or Semitic descent. Certainly, from Herodotus own account, as I recall, the Medes and Persians lead off the assault at Thermopylae. (And I just have to mention, in a more amused away, wtf was up with the "hot gates"? Did they really think that "Thermopylae" was too difficult for movie goers? And are people so ignorant today that the name Thermopylae carries no resonance for them, no matter how dim and nebulous? Before the movie started to seriously piss me off, I was giggling every time a character said it, because, man, did it sound stupid.)
And to get technical, I don't think there's actually anyway to know, from Herodotus, the skin color of the peoples in Xerxes armies. Herodotus, as far as I can recall (although admittedly it's been awhile since I read him), doesn't tell us--what he does do is describe the clothing and weapons of each contingent. I do recall him saying that the Ethiopians were said to be the most handsome people in the world. I think he also does mention two types of Ethiopians--ones with straight and ones with curly hair. So, based on Herodotus alone, there is definitely a basis for thinking that there were black people in Xerxes army, but that hardly excuses the film. It is also interesting to me that not only did the creators chose to make Xerxes, an Aryan, dark/black, but that they did this while trying to make him an utterly evil character. That is not Herodotus' portrayal at all, but theirs. Ignoring the god delusions, gigantism, and bondage jewelry--Xerxes is simply not an evil figure in Herodotus. In fact, he is shown doing generous things, such as not killing the Spartans who are sent to him for punishment when the Spartans are trying to appease the gods/spirits (I can't exactly remember but there's someone in particular, I want to say Agamemnon's messenger?) for their sacrilegious act (under their own view of the world) of killing the Persian king's messenger. Anyway, the Greeks were apparently in some ways more sophisticated then we are today, and Herodotus was writing in the tradition that had produced Homer. No war brings true glory unless it is against a worthy foe.