300 Quotes
King Leonidas of Sparta and a force of 300 men fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
Messenger: Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They may be your last as king.
King Leonidas: [to himself: thinking] "Earth and water"?
[Leonidas unsheathes and points his sword at the Messenger's throat]
Messenger: Madman! You're a madman!
King Leonidas: Earth and water? You'll find plenty of both down there.
Messenger: No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens a messenger!
King Leonidas: You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same!
Messenger: This is blasphemy! This is madness!
King Leonidas: Madness...?
[shouting]
King Leonidas: This is Sparta!
[Kicks the messenger down the well]
King Leonidas: [to himself: thinking] "Earth and water"?
[Leonidas unsheathes and points his sword at the Messenger's throat]
Messenger: Madman! You're a madman!
King Leonidas: Earth and water? You'll find plenty of both down there.
Messenger: No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens a messenger!
King Leonidas: You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same!
Messenger: This is blasphemy! This is madness!
King Leonidas: Madness...?
[shouting]
King Leonidas: This is Sparta!
[Kicks the messenger down the well]
Daxos: I see I was wrong to expect Sparta's commitment to at least match our own.
King Leonidas: Doesn't it?
[points to Arcadian soldier behind Daxos]
King Leonidas: You there, what is your profession?
Free Greek-Potter: I am a potter... sir.
King Leonidas: [points to another soldier] And you, Arcadian, what is your profession?
Free Greek-Sculptor: Sculptor, sir.
King Leonidas: Sculptor.
[turns to a third soldier]
King Leonidas: You?
Free Greek-Blacksmith: Blacksmith.
King Leonidas: [turns back shouting] SPARTANS! What is YOUR profession?
Spartans: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
King Leonidas: [turning to Daxos] You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did!
King Leonidas: Doesn't it?
[points to Arcadian soldier behind Daxos]
King Leonidas: You there, what is your profession?
Free Greek-Potter: I am a potter... sir.
King Leonidas: [points to another soldier] And you, Arcadian, what is your profession?
Free Greek-Sculptor: Sculptor, sir.
King Leonidas: Sculptor.
[turns to a third soldier]
King Leonidas: You?
Free Greek-Blacksmith: Blacksmith.
King Leonidas: [turns back shouting] SPARTANS! What is YOUR profession?
Spartans: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
King Leonidas: [turning to Daxos] You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did!
King Leonidas: This is where we hold them.
[pause]
King Leonidas: This is where we fight!
[pause]
King Leonidas: And this is where THEY DIE!
Captain: On these shield, boys!
Spartans: AU!
King Leonidas: Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time!
Persian General: [the Persian general advances from the crowd of the Persian warriors on horseback] SPARTANS! Lay down your weapons!
[pause]
King Leonidas: [one of the Spartan men throws a spear directly at the Persian general, killing him; he falls from his horse dead] PERSIANS!
[the Spartans get into their shielding position]
King Leonidas: COME AND GET THEM!
Captain: [the angry Persian soldiers start charging towards the Spartans] HOLD!
King Leonidas: Give them NOTHING! But take from them EVERYTHING!
Captain: STAY READY!
[pause]
King Leonidas: This is where we fight!
[pause]
King Leonidas: And this is where THEY DIE!
Captain: On these shield, boys!
Spartans: AU!
King Leonidas: Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time!
Persian General: [the Persian general advances from the crowd of the Persian warriors on horseback] SPARTANS! Lay down your weapons!
[pause]
King Leonidas: [one of the Spartan men throws a spear directly at the Persian general, killing him; he falls from his horse dead] PERSIANS!
[the Spartans get into their shielding position]
King Leonidas: COME AND GET THEM!
Captain: [the angry Persian soldiers start charging towards the Spartans] HOLD!
King Leonidas: Give them NOTHING! But take from them EVERYTHING!
Captain: STAY READY!
Xerxes: Come Leonidas, let us reason together. It would be a regrettable waste. It would be nothing short of madness for you, brave king, and your valiant troops to perish. All because of a simple misunderstanding. There is much our cultures could share.
King Leonidas: Haven't you noticed? We've been sharing our culture with you all morning.
King Leonidas: Haven't you noticed? We've been sharing our culture with you all morning.
Dilios: "Remember us." As simple an order as a king can give. "Remember why we died." For he did not wish tribute, nor song, nor monuments nor poems of war and valor. His wish was simple. "Remember us," he said to me. That was his hope, should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, "Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law, we lie."
[last lines]
Dilios: And so my king died, and my brothers died, barely a year ago. Long I pondered my king's cryptic talk of victory. Time has proven him wise, for from free Greek to free Greek, the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his three hundred, so far from home, laid down their lives. Not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds.
[takes his spear from a soldier]
Dilios: Now, here on this ragged patch of earth called Plataea, Xerxes's hordes face obliteration!
Spartan Army: HA-OOH!
Dilios: Just there the barbarians huddle, sheer terror gripping tight their hearts with icy fingers... knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of three hundred. Yet they stare now across the plain at *ten thousand* Spartans commanding thirty thousand free Greeks! HA-OOH!
Spartan Army: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
Dilios: The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one, good odds for any Greek. This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine.
[puts on his helmet]
Dilios: Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300! TO VICTORY!
[the Greek army roars and charges]
Dilios: And so my king died, and my brothers died, barely a year ago. Long I pondered my king's cryptic talk of victory. Time has proven him wise, for from free Greek to free Greek, the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his three hundred, so far from home, laid down their lives. Not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds.
[takes his spear from a soldier]
Dilios: Now, here on this ragged patch of earth called Plataea, Xerxes's hordes face obliteration!
Spartan Army: HA-OOH!
Dilios: Just there the barbarians huddle, sheer terror gripping tight their hearts with icy fingers... knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of three hundred. Yet they stare now across the plain at *ten thousand* Spartans commanding thirty thousand free Greeks! HA-OOH!
Spartan Army: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
Dilios: The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one, good odds for any Greek. This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine.
[puts on his helmet]
Dilios: Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300! TO VICTORY!
[the Greek army roars and charges]
King Leonidas: Spartans! Prepare for glory!
Daxos: Glory? Have you gone mad? There is no glory to be had now! Only retreat, or surrender or death!
King Leonidas: Well, that's an easy choice for us, Arcadian! Spartans never retreat! Spartans never surrender! Go spread the word. Let every Greek assembled know the truth of this. Let each among them search his own soul. And while you're at it, search your own.
Daxos: Glory? Have you gone mad? There is no glory to be had now! Only retreat, or surrender or death!
King Leonidas: Well, that's an easy choice for us, Arcadian! Spartans never retreat! Spartans never surrender! Go spread the word. Let every Greek assembled know the truth of this. Let each among them search his own soul. And while you're at it, search your own.
Xerxes: But I am a generous god. I can make you rich beyond all measure. I will make you warlord of all Greece. You will carry my battle standard to the heart of Europa. Your Athenian rivals will kneel at your feet if you will but kneel at mine.
King Leonidas: You are generous as you are divine, O king of kings. Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the, uh, the idea of kneeling, it's- You see, slaughtering all those men of yours has, uh, well it's left a nasty cramp in my leg, so kneeling will be hard for me.
King Leonidas: You are generous as you are divine, O king of kings. Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the, uh, the idea of kneeling, it's- You see, slaughtering all those men of yours has, uh, well it's left a nasty cramp in my leg, so kneeling will be hard for me.
Xerxes: There will be no glory in your sacrifice. I will erase even the memory of Sparta from the histories! Every piece of Greek parchment shall be burned. Every Greek historian, and every scribe shall have their eyes pulled out, and their tongues cut from their mouths. Why, uttering the very name of Sparta, or Leonidas, will be punishable by death! The world will never know you existed at all!
King Leonidas: The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.
King Leonidas: The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.
King Leonidas: [on being told the Persians are coming to parley] Captain, I leave you in charge.
Captain: But, sire...
King Leonidas: Relax, old friend. If they assassinate me, all of Sparta goes to war. Pray they're that stupid. Pray we're that lucky.
[He takes another bite of apple, as the Captain notices a Persian soldier, still alive]
King Leonidas: Besides, there's no reason we can't be civil, is there?
Captain: [stabs the Persian] None, sire.
Captain: But, sire...
King Leonidas: Relax, old friend. If they assassinate me, all of Sparta goes to war. Pray they're that stupid. Pray we're that lucky.
[He takes another bite of apple, as the Captain notices a Persian soldier, still alive]
King Leonidas: Besides, there's no reason we can't be civil, is there?
Captain: [stabs the Persian] None, sire.
Dilios: It's been more than thirty years since the wolf and the winter cold. And now, as then, it is not fear that grips him, only restlessness. A heightened sense of things. The seaborn breeze, coolly, kissing the sweat at his chest and neck. Gulls cawing, complaining, even as they feast on the thousands of floating dead. The steady breathing of the 300 at his back, ready to die for him without a moment's pause. Everyone of them ready, to die.
Xerxes: You Greeks take pride in your logic. I suggest you employ it. Consider the beautiful land you so vigorously defend. Picture it reduced to ash at my whim! Consider the fate of your women!
Spartan King Leonidas: Clearly you don't know our women! I might as well have marched them up here, judging by what I've seen.
Spartan King Leonidas: Clearly you don't know our women! I might as well have marched them up here, judging by what I've seen.
Statesman: My good king! My good king! The oracle has spoken.
Second Statesman: The Ephors have spoken. There must be no march!
Theron: It is the law, my lord. The Spartan army must not go to war.
King Leonidas: Nor shall it. I've issued no such orders. I'm here, just taking a stroll, stretching my legs. These, uh, 300 men are my personal bodyguard.
Second Statesman: The Ephors have spoken. There must be no march!
Theron: It is the law, my lord. The Spartan army must not go to war.
King Leonidas: Nor shall it. I've issued no such orders. I'm here, just taking a stroll, stretching my legs. These, uh, 300 men are my personal bodyguard.
Ephialtes: There is nothing to forgive, brave King. I know what I look like...
King Leonidas: [quietly] You wear the crimson of a Spartan.
Ephialtes: My mother's love led my parents to flee Sparta... lest I be discarded...
King Leonidas: Your shield and armor?
Ephialtes: My father's, sir!
[pause]
Ephialtes: I beg you, bold King, to permit me to redeem my father's name by serving you in combat!
[pause]
Ephialtes: My father trained me to feel no fear to make spear and shield and sword as much a part of me as my own beating heart!
[pause]
Ephialtes: I will earn my father's armor, noble King, by serving you in the battle!
King Leonidas: [Ephialtes shows King Leonidas his thrust; it's good and the King is surprisingly impressed] A fine thrust.
Ephialtes: [smiles] I will kill *many* Persians!
King Leonidas: Raise your shield.
Ephialtes: Sire?
King Leonidas: Raise your shield as high as you can.
[Ephialtes tries to raise his shield; he cannot as his physical disability prevents it]
King Leonidas: [calmly] Your father should have taught you how our phalanx works. We fight as a single, impenetrable unit. That is the source of our strength. Each Spartan protects the man to his left from thigh to neck with his shield.
[Leonidas takes his sword and shield to demonstrate]
King Leonidas: A single weak spot and the phalanx shatters. From thigh to neck, Ephialtes.
[pause]
King Leonidas: I am sorry, my friend; but not all of us were made to be soldiers.
Ephialtes: [shocked] But, I-!
King Leonidas: If you want to help in a Spartan victory, clear the battlefield of the dead, tend the wounded, bring them water. But as for the fight itself, I cannot use you.
King Leonidas: [quietly] You wear the crimson of a Spartan.
Ephialtes: My mother's love led my parents to flee Sparta... lest I be discarded...
King Leonidas: Your shield and armor?
Ephialtes: My father's, sir!
[pause]
Ephialtes: I beg you, bold King, to permit me to redeem my father's name by serving you in combat!
[pause]
Ephialtes: My father trained me to feel no fear to make spear and shield and sword as much a part of me as my own beating heart!
[pause]
Ephialtes: I will earn my father's armor, noble King, by serving you in the battle!
King Leonidas: [Ephialtes shows King Leonidas his thrust; it's good and the King is surprisingly impressed] A fine thrust.
Ephialtes: [smiles] I will kill *many* Persians!
King Leonidas: Raise your shield.
Ephialtes: Sire?
King Leonidas: Raise your shield as high as you can.
[Ephialtes tries to raise his shield; he cannot as his physical disability prevents it]
King Leonidas: [calmly] Your father should have taught you how our phalanx works. We fight as a single, impenetrable unit. That is the source of our strength. Each Spartan protects the man to his left from thigh to neck with his shield.
[Leonidas takes his sword and shield to demonstrate]
King Leonidas: A single weak spot and the phalanx shatters. From thigh to neck, Ephialtes.
[pause]
King Leonidas: I am sorry, my friend; but not all of us were made to be soldiers.
Ephialtes: [shocked] But, I-!
King Leonidas: If you want to help in a Spartan victory, clear the battlefield of the dead, tend the wounded, bring them water. But as for the fight itself, I cannot use you.
Messenger: All that God-King Xerxes requires is this: a simple offering of earth and water. A token of Sparta's submission to the will of Xerxes.
King Leonidas: Submission? Well that's a bit of a problem. See, rumor has it the Athenians have already turned you down, and if those philosophers and, uh, boy-lovers have found that kind of nerve, then...
Theron: We must be diplomatic.
King Leonidas: [ignoring Theron] ... and, of course, Spartans have their reputation to consider.
King Leonidas: Submission? Well that's a bit of a problem. See, rumor has it the Athenians have already turned you down, and if those philosophers and, uh, boy-lovers have found that kind of nerve, then...
Theron: We must be diplomatic.
King Leonidas: [ignoring Theron] ... and, of course, Spartans have their reputation to consider.
Dilios: It's been more than thirty years since the wolf and the winter cold. And now, as then, a beast approaches; patient and confident, savoring the meal to come. This beast is made of men and horses, swords and spears. An army of slaves vast beyond imagining, ready to devour tiny Greece, ready to snuff out the world's one hope for reason and justice. A beast approaches.
Queen Gorgo: I am not here to represent Leonidas; his actions speak louder than my words ever could. I am here for all those voices which cannot be heard: mothers, daughters, fathers, sons - three hundred families that bleed for our rights, and for the very principles this room was built upon. We are at war, gentlemen. We must send the entire Spartan army to aid our king in the preservation of not just ourselves, but of our children. Send the army for the preservation of liberty. Send it for justice. Send it for law and order. Send it for reason. But most importantly, send our army for hope - hope that a king and his men have not been wasted to the pages of history - that their courage bonds us together, that we are made stronger by their actions, and that your choices today reflect their bravery.
[while wrestling with his son]
King Leonidas: In the end, a Spartan's true strength is the warrior next to him. So give respect and honor to him, and it will be returned to you. First, you fight with your head...
Queen Gorgo: Then you fight with your heart.
King Leonidas: [sees the Captain] What is it?
Queen Gorgo: A Persian messenger awaits you.
King Leonidas: Do not forget today's lesson.
Pleistarchos: Respect and honor.
King Leonidas: Respect and honor.
King Leonidas: In the end, a Spartan's true strength is the warrior next to him. So give respect and honor to him, and it will be returned to you. First, you fight with your head...
Queen Gorgo: Then you fight with your heart.
King Leonidas: [sees the Captain] What is it?
Queen Gorgo: A Persian messenger awaits you.
King Leonidas: Do not forget today's lesson.
Pleistarchos: Respect and honor.
King Leonidas: Respect and honor.
Persian: I am the emissary to the ruler of all the world, the God of Gods, King of Kings, and by that authority I demand that someone show me your commander! Listen. Do you think the paltry dozen you slew scare us? These hills swarm with our scouts! And do you think your pathetic wall will do anything other than fall like a heap of dry leaves in the face of-
[he observes the wall built with dead Persian soldiers]
Stelios: Our ancestors built this wall, using ancient stones from the bosom of Greece herself! And with a little Spartan help, your Persian scouts provided the mortar!
Persian: [angrily] You will pay for your barbarism!
[he swings his whip at Stelios; though Stelios jumps up and slices off his arm with a sword. The Persian falls down]
Persian: My arm!
Stelios: [pointing the sword at the Persian] It's not yours anymore!
[pause]
Stelios: Go now, run along and tell your Xerxes that he faces free men here, not slaves! Do it quickly, before we decide to make our wall just a little bit bigger!
Persian: [the Persian starts chuckling] No... not slaves.
[pause]
Persian: Your WOMEN will be slaves. Your sons your daughters, your elders will be slaves! But not you. By noon this day, you will all be dead men!
[he observes the wall built with dead Persian soldiers]
Stelios: Our ancestors built this wall, using ancient stones from the bosom of Greece herself! And with a little Spartan help, your Persian scouts provided the mortar!
Persian: [angrily] You will pay for your barbarism!
[he swings his whip at Stelios; though Stelios jumps up and slices off his arm with a sword. The Persian falls down]
Persian: My arm!
Stelios: [pointing the sword at the Persian] It's not yours anymore!
[pause]
Stelios: Go now, run along and tell your Xerxes that he faces free men here, not slaves! Do it quickly, before we decide to make our wall just a little bit bigger!
Persian: [the Persian starts chuckling] No... not slaves.
[pause]
Persian: Your WOMEN will be slaves. Your sons your daughters, your elders will be slaves! But not you. By noon this day, you will all be dead men!
[as the Spartans are surrounded]
Persian General: Leonidas, my compliments and congratulations. You surely have turned calamity to victory. Despite your insufferable arrogance, the god-king has come to admire Spartan valor and fighting skill. You will make a mighty ally.
Ephialtes: Yield, Leonidas! Use your reason! Think of your men! I beg you.
Persian General: Listen to your fellow Greek. He can attest to the divine one's generosity. Despite your several insults, despite your horrid blasphemies, the lord of hosts is prepared to forgive all, and more, to reward your service. You fight for your lands? Keep them! You fight for Sparta? She will be wealthier and more powerful than ever before! You fight for your kingship? You will be proclaimed warlord of all Greece, answerable only to the one true master of the world! Leonidas, your victory will be complete if you but lay down your arms, and kneel to holy Xerxes.
Persian General: Leonidas, my compliments and congratulations. You surely have turned calamity to victory. Despite your insufferable arrogance, the god-king has come to admire Spartan valor and fighting skill. You will make a mighty ally.
Ephialtes: Yield, Leonidas! Use your reason! Think of your men! I beg you.
Persian General: Listen to your fellow Greek. He can attest to the divine one's generosity. Despite your several insults, despite your horrid blasphemies, the lord of hosts is prepared to forgive all, and more, to reward your service. You fight for your lands? Keep them! You fight for Sparta? She will be wealthier and more powerful than ever before! You fight for your kingship? You will be proclaimed warlord of all Greece, answerable only to the one true master of the world! Leonidas, your victory will be complete if you but lay down your arms, and kneel to holy Xerxes.
Daxos: I saw those ships smashed on the rocks. How can this be?
Stelios: We saw but a fraction of the monster that is Xerxes' army.
Daxos: There can be no victory here. Why do you smile?
Stelios: Arcadian, I've fought countless times, yet I've never met an adversary who could offer me what we Spartans call "A Beautiful Death." I can only hope, with all the world's warriors gathered against us, there might be one down there who's up to the task.
Stelios: We saw but a fraction of the monster that is Xerxes' army.
Daxos: There can be no victory here. Why do you smile?
Stelios: Arcadian, I've fought countless times, yet I've never met an adversary who could offer me what we Spartans call "A Beautiful Death." I can only hope, with all the world's warriors gathered against us, there might be one down there who's up to the task.
