Xerxes and the Persians in "300".

Upon its release, the film “300” – based on a comic book by Frank Miller – caused an uproar in Iran. In both comic and film, the presentation of Xerxes is clearly highly removed from the ancient sources. The film has been criticised for misrepresenting the ancient Persians, with an article by Touraj Daryaee further noting the political undertones of the film version and touching on its apparent “West vs. East” mentality; one might compare Levene’s article (D. S. Levene, D. S. “Xerxes Goes to Hollywood,” in Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars, eds. E. Bridges et al (Oxford, 2007), 383-404) on the 1962 film “The 300 Spartans” (directed by Rudolph Maté).
 
The problems raised by “300”, then, are many and significant: how far are the Achaemenids constructed by the western imagination as a natural opponent, reflecting modern (Western?) politics? Is this any different from Herodotus’ picture of – for example – Cambyses or even Xerxes again? In light of such questions, it is further important to consider how one constructs historical narratives and how these interact – consciously or unconsciously – with popular understandings of the Achaemenid (as opposed to the Greco-Roman) past.

One might compare the Xerxes of "300" with that of "The 300 Spartans" and - most significantly - more ancient representations, like that of Xerxes in a relief at Persepolis.