300 Script - Dialogue

Transcript
Voila! Finally, the 300 script is here for all you fans
of the epic action-fest starring Gerard Butler and
Lena Headey. This puppy is a transcript that was
painstakingly transcribed using the screenplay and/or
viewings of the movie to get the dialogue. I know, I
know, I still need to get the cast names in there and
all that jazz, so if you have any corrections, feel free
to drop me a line. At least you'll have some 300
quotes (or even a monologue or two) to annoy your
coworkers with in the meantime, right?
And swing on back to Drew's Script-ORama afterwards -- because reading is good for your
noodle. Better than Farmville, anyway.

... to create the finest soldiers

the world has ever known.

The agoge, as it's called,

forces the boy to fight.

Starves them, forces them to steal...

... and if necessary, to kill.

By rod and lash the boy was punished...

... taught to show no pain, no mercy.

Constantly tested, tossed into the wild.

300 Script

When the boy was born...

... like all Spartans, he was inspected.

If he'd been small or puny

or sickly or misshapen...

... he would have been discarded.

From the time he could stand,

he was baptized in the fire of combat.

Left to pit his wits and will

against nature's fury.

It was his initiation...

... his time in the wild...

... for he would return to his people

a Spartan...

... or not at all.

The wolf begins to circle the boy.

Claws of black steel...

Taught never to retreat,
never to surrender.

Taught that death on the battlefield

in service to Sparta...

... was the greatest glory

he could achieve in his life.

... fur as dark night.

Eyes glowing red...

... jewels from the pit of hell itself.

The giant wolf sniffing...

At age 7, as is customary in Sparta...
... savoring the scent of the meal to come.
... the boy was taken from his mother
and plunged into a world of violence.
It's not fear that grips him...
Manufactured by 300 years
of Spartan warrior society...

... only a heightened sense of things.

My father taught me...

The cold air in his lungs.

...that fear is always a constant.

Windswept pines
moving against the coming night.

But accepting it...

His hands are steady.

His form...

... perfect.

And so the boy, given up for dead...

... returns to his people,

to sacred Sparta, a king!

Our king, Leonidas!

It's been more than 30 years

since the wolf and the winter cold.

And now, as then, a beast approaches.

Patient and confident,

savoring the meal to come.

...makes you stronger.

My queen.

A Persian emissary awaits 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.

- Then you fight with your heart.

What is it?

A Persian messenger awaits you.

But this beast
is made of men and horses...
Do not forget today's lesson.
...swords and spears.

An army of slaves, vast beyond imagining,

ready to devour tiny Greece.

- Respect and honor.

- Respect and honor.

Councilman Theron.
You found yourself needed, for once.
Ready to snuff out the world's
one hope for reason and justice.

A beast approaches...

...and it was King Leonidas himself

who provoked it.

My king and queen,

I was just entertaining your guests.

I'm sure.

Before you speak, Persian...

That's it.
...know that in Sparta everyone,
even a king's messenger...
Now, the more you sweat here,
the less you'll bleed in battle.
...is held accountable
for the words of his voice.

have found that kind of nerve, then...

Now, what message do you bring?
- We must be diplomatic.
- And, of course, Spartans...
Earth and water.
...have their reputation to consider.
You rode all the way from Persia
for earth and water?

Choose your next words carefully,

Leonidas.

Do not be coy or stupid, Persian.

You can afford neither in Sparta.
They may be your last as king.
What makes this woman
think she can speak among men?

Because only Spartan women

give birth to real men.

Let us walk to cool our tongues.

If you value your lives

over your complete annihilation...

"Earth and water."

Madman. You're a madman.

Earth and water.

You'll find plenty of both down there.

No man, Persian or Greek,

no man threatens a messenger.
...listen carefully, Leonidas.

Xerxes conquers and controls

everything he rests his eyes upon.

He leads an army so massive,

it shakes the ground with its march.

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.
So vast, it drinks the rivers dry.

All the God-King Xerxes requires is this:

Oh, I've chosen my words carefully,

Persian.

A simple offering of earth and water...

Perhaps you should have done the same.

...a token of Sparta's submission

to the will of Xerxes.

This is blasphemy. This is madness!

Submission.

Now, that's a bit of a problem.

See, rumor has it...

...the Athenians
have already turned you down.

Madness?

This is Sparta!

Welcome, Leonidas.

We have been expecting you.

The ephors, priests to the old gods.

And if those philosophers and boy-lovers

Inbred swine.

And from there, we will funnel them into

the mountain pass we call the Hot Gates.

More creature than man.

Creatures whom even Leonidas

must bribe and beg.

Now, in that narrow corridor,

their numbers will count for nothing.

And wave after wave of Persian attack...

For no Spartan king has gone to war
without the ephors' blessing.

The Persians claim their forces

number in the millions.

...will smash against Spartan shields.

Xerxes' losses will be so great,

his men so demoralized...

I hope, for our sake, they exaggerate.

...he will have no choice
but to abandon his campaign.
But there's no question, we face
the most massive army ever assembled.

Before your plan is heard...

...what do you offer?

We will use our superior fighting skills...

...and the terrain of Greece herself

to destroy them.

We will march north to the coast,

where I will make sure...

We must consult the oracle.

Trust the gods, Leonidas.

I'd prefer you trusted your reason.

Your blasphemies...

...have cost us quite enough already.

Don't compound them.

We will consult the oracle.

It is August, Leonidas.
The full moon approaches.
Diseased old mystics.
The sacred and ancient festival.

Sparta wages no war

at the time of the Carneia.

Worthless remnants of a time

before Sparta's ascent from darkness.

Remnants of a senseless tradition.

Sparta will burn!
Tradition even Leonidas cannot defy...
Her men will die at arms...
... for he must respect
the word of the ephors.
...and her women and children
will be slaves or worse.
That is the law.
Now, we will block
the Persian coastal assault...

...by rebuilding the great Phocian Wall.

And no Spartan, subject or citizen,

man or woman...

...daily...
... slave or king, is above the law.
...from every corner of the empire.
The ephors choose only
the most beautiful Spartan girls...
Your lips can finish
what your fingers have started.
... to live among them as oracles.

Their beauty is their curse...

... for the old wretches

have the needs of men...

... and souls as black as hell.

"Pray to the winds...

...Sparta will fall.

All Greece will fall.

Trust not in men...

Or has the oracle robbed you

of your desire as well?

It would take more than the words

of a drunken adolescent girl...

...to rob me of my desire for you.

Then why so distant?

Because it seems...

...though a slave and captive

of lecherous old men...

...the oracle's words

could set fire to all that I love.

...honor the gods.

So that is why my king loses sleep
and is forced from the warmth of his bed?
Honor the Carneia."

The king's climb down is harder.

There's only one woman's words that

should affect the mood of my husband.

Pompous, inbred swine.

Those are mine.

Worthless, diseased, rotten...

Then what must a king do

to save his world...

... corrupt.

Truly, you're in the god-king's

favor now...

...when the very laws he is sworn

to protect force him to do nothing?

It is not a question
of what a Spartan citizen should do...

...O wise and holy men.

...nor a husband, nor a king.
Yes.
Instead ask yourself, my dearest love...
And when Sparta burns,
you shall bathe in gold.

Fresh oracles shall be delivered to you...

...what should a free man do?

- Is this all of them?

- As you ordered. Three hundred.

All with born sons to carry on their name.

We are with you, sire.

For Sparta. For freedom.

To the death.

He is your son.

He is too young
to have felt a woman's warmth.

I hadn't really thought about it...

...but now that you ask...

...I suppose I'll head north.

The Hot Gates?

Move out!

Move out!

What shall we do?

I have others to replace him.
Astinos is as brave and ready as any.

What can we do?

No younger than we were the first time

you stood next to me in battle.

What can you do?

You are a good friend...

Sparta will need sons.

...but a better captain, there is none.

Spartan!

My good king.

Yes, milady?

My good king, the oracle has spoken.

Come back with your shield...

The ephors have spoken.

There must be no march.

...or on it.

Yes, milady.
It is the law, my lord.
"Goodbye, my love."
- The Spartan army must not go to war.
- Nor shall it.
He doesn't say it.
I've issued no such orders.
There's no room for softness...
I'm here just taking a stroll,
stretching my legs.

... not in Sparta.

These 300 men

are my personal bodyguard.

No place for weakness.

Our army will stay in Sparta.

Only the hard and strong

may call themselves Spartans.

Where will you go?

Only the hard. Only the strong.

Spartans! What is your profession?

We march...
You see, old friend?
... for our lands, for our families,
for our freedoms.
I brought more soldiers than you did.
We march.
No sleep tonight...
Daxos.
... not for the king.
- What a pleasant surprise.
- This morning's full of surprises, Leonidas.

- We've been tricked.

- Can't be more than a hundred.

- This is a surprise.
- Silence.

This isn't their army.

We heard Sparta was on the warpath

and we were eager to join forces.

If it is blood you seek,

you are welcome to join us.

All his 40 years

have been a straight road...

... to this one gleaming moment

in destiny...

... this one radiant clash

of shield and spear...

... sword and bone, and flesh and blood.

His only regret...

... is that he has so few to sacrifice.

We're being followed.

But you bring only this handful
of soldiers against Xerxes?
It has followed us since Sparta.
I see I was wrong to expect Sparta's
commitment to at least match our own.

Doesn't it?

You, there.

What is your profession?

I'm a potter, sir.

And you, Arcadian.

What is your profession?

- Sculptor, sir.
- Sculptor.

My king! Look!

What happened here?

Where are all the people?

Persians.

I put their number at around 20.

A scouting party.

But these footprints...

Behind us!
- And you?
- Blacksmith.
Child!

It's quiet now.

They...

They came with beasts

from the blackness.

With their claws and fangs...

Brave Greeks, all.

Brothers, fathers, sons...

... we march.

For honor's sake, for duty's sake,

for glory's sake, we march.

...they grabbed them.

Look! Persians.
Everyone...
Into hell's mouth we march.
...but me.
Let's watch these motherless dogs...
The villagers.
...as they're embraced by the loving arms
of Greece herself. Come.
I found them.
True.
Have the gods no mercy?
It does look like rain.
We are doomed.
Zeus stabs the sky with thunderbolts...
Quiet yourself.

The child speaks of the Persian ghosts,

known from the ancient times.

... and batters the Persian ships

with hurricane wind.

Glorious.
They are the hunters of men's souls.

They cannot be killed or defeated.

Not this darkness. Not these lmmortals.

Immortals?

We'll put their name to the test.

Into the Hot Gates we march.

Only one among us

keeps his Spartan reserve.

Only he.

Only our king.

My queen?

My queen...

Into that narrow corridor we march...

...the courtyard is a more fitting place

for a married woman.

... where Xerxes' numbers

count for nothing.

I'm afraid gossip and protocol...

Spartans, citizen-soldiers, freed slaves.

...are the least of my worries now,

councilman.

Is such secrecy needed?

How am I to trust beyond the walls

of my own home?

Even here, Theron has eyes and ears

which fuel Sparta with doubt and fear.

We saw but a fraction of the monster

that is Xerxes' army.

There can be no victory here.

Why do you smile?

Arcadian...

...I have fought countless times...

You speak as if all Sparta
conspires against you.

I wish it were only against me.

Many on our council

would vote to give all we have...

...yet I've never met an adversary

who could offer me...

...what we Spartans
call "a beautiful death."

I can only hope...

...and follow Leonidas...

...but you must show them favor.

...with all the world's warriors

gathered against us...

And you can arrange for me

to speak to the council?

...there might be one down there

who's up to the task.

If it is reason they want,

I will let them know.

Move!

Keep going, you dogs!

Know what, my queen?
Move!
Freedom isn't free at all.
Forward, I say!
That it comes with the highest of costs,
the cost of blood.
Stop here!
I will do my best to gather our council.
Who commands here?
And its chamber
shall be filled with your voice.

I am the emissary...

- I'm in your debt.

- No.

...to the ruler of all the world...

Leonidas is my king as well as yours.

...the god of gods, king of kings...

I saw those ships smash on the rocks.

...and by that authority...

How can this be?

...I demand that someone

show me your commander.

Listen. Do you think the paltry dozen

you slew scares us?

These hills swarm with our scouts.

And do you think your pathetic wall

will do anything...

...except fall like a heap of dry leaves

in the face of...?

Our ancestors built this wall...

...using ancient stones

from the bosom of Greece herself.

By noon this day you will be dead men.

A thousand nations of the Persian Empire

descend upon you.

Our arrows will blot out the sun.

Then we will fight in the shade.

The wall is solid.

It'll do the job of funneling the Persians

into the Hot Gates.

And with a little Spartan help...

Have the men found any route

through the hills to our back?

...your Persian scouts supplied the mortar.

None, sire.

You will pay for your barbarism!

There is such a route, good king.

My arm!

Just pass that western ridge.

It's not yours anymore.

It's an old goat path.

Go now. Run along and tell your Xerxes

he faces free men here...

The Persians could use it to outflank us.

...not slaves.

Do it quickly...

...before we decide to make our wall

just a little bit bigger.

Not one step closer, monster!

Wise king, I humbly request an audience.

- I'll skewer you where you stand.

- I gave no such order.

Forgive the captain.

No.
He is a good soldier...
Not slaves.
...but a bit short on manners.
Your women will be slaves.

Your sons, your daughters...

There is nothing to forgive, brave king.

I know what I look like.

...your elders will be slaves!

You wear the crimson of a Spartan.

But not you, no.

I am Ephialtes, born of Sparta.

My mother's love
led my parents to flee Sparta...

A single weak spot

and the phalanx shatters.

From thigh to neck, Ephialtes.

...lest I be discarded.
I am sorry, my friend.
Your shield and armor?

My father's, sir.

- But not all of us were made to be soldiers.

- But I...

I beg you, bold king,

to permit me...

- lf you want to help in a Spartan victory...

- Yes.

...to redeem my father's name

by serving you in combat.

...clear the battlefield of the dead,

tend the wounded, bring them water...

My father trained me to feel no fear,

to make spear and shield and sword...

...but as for the fight itself...

...as much a part of me

as my own beating heart.

...I cannot use you.

You...
I will earn my father's armor, noble king...
Mother! Father! You were wrong!
...by serving you in the battle.
You are wrong!
A fine thrust.
Leonidas! You are wrong!
I will kill many Persians.
Dispatch the Phocians to the goat path...
Raise your shield.
...and pray to the gods
nobody tells the Persians about it.
- Sire?
- Raise your shield as high as you can.
Earthquake.
Your father should have taught you
how our phalanx works.

We fight...

...as a single, impenetrable unit.

That is the source of our strength.

No, captain.

Battle formations.

This is where we hold them.

This is where we fight!

Each Spartan protects the man

to his left...

This is where they die!

...from thigh to neck with his shield.

Earn these shields, boys!

Tuck tail!
Remember this day, men...
Persian cowards.
...for it will be yours for all time.

Spartans!

- What the hell are you laughing at?

- Well, you had to say it.

Lay down your weapons!

- What?
- "Fight in the shade."

Persians!

Recover.

Come and get them!

Today no Spartan dies.

Hold!

Easy, son.

Give them nothing...

We do what we were trained to do...

...but take from them everything!

... what we were bred to do...

Steady!

... what we were born to do.

Push!

No prisoners. No mercy.

Is that the best you can do?

A good start.

Push! Push!

- I was afraid you might not come.

- I'm sorry, my son is...

Now!
Is doing what children do best.
Please, don't apologize.
Push!
Your son starts the agoge next year.
No prisoners!

No mercy!

That is always a difficult time

for a Spartan mother.

They look thirsty.

Yes, it will be hard. But also necessary.

Well, let's give them something to drink.

You will speak before the council

in two days' time.

To the cliffs.

Halt.

Hell of a good start.

My husband does not have two days.

Think of the two days as a gift.

It's no secret...

...Theron wants what you control.

It's his voice you must silence.

- Captain, I leave you in charge.

- But sire...

Relax, old friend.

Make him your ally...

If they assassinate me,

all of Sparta goes to war.

...and you will have your victory.

Pray they're that stupid.

Thank you.

Pray...

You are wise as you are kind.

...we're that lucky.

There's your mother.

Besides...

You should keep a better eye on him

if he's to be king one day.

...there's no reason we can't be civil...

Be unfortunate if anything
were to happen to him.

...is there?

None, sire.
Or to his beautiful mother.
Let me guess.
No!
You must be Xerxes.
Our Greek comrades are begging
for a crack at the Persians, sire.
Come, Leonidas.
Good.
Let us reason together.
I've got something
I think they can handle.

Tell Daxos that I want him...

...and 20 of his best eager, sober

and ready for the next charge.

King Leonidas.

- Stelios, catch your breath, boy.

- Yes, milord.

The Persians are approaching.

It would be a regrettable waste...

...it would be nothing short of madness

were you, brave king...

...and your valiant troops to perish...

...all because of a simple

misunderstanding.

- There's much our cultures could share.

- Haven't you noticed?

We've been sharing our culture

with you all morning.

A small contingent.
Too small for an attack.
Yours is a fascinating tribe.

Even now you are defiant...

...in the face of annihilation

and the presence of a god.

It isn't wise to stand against me,

Leonidas.

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.

Imagine what a horrible fate
awaits my enemies...
You are generous...
...when I would gladly kill
any of my own men for victory.

And I would die for any one of mine.

You Greeks take pride in your logic.

I suggest you employ it.

...as you are divine...

...O king of kings.

Such an offer
only a madman would refuse.

Consider the beautiful land

you so vigorously defend.

But the...

Picture it reduced to ash at my whim.

The idea of kneeling, it's...

Consider the fate of your women.

You see, slaughtering

all those men of yours has...

Clearly you don't know our women.

Well, it's left a nasty cramp in my leg...

I might as well have marched them up here,

judging by what I've seen.

...so kneeling will be hard for me.

You have many slaves, Xerxes...

There will be no glory in your sacrifice.

...but few warriors.

I will erase even the memory of Sparta

from the histories.

It won't be long
before they fear my spears...

...more than your whips.

Every piece of Greek parchment

shall be burned.

Every Greek historian and every scribe

shall have their eyes put out...

It's not the lash they fear...

...and their tongues
cut from their mouths.
...it is my divine power.

But I am a generous god.

I can make you rich beyond all measure.

I will make you warlord of all Greece.

Why, uttering the very name of Sparta

or Leonidas will be punishable by death.

The world will never know

you existed at all.

The world will know

that free men stood against a tyrant.

The deadliest fighting force in all of Asia:

That few stood against many.

The Immortals.

And before this battle was over...

The god-king has betrayed a fatal flaw:

...that even a god-king can bleed.

Hubris.

You fought well today...

Easy to taunt, easy to trick.

...for a woman.

Before wounds and weariness

have taken their toll...

As did you.
... the mad king
throws the best he has at us.
Maybe if I'm injured,
you'll be able to keep up with me.

Perhaps I was so far ahead

you couldn't see me.

More likely offering your backside

to the Thespians.

Xerxes has taken the bait.

Spartans, push!

Immortals.

We put their name to the test.

Jealousy...
Father!
...does not become you, my friend.
My king!
Move it, men!
Arcadians, now!
Pile those Persians high.
Go! Show the Spartans what we can do.
For unless I miss my guess...
Go!
...we're in for one wild night.
They shout and curse...
They have served the dark will
of Persian kings for 500 years.

Eyes as dark as night.

Teeth filed to fangs.

Soulless.

The personal guard to King Xerxes himself.

The Persian warrior elite.

... stabbing wildly,

more brawlers than warriors.

They make a wondrous mess of things.

Brave amateurs, they do their part.

Immortals.

They fail our king's test.

Funneled into this narrow corridor,
their numbers count for nothing.
And a man who fancies himself a god...
They fall by the hundreds.
... feels a very human chill
crawl up his spine.

To our king!

And our honored dead.

Whom will Xerxes dare to send next?

Whom?!

There's nothing that can stop us now!

Even the king allows himself

to hope for more than glory.

Such mad hope, but there it is:

"Against Asia's endless hordes,

against all odds, we can do it.

We send the severed bodies

and the fragile hearts back to Xerxes' feet.

King Xerxes is displeased

with his generals.

He disciplines them.

Xerxes dispatches his monsters

from half the world away.

They're clumsy beasts...

... and the piled Persian dead are slippery.

- You still here?

- Somebody's gotta watch your back.

Not now, I'm a little busy.

We can hold the Hot Gates.
Regroup!
We can win. "
Astinos!
Dawn.
My son!
Whips crack. Barbarians howl.
Astinos!
Those behind cry, "Forward!"
No!
Those in front cry, "Back!"
Day wears on.
Our eyes bear witness
to the grotesque spectacle...
We lose few...
... coughed forth from the darkest corner
of Xerxes' empire.

... but each felled is a friend,

or dearest blood.

When muscle failed...

And upon seeing the headless body
of his own young son...
... they turned to their magic.
... the captain breaks rank.
One hundred nations descend upon us,
the armies of all Asia.

He goes wild, blood-drunk.

And one more thing...
The captain's cries of pain
at the loss of his son...

... are more frightening to the enemy

than the deepest battle drums.

It takes three men to restrain him

and bring him back to our own.

...I want a uniform.

Done.

You will find...

...I am kind.
The day is ours.

No songs are sung.

Your gods were cruel to shape you so,

friend Ephialtes.

Unlike the cruel Leonidas,

who demanded that you stand...

...I require only...

...that you kneel.

The Spartans, too...
Beautiful night.
...were cruel to reject you.

But I am kind.

Yes, but I did not ask you here

for small talk, Theron.

Everything you could ever desire...

You can be sure of that.

...every happiness you can imagine...

You never spared words with me.

...every pleasure your fellow Greeks

and your false gods have denied you...

Can I offer you something?

A drink, perhaps?

...I will grant you.

Is it poison?

For I am kind.

I'm sorry to disappoint you,

it's only water.

Embrace me as your king

and as your god.

Yes.

Lead my soldiers to the hidden path

that enters behind the cursed Spartans...

...and your joys will be endless.

Yes! I want it all.

Wealth. Women.

I'm told it's been arranged for you

to go before the council.

Yes.

I need your help in winning votes

to send the army north to our king.

Yes.

I can see it,

the two of us standing together.

Me, politician. You, warrior.

Our voices as one.

But why would I want to do that?

It proves you care for a king who right now

fights for the very water we drink.

Leonidas will receive no reinforcements,

and if he returns, without my help...

...he will go to jail or worse.

Do you love your Sparta?

True.
Yes.
But this is politics, not war.
- And your king?
- I do.
Leonidas is an idealist.

I know your kind too well. You send men

to slaughter for your own gain.

Your husband, our king,

has taken 300 of our finest to slaughter.

Your husband fights for his land

and his love.

What do you have to offer...

...in return for my word

that I'll help you send our army north?
He's broken our laws
and left without the council's consent.
What does a realist want with his queen?
- I'm simply a realist.
- You're an opportunist.

You're as foolish as Leonidas if you think

men don't have a price in this world.

All men are not created equal.

That's the Spartan code, my little queen.

I think you know.

This will not be over quickly.

You will not enjoy this.

I'm not your king.

I admire your passion.
Dilios.
But don't think that you...

...a woman, even a queen...

...can walk into the council chamber

and sway the minds of men.

I trust that scratch

hasn't made you useless?

Hardly, my lord. It's just an eye.

I own that chamber...

The gods saw fit to grace me

with a spare.

...as if it were built with these hands.

My captain?

I could crush
the life out of you right now.

Curses the gods and mourns alone.

Leonidas!
You will go before the council,
but your words will fall on deaf ears.

We are undone.
Undone, I tell you. Destroyed.

Daxos, calm yourself.

Our hunchback traitor led Xerxes' lmmortals

to the hidden goat path behind us.

Gather round.

No retreat, no surrender.

That is Spartan law.

And by Spartan law,

we will stand and fight...
The Phocians you posted there
were scattered without a fight.
...and die.
- This battle is over, Leonidas.
- This battle is over when I say it is over.

A new age has begun.

By morning, the lmmortals will surround us.

The Hot Gates will fall.

An age of freedom.

Spartans! Prepare for glory!

And all will know that 300 Spartans...

Glory? Have you gone mad?

...gave their last breath to defend it.

There is no glory to be had now.

My friend.

Only retreat or surrender. Or death.

I have lived my entire life

without regret until now.

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.

It's not that my son

gave up his life for his country.

It's just that I never told him

that I loved him the most.

That he stood by me with honor.

That he was all that was best in me.

My heart is broken for your loss.

Heart?
And while you're at it, search your own.
I have filled my heart...
My men will leave with me.
...with hate.
Godspeed, Leonidas.
Good.
Children!
Dilios...
Children.
...let's take a walk.

May I give the floor now...

Yes, my lord.
...to the wife of Leonidas
and queen of Sparta.
But, sire, I am fit and ready for battle.

That you are, one of the finest.

But you have another talent

unlike any other Spartan.

You will deliver my final orders

to the council...

- What's this?
- This is nothing.

Councilmen...

...I stand before you

not only as your queen.

I come to you as a mother.

...with force and verve.
I come to you as a wife.
Tell them our story.
I come to you as a Spartan woman.
Make every Greek know
what happened here.

You'll have a grand tale to tell.

A tale of victory.

I come to you with great humility.

I am not here to represent Leonidas.

His actions speak louder

than my words ever could.

Victory.

Yes, my lord.

Sire, any message...?

For the queen?

None that need be spoken.

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.

Hundreds leave.
We are at war, gentlemen.
A handful stay.
We must send the entire Spartan army
to aid our king...
Only one looks back.

Spartans!

Ready your breakfast and eat hearty...

...for tonight we dine in hell!

...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.

You speak of honor, duty and glory?

But what of adultery?

- How dare you.

- How dare I?

Hope that a king and his men have not

been wasted to the pages of history.

Watch her carefully.

That their courage bonds us together.

She is a trickster in true form.

That we are made stronger

by their actions...

Do not play with the members

of this sacred chamber, my queen.

...and that your choices today

reflect their bravery.

Just hours ago,

you offered yourself to me.

Three hundred.

Were I a weaker man,

I would have her scent on me still.

We must send them.

- This is outrage.
- Oh, the hypocrite speaks!

Moving...

...eloquent, passionate.

But it doesn't change the fact

that your husband has brought war upon us.

You are wrong.

Xerxes brought it forth...

...and before that,

his father Darius at Marathon.

Did you not receive a similar payment,

which you took...

...in exchange for her having an audience

with these noble men?

- That is a lie.
- Is it?

Was he not, by your invitation,

asked to come to the king's bedchamber?

The Persians will not stop...

The very bed where you attempted

to negotiate with me so vigorously?

...until the only shelter we will find

is rubble and chaos.

You look shocked.

A bribe of the flesh, gentlemen...

This chamber needs no

history lesson, my queen.

...while her husband

promotes anarchy and war.

Then what is the lesson

you would like to leave?

He speaks truth.

Shall I begin to enumerate all of them?

Words escape
even the most cunning tongue...

Honor. Duty. Glory.

...my little whore queen.

...and more, to reward your service.
What queen-like behavior.
You fight for your lands.
Remove her from this chamber
before she infects us further...
Keep them.
...with her inglorious and shabby self.
You fight for Sparta.
This will not be over quickly.

You will not enjoy this.

I am not your queen.

She will be wealthier and more powerful

than ever before.

You fight for your kingship.

Traitor.
You will be proclaimed warlord
of all Greece...
Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!

Traitor!

Leonidas, my compliments
and congratulations.

You surely have turned calamity

into victory.

...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.

Despite your insufferable arrogance...
It's been more than 30 years
since the wolf in the winter cold.
...the god-king has come
to admire Spartan valor and fighting skill.

You will make a mighty ally.

Yield, Leonidas.

Use your reason. Think of your men.

And now, as then,

it's not fear that grips him...

... only restlessness.

A heightened sense of things.

The seaborne breeze coolly kissing

the sweat at his chest and neck.

I beg you.
Gulls cawing...
Listen to your fellow Greek.
... complaining even as they feast
on the thousands of floating dead.
He can attest
to the divine one's generosity.

The steady breathing

of the 300 at his back...

Despite your several insults,

despite your horrid blasphemies...
... ready to die for him
without a moment's pause.
...the lord of hosts
is prepared to forgive all...

Every one of them...

My wife.
... ready to die.
My love.
His helmet is stifling.
"Remember us."
His shield is heavy.
As simple an order as a king can give.
Your spear.
"Remember why we died."
You there...
For he did not wish tribute or song...
...Ephialtes.

May you live forever.

...nor monuments,
nor poems of war and valor.

Leonidas, your spear.

His wish was simple.

Stelios!

"Remember us"...

Slaughter them!

...he said to me.

His helmet was stifling.

That was his hope.

It narrowed his vision,

and he must see far.

Should any free soul

come across that place...

His shield was heavy.

It threw him off balance...

... in all the countless

centuries yet to be...

... and his target is far away.

... may all our voices...

The old ones say we Spartans

are descended from Hercules himself.

... whisper to you

from the ageless stones.

Bold Leonidas gives testament

to our bloodline.

Go tell the Spartans, passerby...

... that here, by Spartan law, we lie.

His roar is long and loud.
And so my king died...
My king.
... and my brothers died...
It's an honor to die at your side.
...barely a year ago.
It's an honor to have lived at yours.

My queen!

Long I pondered my king's

cryptic talk of victory.

...knowing full well

what merciless horrors they suffered...
Time has proven him wise.
...at the swords and spears of 300.
For from free Greek to free Greek...

...the word was spread

that bold Leonidas and his 300...

Yet they stare now across the plain

at 10,000 Spartans...

...commanding 30,000 free Greeks!

...so far from home...

...laid down their lives

not just for Sparta...

The enemy outnumber us

a paltry three to one.

Good odds for any Greek.

...but for all Greece
and the promise this country holds.

This day, we rescue a world

from mysticism and tyranny...

Now, here on this rugged patch of earth

called Plataea...
...and usher in a future
brighter than anything we can imagine.
...Xerxes' hordes face obliteration!
Give thanks, men...
Just there the barbarians huddle...
...to Leonidas and the brave 300.
...sheer terror gripping tight their hearts...
To victory!
...with icy fingers...

Special thanks to SergeiK.