In this episode, Digital History Lab co-director Gabe Moss talks about the ways in which Orientalism is deployed in the 1998 graphic novel 300 and its 2006 film adaptation. This is the second part of a two-part series on popular representations of the ancient world. Episode 1 can be found here. Tune in in a couple of weeks for a conversation with Daniel Morgan (PhD Candidate in the History Department at UNC-Chapel Hill) about the video game Crusader Kings II.
Further reading:
- “A Racist Gore-Fest.” Mahoud Golsorkhi, The Guardian.
- “A Movie Only a Spartan Could Love.” Dana Stevens, Slate.
- “Zack Snyder’s 300 Presaged the Howling Fascism of the Alt-Right.” Tom Breihan, AV Club.
- “Zack Snyder and the West Should Stop Killing Ancient Persians.” Ishaan Thaloor, Time.
- “A Critical View of Miller’s Blockbuster 300.” Neal Conan and Victor Davis Hanson, NPR.
- “This is Not Sparta: Why the Modern Romance With Sparta is a Bad One” Sarah Bond, Eidolon.
- “This Isn’t Sparta.” Bret Devereaux, ACOUP.
Produced by Garrett Wright and Gabriel Moss
Editing by Ashley Curry and Garrett Wright
Music by Garrett Wright
All opinions are the speakers’ own, and do not represent the official views of UNC or the Department of History.