User:Robby

Spartan King Leonidas

We're in for one wild night.

Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight we dine in Hell!

A new age has come: an age of freedom. And all will know that 300 Spartans gave their last breath to defend it.

This is where we hold them! This is where we FIGHT! This is where they DIE!

Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time.

Give them nothing! But take from them everything!

[After Xerxes offered to make Leonidas Warlord of his Empire, if he would only kneel before him] Wow. That is generous. But you see, there is a problem. Slaughtering so many of your men today, has left an awful cramp in my leg [stretches] and thus kneeling will be difficult.

There's no reason we can't be civil. [Stated while his soldiers spear wounded enemies.]

[After being threatened with the deaths of the Spartan women] Clearly you don't know our women. I might as well have marched them up here, judging by what I've seen.

The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, that even a god-king can bleed.

Spartans! Prepare for glory!

[After a Persian emissary declared that their actions were madness] Madness? This is SPARTA!! [and then kicks him down a well]

[Response to an Arcadian saying their choices were to retreat, surrender, or die.] Well that’s an easy choice for us to make; Spartans never retreat. Spartans never surrender!

[After dropping his helmet and his shield whilst being asked to submit] You there, Ephialtes, may you live forever.

[Dying words] My Queen! My Wife! My Love.

No Spartan dies today!

Dilios

Now, as then, a beast approaches, patient and confident, savoring the meal to come.

It is not fear that grips him. Only a heightened sense of things.

It is said that we Spartans have descended from Hercules himself. Taught never to retreat, never to surrender. Taught that death in the battlefield is the greatest glory he could achieve in his life. Spartans: the finest soldiers the world has ever known.

Immortals. We put their name to the test.

The Immortals, they failed our king's test, and a man who fancies himself a god feels a very human chill run up his spine.

[Last words of the film.] So my king died, and my brothers died, barely a year ago. Long I pondered my king's cryptic talk of victory. But time has proven him wise, for from free greek to free greek the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his 300, so far from home, laid down their lives, not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds. Now, here on this ragged patch of earth called Plataea, Persian hordes face obliteration! Just there the barbarians gather, sheer terror gripping tight their hearts with icy fingers, knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of 300. Yet they stare now across the plain at 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 free Greeks! Ho! 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 could imagine. Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300! To victory!

Dialogue

Leonidas: Before you speak, Persian, know that in Sparta everyone, even a king’s messenger, is responsible for the words of his voice. Now...what message do you bring?

Persian Messenger: Earth and water.

Leonidas: [Laugh] You rode all the way from Persia for earth and water?

Gorgo: Do not be coy or stupid, Persian. You can afford neither in Sparta.

Persian Messenger: What makes this woman think she can speak among men?

Gorgo: Because only Spartan women give birth to real men.

Persian messenger: All the God-King Xerxes requires is this: a simple offering of earth and water. A token of Sparta's submission to the will of Xerxes.

Leonidas: Submission...Well that's a bit of a problem. See rumor has it that the ATHENIANS have already turned you down. And if those philosophers and boy-lovers have that kind of nerve...

Theron: We must be diplomatic.

Leonidas: And of course Spartans...have their reputation to consider.

Persian messenger: Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They may be your last as king.

[Leonidas draws his sword and points it towards the Persian messenger, whose back is to a large, deep well]

Persian messenger: Madman! You're a madman!

Leonidas: Earth and water...you'll find plenty of both down there.

Persian messenger: No man -- Persian or Greek -- no man threatens a messenger!

Leonidas: You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city's 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!

Persian messenger: This is blasphemy! This is madness!

Leonidas: [He looks at Gorgo, who nods to him] Madness? THIS! ISSPARTA!!. [kicks the messenger down the well]

Leonidas: You, what is your profession?

Arcadian Soldier: I'm a potter, sir.

Leonidas: And you, Arcadian, what is your profession?

Arcadian Soldier: I'm a sculptor.

Leonidas: And you?

Arcadian Soldier: I'm a blacksmith.

Leonidas: [Turning towards the Spartans] Spartans! What is your profession?

Spartans: Harooh! Harooh! Harooh!

Leonidas: See old friend, I brought more soldiers than you did.

[The ground begins to shake and small rocks roll of the cliffside]

Captain Artemis: Earthquake?

Leonidas: No Captain, battle formations.

Persian Emissary: The thousand nations of the Persian Empire descend upon you! Our arrows will blot out the sun!

Stelios: [grins] Then we will fight in the shade.

Leonidas: This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die!

Captain Artemis: Earn these shields, boys!

Spartans: Harooh!

Leonidas: Remember this day men. For it will be yours for all time.

[Persian Officer rides through the ranks on his horse to address the Spartans ahead]

Persian Officer: Spartans! Lay down your weapons.

[spear flies from the Spartans meeting the Persian officer]

Leonidas: Persians! Come and get them!

[Persians sound the advance and charge towards the Spartans]

Leonidas: Give them nothing! But take from them...everything!

Xerxes: 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.

Leonidas: Oh, haven't you noticed? We've been sharing our culture with you all morning.

Xerxes: Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory.

Leonidas: And I would die for any one of mine.

[The Spartans hold up their shields as a flurry of Persian arrows blot out the sun. Suddenly, Astinos begins laughing]

Stelios: What are you laughing at?

Astinos: You had to say it! "We'll fight in the shade!"

[Other Spartans laugh with him]

Leonidas: Dilios, I trust that scratch hasn't made you useless.

Dilios: Hardly, my Lord. It's just an eye. The gods saw fit to grace me with a spare.

Stelios: It is an honor to die by your side

Leonidas: It is an honor to have lived at yours.