Mythology Expert Reviews Greek & Roman Mythology in Movies (Part 1) | Vanity Fair

- Hello, my name's Peter Meineck.

I'm Professor of Classics in the Modern World

at New York University,

and today we're gonna be breaking down

Greek and Roman mythology in TV and film.

This is a scene from the movie "300."

- Spartan!

[melancholy music]

- Yes, milady.

[melancholy music]

- Come back with your shield,

or on it.

- Yes, milady.

- Ah, the "300." Where to start?

A compelling movie,

and also a deeply problematical movie as well.

The famous phrase, right, "Come back carrying your shield

"or laying on it," which seems pretty harsh thing

for your wife to tell you when you're about to go

and fight a battle and you know you're not coming home.

I think it's Pausanias who actually documents this.

He said that Spartan mothers actually said it to their sons,

which is perhaps even harsher.

It's not only a Spartan sentiment.

The Athenians had a term of insult called a shield dropper.

Anybody who dropped their shield in battle

meant that they were retreating from the hoplite phalanx.

The hoplite phalanx was that you would deploy your infantry,

maybe 6 to 9,000 of them,

and you would carry a large round shield called a hoplite,

we see it in the movie,

and that would cover half of your body,

but it would also cover half of the body

of the man to your left.

So you were totally dependent on each other in battle.

If you dropped your shield,

it meant that not only were you a coward

because you were running away,

but you're also letting the line down.