While 300 may have not been the greatest film ever, it gave you what you saw it for, i.e. awesome violence and graphics. What some people don’t realize is it is based loosely — very loosely — on the story of the Battle of Thermopylae. The real Leonidas did in fact bring 300 of his soldiers, but A) most scholars believe this was because the rest of his Spartan Army was tied up with the forces of the rest of Greece to deal with the Persian Army and B) he was joined by soldiers from other parts of Greece, so his total force was of somewhere between 4,000-7,000. That doesn’t detract from the fact that they were outnumbered at the “Hot Gates”, with the invading Persian Army totaling anywhere from 80,000-290,000. So at the very least, he was outnumbered a good 10-1. They did repel the army of Persia for two days before being sold out, although that dude probably didn’t have the hump that he did in the movie. Leonidas did send most everyone besides the Spartans at that point home for the final curtain, realizing they would be needed later for future battles.
But the movie version is much more fun to believe, especially if his queen did in fact look anything like Lena Headey. Then he was a very lucky man indeed, and had a life of kicking ass, wine, and banging the ever loving shit out of his gorgeous wife. Also, there is evidence that the exchange between him and the Persian Army that ended with, “Persians, come and get them!” did actually take place.
What does this have to do with the Hawks? While we require outright victory, Leonidas’s bravery, determination, and arrogance to ward off the hordes of the Flyers, tension, and nervousness creeping into the City of Chicago. Or something…
Flyers…come and get them!