Ephialtes of Thessaly was a character in Greek mythology that was characterized by its amorphous appearance in which its hump stood out. In the movie 300 Ephialtes is referred to as a person who had to leave the territory of Sparta in order not to die from his deformities and who betrayed Leonidas I in the battle of Thermopylae.
He survived after his birth thanks to his father, who prevented his mother from dropping Efialtes from a mountain with the intention of killing him because of the physical deformities he presented. In Greek mythology it is characterized by its large size and by presenting a large number of anomalies in its body.
Representation of Efialtes in the movie 300. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The representation of Ephialtes in the story of 300 (Zack Snyder, 2006) has many similarities with the legends of Greek mythology. It had a fundamental role for the Persians to defeat the Spartans at Thermopylae in 480 BC. C.
Legends
Historians have noted that Ephialtes' progenitor was Euridemus of Malis, who prevented the early death of his son. The normal thing, according to the rules that existed in Sparta in ancient times, was that children with deformities should be sacrificed. Efialtes' mother tried to follow the laws, but her father objected.
According to the legends of Greek mythology, Ephialtes is related to different gods. Some texts speak that he was the son of the goddess of the earth, Gaea. Others link him to the gods of the afterlife.
characteristics
In Greek mythology, Ephialtes was characterized by being of great size, something normal among all the children of the Goddess Gaia. Physically he was described as an individual with human characteristics, although without legs since what he had was a tail. He was possessed of extraordinary strength.
According to the legends of Greek mythology, Apollo and Hercules shot him in the eyes and that was one of the causes of some of his physical anomalies. In the movie 300 he was portrayed as a hunchback with a thirst for revenge.
Etymology
The origin of the name Ephialtes was never exactly known. In Greek, the term could be translated as "Nightmare", although some historians also associated the name with the definition of "The one who jumps."
Treason
In the story of Sparta, and in the movie 300, Ephialtes was depicted as the individual who caused the Spartans to lose the battle of Thermopylae. Ephialtes helped the Persians to take revenge on King Leonidas I and informed them of a different path to avoid the passage of Thermopylae, where they were able to ambush the Spartans.
Leonidas I ambushed his rivals in the Thermopylae pass, while Efialtes reported on the existence of the Anopea road, where they could attack the army of Spartans and turn a battle that had almost lost.
The king of Sparta, aware of his destiny, gave the order that a large part of his men leave the place. Only Leonidas and 300 of his soldiers stayed behind. The battle, although it ended in defeat for the army of Sparta, was the beginning of the legend of Leonidas.
Ephialtes thought he would receive some reward or favor from the Persians for his important information to defeat the Spartans, but that never happened. Largely because Xerxes' army lost the Battle of Salamis shortly afterwards.
With the defeat and end of the Persian invasion plans, Ephialtes had to seclude himself in Thessaly, but the Greeks had already offered a prize for his head. The important historian of ancient Greece, Herodotus, reported in his writings that Athenades of Traquinia, a soldier in the army of Greece, was in charge of ending the life of Ephialtes in 479 BC. C.
Movie
Throughout history, three film tapes were made of the history of the Battle of Thermopylae. Ephialtes was represented in all of them, maintaining some of the characteristics of the character from Greek mythology.
The first film was shown in 1962 under the title The 300 from Sparta. Efialtes was characterized at that time for being a single person, due to her deformities, she worked on a farm as a cattleman, which is why she knew the road to Anopea where goats were transported at that time.
Efialtes was a great connoisseur of the area around the Thermopylae pass because his farm was in the area. Here it was explained that the betrayal of Leonidas was due to his obsession with receiving more land to be able to work.
Then two more tapes were made based on a comic book published in 1998 by Frank Miller. First the movie 300 came out in 2006 and then in 2014 there was a sequel titled 300: The Birth of an Empire.
The creators of the films went so far as to affirm that about 90% of the film adheres to the facts that have been reviewed by historians over time. Andrew Tiernan was in charge of giving life to Efialtes in both films, while in 1962 the role went to Kieron Moore.
Herodotus, the main source
The main reference for all the stories and legends that have been created about Ephialtes and the myth of Leonidas have Herodotus as their main author. The historian was in charge of reviewing almost everything that happened in Ancient Greece. Therefore, he wrote about the battle of Thermopylae that occurred in 480 BC. C.
One of the first references made to Efialtes has to do with his meetings with the kings to obtain more land.
There are other stories that do not give Ephialtes so much importance in the defeat of the Spartans. Contrary to what is shown in the 300 films, it was also said that it was an inhabitant of Fanagoria and another of Anticira who warned the Persians about the alternate route.
Although this hypothesis may be true, Ephialtes continued to be recognized as the author of the betrayal because he was the one who guided them to the road normally used to transport goats and who served to defeat Leonidas and his army.
References
- Cohn-Haft, Louis. Source Readings In Ancient History. Crowell, 1967.
- Cunningham, Lawrence S. Culture And Values. Wadsworth, 2015.
- Herodotus. The Complete Works Of Herodotus. Delphi Classics, 2013.
- Medism: Themistocles, Ephialtes Of Trachis, Alcmaeonidae, Pausanias, Amyntas, Attaginus, Timocrates Of Rhodes, Thorax Of Larissa, Thargelia. General Books LLC, 2010.
- Rawlinson, George. The Collected Works Of George Rawlinson. Artnow, 2018.