Johann Hinck Miss Pfaff AP English Language 5/29/12 Dilios Dignifying Diction Spartan soldier, Dilios, in his motivational

speech from the film 300, recounts the life of brave Leonidas, king of the Spartans, and his bold stand against Persia with his 300 soldiers. Dilios purpose is to inspire his fellow soldiers and the entire Greek army to take arms against the Persian army and to fight for their freedom. He adopts a vigorous tone and uses a glorifying style in order to spark the Greeks with inspiration, determination, and vengeance. Dilios begins his speech by depicting the childhood of Leonidas as uniform to all other Spartan children from the time he is born until he is mercilessly thrown into the wild to prove his skill. He emphasizes Leonidass equality by leaving him without his identity as prince, using phrases like When the boy was born (1), and he would return to his people a Spartan, or not at all (9-10), until he proves himself worthy by killing the great wolf. He stresses this equality in order to accentuate Leonidus willingness to die for their sake and think as a free man rather than as a selfish king. Dilios observation of Leonidas humbleness encourages the Greeks to fight for his ideals and to continue his conquest for freedom. Dilios moves to the bold Leonidas climb up the mountain to request a blessing on war against the Persians from the ephors. Here, he expresses the soldiers view towards the ephors nave, outdated, and selfish behaviors. He illuminates this loathing by using asyndeton in his insults towards the ephors The ephors, priests to the old gods, inbred swine, more creature than man, creatures whom even Leonidas must bribe and beg (19-20), the ephors' blessing, diseased old mystics and worthless remnants of a time before Sparta's ascent from darkness, remnants of a senseless tradition (21-22), Pompous, inbred swine, worthless, diseased, rotten, corrupt (25-26). He also uses asyndeton when he describes the strength of Spartan law, And no Spartan, subject or citizen, man or woman, slave or king, is above the law (23-24). He repeats his insults in order to prove that he disagrees with the Ephors outdated laws of

peace during the full moon, and emphasizes the strength of the Spartan law in order to affirm the kings inability to bypass it. These reiterations help Dilios explain how although Leonidus despised the ephors, he had no choice but to consult them. Dilios continues his speech to describe the landing of the Persians, interrupted by a powerful storm. Using allusion, he paints the scene of giant transport ships smashed and capsized by winds and waves. Zeus stabs the sky with thunderbolts and batters the Persian ships with hurricane wind. (38). Dilios uses this allusion in order to convince the Greeks that even the gods are on their side, and nothing can stop them. This helps to give the Greeks courage to fight the Persians and hope that the outcome will be to their benefit. When Dilios moves on to describe Leonidas encounter with Xerxes, he speaks using strong parallelism to the beginning of his story. He uses the same words to explain how Leonidas felt before killing the wolf, It's not fear that grips him, only a heightened sense of things. (12), as he does before attacking the Persian king, And now, as then, its not fear that grips him, only restlessness, a heightened sense of things. (66-67) Dilios employs this parallelism to compare Xerxes to the wolf, as both were defeated when hit by Leonidas spear. The wolf defeated by death, Xerxes defeated by drawing blood, proving him to be mortal. This encouraging climax, the wounding of the Persian king, aids the Greeks in believing that their battle is a battle that can be won. Dilios creates a vigorous tone in his motivational speech by using powerful verbs to glorify Leonidas actions, exaggerated adjectives to intensify the soldiers conquests, and a poetic style to carve images of the 300s battle into the minds of the Greek army. Dilios utilizes a diction that mutates Persian men into demons from hell by using phrases such as the grotesque spectacle coughed forth from the darkest corner of Xerxes' empire (53-54), and Eyes as dark as night, teeth filed to fangs, soulless(42-43). He also repeats phrases to epically praise the labors of Spartas brave 300, Into the Hot Gates we march. Into that narrow corridor we march For honor's sake, for duty's sake, for glory's sake, we march. Into hell's mouth we march. (3537) The use of the phrase we march with different

purposes tells us that the Spartans fought not just for their own glory, but for duty, and protection of their homeland. Dilios syntax varies throughout his speech. He uses a variety of schemes to keep his verses fresh and exciting. When he wants to describe the obvious power of the Spartans, he describes a battle with short sentences. Immortals, we put their name to the test. (46) When he wants to savor the details of their strength and bravery, he turns a quick battle into a gruesome epic. Whips crack. Barbarians howl. Those behind cry, "Forward!" Those in front cry, "Back!" Our eyes bear witness to the grotesque spectacle coughed forth from the darkest corner of Xerxes' empire. When muscle failed, they turned to their magic. One hundred nations descend upon us, the armies of all Asia, funneled into this narrow corridor. Their numbers count for nothing. They fall by the hundreds. (52-56) These variances in sentence structure not only keep Dilios speech exciting, but also depict beautiful, lush victories while assuring the Greeks that the Spartans would win their battles easily. Spartan soldier, Dilios, in his motivational speech from the film 300, recounts the life of brave Leonidas, king of the Spartans, and his bold stand against Persia with his 300 soldiers. Dilios purpose is to inspire his fellow soldiers and the entire Greek army to take arms against the Persian army and to fight for their freedom. He adopts a vigorous tone and uses a glorifying style in order to spark the Greeks with inspiration, determination, and vengeance. The motivational prose spoken by Dilios to his army of Greeks beautifully captures the intensity and sacrifice for freedom of the 300 Spartans. He flows through his speech easily while keeping the fierceness of his story. This vigorous and glorifying inspiration aided the Greeks in their battle without doubt.