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Gay Sparta
The reason 300 omits this extremely vital aspect of Spartan warriors’ appearance is because, in twenty-first-century American culture, it is considered “effeminate” for men to wear their hair long and spend a lot of time styling it. This, however, was clearly not the case in ancient Sparta.

Ancient Greek depictions of warriors with long hair show them wearing their hair in what appear to be long, intricate braids that come midway down their backs. It is extremely likely that this is how many Spartiate men wore their hair.



ABOVE: Photograph of an ancient Greek statue of a warrior wearing his hair in long, intricate braids that come midway down his back. This is how many Spartiate men probably wore their hair.


The later Greek writer Ploutarchos of Chaironeia (lived c. 46 – after c. 119 AD) similarly emphasizes that Spartiate men were known for wearing their hair long and that they were extremely attentive to making sure it looked good, especially before battle. He writes in his Life of Lykourgos 22.1, as translated by Richard J. A. Talbert:

“It was in wartime that they relaxed the harshest elements of the young men’s training: they did not stop them grooming their hair and decorating their clothes and weapons, but were pleased at the sight of them like horses prancing and neighing before a contest. So they wore their hair long as soon as they had passed the age of ephebes; they took particular care over it in the face of danger, making it look sleek and combing it. They bore in mind one of Lykourgos’s statements about long hair, that it renders handsome men better looking, and ugly ones more frightening.”


Herodotos claims in his Histories 7.208-209 that, before the Battle of Thermopylai, Xerxes sent out a scout to observe the Greeks in their camp and that scout was astonished to see a large number of the men carefully combing and grooming their hair. He writes, as translated by A. D. Godley:

“Riding up to the camp, the horseman watched and spied out the place. He could, however, not see the whole camp, for it was impossible to see those posted inside the wall which they had rebuilt and were guarding. He did take note of those outside, whose arms lay in front of the wall, and it chanced that at that time the Lakedaimonians [i.e., Spartans] were posted there. He saw some of the men exercising naked and others combing their hair. He marvelled at the sight and took note of their numbers. When he had observed it all carefully, he rode back in leisure, since no one pursued him or paid him any attention at all. So he returned and told Xerxes all that he had seen.”

https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/11/03/debunking-the-movie-300/