Preview

A Hero's Journey: "Gladiator" (the movie).

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1347 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Hero's Journey: "Gladiator" (the movie).
"Gladiator" is a movie meant to be remembered for many years to come. It is an action-packed; historical, tragic, emotional, vengeful, moral, amazing, exciting, breath-taking, and thrilling ride into the era of the Roman Empire. Maximus was the most honorable, respected, and skilled general Rome had ever has, and when everything is taken from him, he still manages to die as Rome's most respected, honorable, and skilled gladiators. Maximus is the definition of Gladiator.

"Gladiator" tells the tale of the general (Maximus) who became a slave, the slave who became a gladiator, and the gladiator who defied an empire. Maximus was the most honorable and respected general Rome had ever had, and when everything is taken from him, he still manages to die as one of Rome's most respected and honorable men.

THE CALL:

Maximus' journey starts when the dieing Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, asks him to be Rome's new emperor when he passes. He does not feel that his son, Commodus is fit to rule. When Marcus tells the news to Commodus, Commodus is outraged and suffocates his father while hugging him. Since the Emperor had not announced his wishes for Maximus to take the throne publicly, the heir, Commodus, became the new emperor of Rome. Commodus then asks for Maximus' allegiance to him and to be the general of his army, but Maximus would not have anything to do with this false emperor.

Commodus orders for Maximus to be executed away from the camp. He also orders for Maximus' wife and eight year old son to be burned alive and crucified. So two executioners took Maximus out into the middle of some woods to kill him, but being the amazing soldier he was, he killed both of the men, but had been cut very deeply in his lefts arm. He took there horses in an effort to stop the soldiers from killing his family. When he reaches his farmland, he finds that his entire crop has been burnt, his cattle slaughtered, but worst of all, his wife and little son burnt to a crisp nailed to crosses above

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000), was the first film set in the ancient world produced since the 1960s. Since then, there have been many more films made set in the ancient world. The question is, why was Gladiator able to revive the ancient world genre? After seeing films like Ben-Hur and Spartacus, two of the greatest films ever made set in the ancient world. it is hard not to see the cinematic cues that Gladiator takes from these films. Ben-Hur follows the story of Judah Ben-Hur after he was betrayed by his childhood friend and seeks revenge against the man who wronged. In Gladiator, we have Maximus go on a quest for vengeance after the new emperor has ordered him executed and kills his family. From Ben-Hur we know that this kind of story is not one likely to go our of fashion. Even modern movies that are not set in the ancient world have a story like this.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When reading about the Roman gladiator games as well as the chariot races and theater events, it can be quite difficult to truly envision what it was like for the participants and the spectators of such events. The participants in such activities were overall viewed as low-class citizens. Gladiators, charioteers and actors in the theater all “had little more status than slaves.” The participants of the games were meant to entertain the spectators, and nothing else. Besides the fact that the participants were seen as low class, they also faced very brutal conditions in the games. The gladiators and charioteers were susceptible to violent, gory deaths. For gladiators, often times their throats were cut and the knives eventually made their way to the gladiator’s hearts. Another possible outcome for gladiators, was being ripped to pieces by various animals. Whether their death came by combat with another gladiator or by animal, it was nothing short of gruesome. This gruesomeness though, was enjoyed by many. Chariot…

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gladiator Movie Analysis

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages

    By currently taking this History & Philosophy of Sports class, this film “Gladiator” establishes the whole scenery during the time period of ancient Rome. In the film, it introduced Gladiator battles. These Gladiator battles reflected as entertainment to society, as well as, being a survival setting between life and death. Not only they would compete for survival, but they would compete to become the best. By this time, Commodus, is the new Roman emperor and he fears that Maximus could use his heroic ability to dethrone him and become emperor himself. Maximus would use his fame and popularity as a gladiator to invoke further damage to Commodus' insecure dominance of the devoted Roman people, hoping to influence them to restore their lost values and overcome the corruption that…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Et tu, Brute?" Were the last words out of Julius Caesars mouth as he was stabbed to death by his own senate. His charge? Taking power from the senate and trying to rule all of Rome on his own. Julius's nephew, Gaius Octavius, became the first and greatest emperor of Rome because of his strategy, public speaking, charm, effective decisions, and the impact he had on history.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The fictional story of Gladiator is simplicity itself. General Maximus (Russell Crowe) fights in the wilds of Germania with the dying Emperor Marcus Aurelius, is promised the throne with the mission of returning Rome to “The Republic.” Before he can finalize his anguished deliberations, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Marcus' son, sends his father out and claims the throne. Maximus is sentenced to death as a possible opponent, and is taken to the Black Forest for a messy death. His wife and child are similarly condemned. Maximus escapes, badly wounded, rushes home to save his family but gets there too late. Exhausted and distraught, he is picked up by slaves passing through the land. Sold in the provinces as a gladiator, his training and attitude towards death is attractive to people and they follow his lead.…

    • 741 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The attitude of Roman society towards gladiators was contradictory. Paradoxically the gladiators were seen as the lowest of the low and on the other hand were held in similar regard to movie stars of today.…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Know this, sons of Rome, this decree is given by our gods, and must be followed. Which of you has the stomach, but the strength to follow such a decree while not destroy this Empire?” He turns to the heirs and gestures for them to step up to the front of the stage. “You, Maxentius, nephew of Emperor Maximian, who would burn the flesh of man following orders? You Galerius, who would show the worth of a man’s years of loyal service as nothing for one mistake to be hung on the wall? But you, Constantine are the most dangerous of any of you. Your reasoning, your questioning mind, is better suited for a scholar than an emperor. One who questions the laws set down by the gods’ law should not lead others by it.” Turning to Emperor Maximian, he says, “Choose one of your blood to succeed brother.” Diocletian turns back, and faces Severus, “For this man, Severus is the only man I can see to fulfill the gods’ command for the…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Douglas vs Stowe

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Frederick Douglass’s strategy as a writer proves to be effectively powerful in terms of his narrative describing his life as a former slave. As the character, whose name is Proximo of the movie film, “Gladiator,” says to Maximus; “Win the crowd and you will win your freedom,” Douglas must strive to do the same to his primary audiences in the North. In his narrative, Douglas offers a calm, concise, yet compelling account of his experience as a slave. He describes heart-wrenching scenes of beatings and whippings and of the most basic failures in decency, like the one in which the small…

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sparta is a gladiator and slave best known for leading the slave rebellion in Italy against the Rome in 73-71 B.C. Ancient writers seem to have admired Sparta's military skills, but they doubted the slaves' success. They were happy when the rebellion was extinguished and social order was once again restored. Spartacus now seems to be an inspiration to many. People seem to enjoy the idea of an underdog rising to power to overthrow a much more powerful force. It is compelling and tragic that an armed rebellion of slaves could have achieved much against its ferocious Roman Republic.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie’s plotline still loosely follows the series of events that actually took place but has changed quite a lot of the facts. Gladiator warps the facts here because Marcus Aurelius supposedly was murdered by Commodus on the eve of this victory but Aurelius in fact passed away before going out to claim another land. Marcus did conquer many tribes and lands as emperor but did not in fact have a legendary general named “Maximus Decimus Meridius”. The events that actually took place in our historical timeline involve Marcus Aurelius passing away but not at the hand of his son Commodus. The official story states that Aurelius died from plague but some suspect that he was in fact murdered by Commodus. According to historical sources, Commodus was in fact a man of ill worth but Aurelius did give Commodus succession to the…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gladiators were mostly unfree individuals either condemned criminals, prisoners of wars who had lost their citizenship rights, although, some of them were volunteers who were mostly freedmen or very low classes of freeborn men who chose to be a slave for monetary rewards or for the fame. Gladiators were brought for the purpose of gladiatorial combat and would endure branding, chains, flogging or death by the sword and subjected to a rigorous training, fed on a high-energy diet, and given expert medical attention. Gladiators were famously popular in ancient from for seven centuries, from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD fairly late in the Public occupied a prominent position in roman society, they would fight in massive amphitheatres, the most famous being the Colosseum in Rome. The games slowly transformed into spectator, a form of public execution and was seen by the public as entertainment in simpler, rougher times. It escalated as the Romans valued the art of killing and acted as a distraction for its citizens, allowed them to release their violent impulses and aggression within a completely separate social realm. We can assume that there were gladiatorial fights before this in Rome but were not recorded and the tradition of gladiatorial combats did not evolve in Rome but considered to have come from the Etruscans.…

    • 1735 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hamlet vs Gladiator essay

    • 1169 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When watching the movie Gladiator, one might notice how very similar this story is to the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. In Gladiator the main character seeks vengeance for the loss of his son and wife, as does Hamlet for the loss of his father. The vengeance sought out in Gladiator is a result of treachery involving loved ones as is the vengeance sought out in hamlet. Finally, both Hamlet and Gladiator are examples of dramatic tragedy where the main character ends up dying. Along with these similarities there are also many differences. There are the difference in characters, the difference in when these stories take place, and the difference in the endings. By comparing and contrasting a modern tragedy, Gladiator, with an ancient tragedy, Hamlet, it shows why dramatic tragedy has survived throughout the ages.…

    • 1169 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    My Encomium Essay

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Upon all the days of my life, I have watched hundreds of movies, but the one that I really cherished the most is Spartacus Blood and Sand. The title character was played by Andy Whitfield, and it was produced by Steven S. Deknight and Robert Tapert. In this movie, a Thracian gladiator called Spartacus from the year 73 to 71 BC, led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic, by which much innocent blood were shed. These slaves were strong, skillful, and intelligent so some of them became gladiators, including Spartacus and Gannicus, the lovely brother of Spartacus. The rest of the slaves were sent to the farms and mountains to work hard. The gladiators and the other slaves were treated so badly: The female slaves were force to sleep with their masters; the male slaves worked twenty-four hours without giving them food or water; and the gladiators were forced to fight and kill their own brothers. However, the gladiators and the other slaves felt disappointed in their masters, so most of them got the chance to escape and, later on, they returned to save the other slaves and destroy the Roman Empire. It became a huge battle between the escaped slaves led by Spartacus and the soldiers in the Roman Republic. This war was classified as one of the most glorious battles that was fought between two forces, but at the end of the war, Spartacus and his people killed all the Roman soldiers, saved the other slaves, and took over all their properties. From that moment, it became a very great time for Spartacus to be praised as a hero, a savior, and a king. Therefore, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, is the best movie I have ever watched in this world.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Spartacus was known for being a Roman slave and a gladiator in the first century BCE who managed a rebellion against Rome. Spartacus was an individual who had astonishing courage and immense amount of physical strength. He was alive at the time of the first century BCE. A Thracian by creation, he was imprisoned by the Roman Army and developed skills to become a gladiator.1 Spartacus had developed into a modern-day inspirational character to others. His encounters in life had been inspirational to advocates, politicians and journalists since the 19th century.…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gladiator Film Analysis

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Violence has been part of human nature for a very long time. Even though ferocity in our reality has been greatly reduced; violence in T.V has greatly increased. We see a lot more blood, murders, and in greater detail. From 1960’s to the Early 2000’s, Movies have greatly changed in terms of violence.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays