Joe Rogan Experience - Spotify/YouTube
Director Zack Snyder went on Joe Rogan’s podcast and blew the host’s mind with his stories about Spartan culture, specifically stories of how the warriors were apparently in romantic relationships with each other.
Snyder, who directed the film 300 — which is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco-Persian Wars — explained to Rogan how Spartan soldiers were also lovers because they believed it made their bond stronger.
“The spartans believed that you would die for your brother if you were also lovers. They thought that if you were confused about why we’re fighting, fight for that guy, who’s not only your best buddy but…” the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice filmmaker explained on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.
“There was a story where the Persians first came, they sent a scout over. And they looked down at the Spartans the night before the big battle and he went back, and he goes, ‘They were all having sex with each other, it was like a weird… We’re gonna be good!'” he explained.
“And one of the old Spartan kings, who was now working with the Persians, was like, ‘Oh no, we’re f—–. They’re saying goodbye to each other. Do you know what that means? We’re completely screwed.'”
This is some of the wokest shit I've ever heard in my life. pic.twitter.com/yvddr2N6ja
— drew grant (@videodrew) March 7, 2024
Snyder’s story led to a wide-eyed Rogan to wonder: “What if that’s the key to being the absolute greatest army? You have to be gay. You have to be gay… There is precedent. Imagine if that was applied today.”
The moment skynet becomes self-aware like pic.twitter.com/fppYBU6HHG
— drew grant (@videodrew) March 7, 2024
Released in 2007, Snyder’s 300 is the film that made him a household director as the film grossed $456 million against a $60 million budget. Starring Gerard Butler in the lead role, the film became a cultural phenomenon and remains one to this day.
While a sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, was released in 2014 that film, was not directed by Snyder.
You can watch Snyder’s full interview on the Joe Rogan Experience below.