If you are familiar with the Iliad, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that every man in the Trojan War probably had PTSD. It's one of the most unrelentingly brutal books I've ever read
Whatever the other qualities one may assign to 300, it's the most accurate depiction of the Iliad's action I've seen (yes I know it's not the story of the Iliad). The action portions of the text are basically a series of quick close-ups of guys getting stabbed in the chest by spears, with the occasional bad-ass slow-mo thing or 1v1 fight. Lots and lots of it.
I second this. The Iliad begins at a very cinematic pace that is very reminiscent of 300. The battle depictions – let's face it, the majority of the book – are relentlessly brutal.
