Let's be honest about something. When people sat down to watch the sequel to Zack Snyder’s hyper-stylized Spartan epic, they weren't exactly looking for a history lesson. They wanted blood, abs, and slow-motion capes. But what they actually got—and what everyone still talks about over a decade later—was Eva Green. Specifically, her portrayal of 300 Rise of an Empire Artemisia, a character so over-the-top and ruthlessly magnetic that she basically ate the rest of the cast for breakfast. It’s rare for a sequel to a cult classic to produce a villain that arguably outshines the original's antagonist, but Green’s take on the Persian naval commander did exactly that. She wasn't just a "female version" of a general. She was a force of nature.
Hollywood has a weird habit of making female villains either "misunderstood" or just plain boring. Artemisia was neither.
In the film, she is presented as a Greek-born woman who suffered horrific trauma at the hands of her own people, only to be rescued and raised by Persians. This backstory, while heavily fictionalized for the silver screen, creates this jagged, sharp-edged motivation that drives every single scene she’s in. You can see it in the way she carries herself. She doesn't just walk into a room; she stalks it. And while Sullivan Stapleton’s Themistocles was fine, he just didn't have that same "unhinged energy" that made Artemisia the undisputed highlight of the 2014 flick. It’s kind of funny how a movie titled after the rise of an empire became, in the eyes of most fans, the Artemisia show.
The Real History vs. The Movie Version
If you go back to Herodotus—who is basically the only reason we know anything about the Persian Wars—the real Artemisia I of Caria was actually way more interesting than the movie lets on, though far less "goth warrior queen."
In the actual history, Artemisia was the Queen of Halicarnassus. She wasn't some orphan picked up off the streets by a Persian scout. She was a ruler in her own right who stepped up after her husband died. She was also the only commander in Xerxes’ entire fleet who told him the Battle of Salamis was a bad idea. She literally told the "God-King" that he should just hang out on the coast and wait for the Greeks to fall apart. He didn't listen, obviously. During the battle, she reportedly rammed an allied ship to escape a Greek vessel that was chasing her. The Greek captain thought she was on his side and let her go. Xerxes, watching from a distance, thought she had sunk an enemy ship and famously said, "My men have become women, and my women, men."
The 300 Rise of an Empire Artemisia we see on screen is a stylized nightmare version of this woman. Director Noam Murro and the writers traded the political savvy of the real queen for a double-sword-wielding, head-decapitating warrior. It works for the genre. Honestly, watching Eva Green kiss a severed head is exactly the kind of unhinged commitment that makes these movies "guilty pleasures" instead of just boring action movies.
Why Eva Green Was the Only Choice
The casting here is everything. Green has this specific "intense" brand that most actors just can't touch. She’s got that look—the heavy eyeliner, the piercing stare—that makes you believe she could actually command a fleet of thousands.
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There's a specific scene where she confronts Themistocles on her ship. It’s supposed to be a parley, but it turns into this aggressive, weirdly violent sexual encounter. In any other movie, with any other actress, that scene would have felt incredibly cheesy or just flat-out uncomfortable. With Green, it feels like a power struggle. She uses her sexuality like a weapon, but not in a "femme fatale" way. It’s more like she’s trying to consume her opponent. You’ve probably seen the memes. They’re everywhere.
The costume design also did a lot of heavy lifting. Those spiked dresses? The gold-embossed leather? It’s pure Frank Miller aesthetic. Every time she’s on screen, the color palette of the movie seems to sharpen. The blues and greys of the Aegean Sea provide this cold backdrop that makes her dark features and black armor pop. It’s visual storytelling 101, but it’s executed with such high-octane energy that you can't help but enjoy it.
The Problem with the Hero
Here is the thing: the movie struggled because the hero was "just a guy."
Gerard Butler’s Leonidas in the first 300 was a myth. He was a screaming, kicking icon. Themistocles, as written in Rise of an Empire, felt a bit more grounded, which is usually a good thing, but not in a movie where the villain is literally a vengeful goddess of war. This created a weird power imbalance. Every time the movie cut away from 300 Rise of an Empire Artemisia to show the Greeks talking about democracy and freedom, the pacing felt like it hit a brick wall.
We wanted to see what she was going to do next. We wanted to see her execute her own men for failure. We wanted to see her manipulate Xerxes, who—let's be real—felt like a secondary character in his own sequel. Rodrigo Santoro is great as Xerxes, but he spent most of the movie standing on a balcony looking tall. Artemisia was the one in the trenches. Or, well, on the triremes.
Addressing the "Girlboss" Critique
Some critics back in 2014 tried to lump Artemisia into the "girlboss" trope, but that’s a pretty lazy take. She isn't a hero. She isn't trying to break the glass ceiling of the Persian Navy. She’s a nihilist. She’s someone who was broken by the world and decided to break the world back.
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There’s a nuance to her villainy that’s actually pretty dark. Her hatred for Greece isn't just political; it’s visceral. When she’s burning ships or slaughtering sailors, she’s trying to erase a part of herself. That’s why the ending of the film—spoiler alert for an 11-year-old movie—is actually somewhat poetic. She dies on her feet, refusing to surrender, which is the only way a character like that can go out. You can’t put a character like that in a cage.
Impact on the Franchise and Popular Culture
Does 300: Rise of an Empire hold up as well as the original? Probably not. The CGI feels a bit more "dated" in some spots, and the absence of the Spartans’ specific brand of crazy is felt. However, 300 Rise of an Empire Artemisia has survived as a standalone icon.
If you go to any comic convention, you’re still going to see Artemisia cosplayers. She’s become a staple of that "dark fantasy" warrior archetype. She’s influenced how other female villains have been written in the decade since—moving away from the "manipulative schemer" and toward the "front-line general."
Think about how many times we've seen that specific "troubled past leads to violent retribution" arc since then. It’s a common trope, but Green’s performance remains the gold standard for how to do it without losing the audience's interest. She made us root for the villain, not because we agreed with her, but because she was the most interesting person in the room.
Technical Mastery: The Naval Combat
We should talk about the ships. The naval battles in this movie are essentially the land battles of the first movie but with more wood splinters.
The choreography of Artemisia’s fleet is actually based on some real-world ancient tactics, albeit turned up to 11. The use of "dieckplus"—a maneuver where ships would line up and race through the enemy line to snap their oars—is hinted at, but usually replaced by Artemisia just shouting "Ram them!" It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s visually chaotic.
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But throughout that chaos, the camera always finds her. She stands on the prow of her ship, hair blowing in the wind, looking like a painting. It’s a testament to the cinematography that she never feels lost in the digital soup of blood and salt water.
Final Actionable Insights for Fans and Creators
If you’re a filmmaker, a writer, or just a fan of the genre, there are a few key takeaways from why this character worked so well when the rest of the movie was just "okay."
- Commit to the Bit: Eva Green didn't "wink" at the camera. She played the role with 100% sincerity, no matter how ridiculous the dialogue was. If you’re writing a villain, they have to believe they are the protagonist of their own story.
- Visual Contrast is Key: Her design was intentionally the opposite of the "hero." Dark vs. Light. Sharp vs. Blunt. It creates an immediate psychological impact before a single word is spoken.
- History is a Buffet: Don't feel beholden to every single date and name. The best "historical" fiction takes the most interesting nugget—like a female Persian commander—and builds a legend around it.
- Give the Villain a Why: Artemisia’s rage felt earned. Even if you didn't like what she was doing, you understood why she was doing it. A villain with a clear, emotional wound is always more compelling than one who just wants to "rule the world."
If you haven't watched the movie in a few years, it’s worth a re-watch just to track Green’s performance. Ignore the cheesy dialogue from the Athenian soldiers. Ignore the weirdly golden Xerxes for a second. Just watch the way she commands the screen. It’s a masterclass in screen presence.
To really appreciate the character, you can actually look up the Artemisia comics or read the original accounts in Herodotus’ Histories. You’ll find that while the movie took massive liberties, the "spirit" of a woman thriving in a man's world of ancient warfare was always there. It’s a legacy that started in 480 BC and somehow ended up with Eva Green holding two swords in a blockbuster movie. That’s a pretty wild trajectory for any historical figure.
The next step is simple. Go back and watch the Battle of Salamis sequence. Pay attention to the blocking and how the movie uses Artemisia to dictate the flow of the entire scene. It’s the perfect example of how one strong character can carry an entire multi-million dollar production on their shoulders. Check out the "Making Of" featurettes if you can find them; seeing the training Green went through to master those swords is genuinely impressive. She didn't just show up; she became the commander.