Maximus As An Epic Hero

The protagonist in any epic genre film such as 300 and Gladiator is known to be a great hero however without the antagonist his role in the film would be vastly diminished if not completely redundant, the antagonist shapes the film in order to display the hero’s abilities and gives him the task that he must triumph over thus without the antagonist the protagonist is not necessary destroying the fundamental keys of the epic movie.
Through out the film Maximus is depicted as the epic hero through the use of film techniques, he is primarily shot at a low angle emphasizing his importance , he is often placed in a fram within a frime and put in birght lighting. This contrasts Commmodus entirely as commodus is normally shot from a high angle shot with his faced shrowded in darkness showing his evil.
In Gladiator Commodus through killing his own father and antagonizing Rome displays Maximus’ sense of duty towards Rome, therefore without Commodus the viewer would not see this sense of duty from Maximus. Commodus is just as much key in showing sides of Maximus in the movie as Maximus is. In 300 Xerxes displays the same sense of duty that Leonidis has towards his people by trying to rule over them, without this Leonidis’s
Commodus is the polar opposite of Maximus thus if Commodus Betrays the people of Rome and his father in so doing we expect Maximus to show his ultimate loyalty and he does just this and fights for all whom have been wronged. In 300 Leonidis is betrayed by a former Spartan soldier whom is rejected for his inability to stand properly as he cannot defend himself properly, due to this betrayal Maximus is forced to show his ultimate loyalty to his people and dies defending