Bibliography!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_(mythology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/il/TOP1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vase/hd_vase.htm

http://www.ancientgreece.com/GreekPottery/

http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CD4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgreece.mrdonn.org%2Fgreekgods%2F&ei=Y5twUbWIA-Sjige5ooHgDg&usg=AFQjCNGDRwyHhTkXDMF7TXyurXffCGo85g&sig2=_ccrvyNXfNZ4XiTFwrpWwg

Exploring Divine intervention

In the Iliad one pattern/theme that is prevalent is the idea of divine intervention, we will also look at why it doesn't occur in the Movie Troy by Wolfgang Peterson.

There are many examples of this happening in Homers Iliad.

In the Iliad Athena stops Achilles from losing his temper and attacking Agamemnon. She tells him that he will gain greater glory if he waits, . This would have affected the majority of the story and plot If Achilles had attacked Agamemnon. A dead Agamemnon would have upset the chain of command and he would have probably ended the war there and then and would have lost an opportunity to create history and be remembered as a glorious Warrior.
 Another example of divine intervention is when Hector becomes stricken with fear as Achilles approaches and he flees around the walls of the city. Achilles chases him three times around the city, then on the fourth; Athena takes the form of Deiphobus which makes Hector think that he is not standing up to Achilles alone. Once again confident, the Trojan hero turns and attacks Achilles with his spear but unfortunately Achilles kills him and drags the body away.
 The final example in The Iliad is when Paris is spirited away back to his bedroom to be with Helen when he is about to be slain by Menelaus. If this where to of occurred and had Menelaus gained the redemption against Paris, then the war may never of happened and such Poems such as the Iliad would never been created.  

The reasons Wolfgang Peterson shy’s away from going into the back story and diving intervention is simply due to our culture possibly wouldn't accept the use of gods in the film as well as it would very difficult to develop these ideas realistically in the time given for the Film. Although there is still gods in our modern culture it would be difficult to represent the Greek gods well enough into a 3 hour+ movie. This movie rather uses Romance and Action to excite the audience rather than giving detailed description into the real Greek and Trojan lifestyles and cultures at that time in history. I believe it would be very difficult to understand some of the aspects of Greek culture such as divine intervention for a modern audience.

Character Analysis: Paris

Paris was son of Priam and Hecuba and Brother of Hector. In both the Iliad and Troy his actions and affair with Menelaus’s wife Helen caused the war. There are key differences between the portrayals of Paris.

In the Iliad Paris is disliked by the Trojan people. We can see from quotes from the Iliad such as  “You, why are you so afraid of war and slaughter? Even if all the rest of us drop and die around you, grappling for the ships, you’d run no risk of death: you lack the heart to last it out in combat—coward!” He appears to be rather arrogant. He is not a courageous character. His choice of weapon is the bow and arrow which is often known as a coward weapon. He shy’s away from the front line and prefers to stay with Helen in the town. Unlike in the Movie Hector insults and isn’t as supportive to his brother. He scolds and belittles him about his shortcoming in battle. It might seem strange to know that the weak Paris manages to kill the mighty Achilles. Paris famously shoots him in the heel with his bow. Some say the Paris was guided by Apollo or even was Apollo in disguise. Another difference between the ancient and modern text is what happens when Paris and Menelaus fight. He is easily beaten by Menelaus but is lucky as Aphrodite spirits him away from the fight and back to the bedroom with Helen. He is later mortally wounded and pleads to his first wife Oenone but she refuses and lets Paris die.

In the Movie Paris is less hated. He faces Menelaus but then losses and cowers under his Brother and is saved from Menelaus because Hector kills him, this then causes the Greeks to charge. In the movie he is not hated by the Trojans and is supported by his family. He also appears less arrogant as at first he regrets stealing Helen and wanted to give her back but his never happens so the war begins.

This vase painting below depicts Paris and Helen, shows him in the bedroom rather then with soldiers. 

This vase shows Paris judging a beauty contest between gods.

Reason for Differences between The Iliad and the Movie Troy

In this post we will look at some of the reason Wolfgang Peterson changed some key facts and events in his 2004 movie Troy.

In earlier post I have mentioned some of these differences involving the plot and how certain characters are portrayed. Key ideas about Hector, Achilles, Paris and also aspects of the plot all have reason for being altered for the modern audience.

Ancient Greek society is vastly different to our modern society.  Peterson had to shorten a 30 hour plus long epic poem in to a feature length movie, so of course there are going to be large differences.

Hector in the film differs from the hector in the Iliad. I have mentioned the specific difference in a earlier post. The reasons for these would because Hector is portrayed as a “good guy” in the film.

I’m sure the modern audience wouldn't want to watch one of the main characters flee around the castle of troy, trying to get away from Achilles and then killed anyway. He is also a more well-rounded character because Homer was a Greek him-self so he was very biased toward the Greek side of the story and that includes making some characters seem different in the film and Iliad.

In both the Iliad and the film Achilles is a very passionate character.  Achilles love affair with slave girl, Briseis. I believe Wolfgang Peterson uses this to help the audience to relate better to Achilles and make him a romantic character. In the Poem who is far less relatable to a modern audience.

Another large difference between the texts and film is that fact that Peterson never really goes into the god’s part in the story. The Iliad goes into in-depth and uses the gods as main characters and cause many events to happen in the epic poem. I think this is due to the different cultures that Homer/Peterson have in their target audience. Greek culture at the time where heavily religious and Homer’s use of gods is entirely believable while in modern culture this far harder to convince the viewers that all this about the gods could or would happen also it’s a lot harder to show in the movie with all the back story and also how do you depict a god in a modern movie.

Character Analysis: Hector

Trojan prince, Hector is the greatest warrior in Troy. He is the first son of King Priam. Hector was married to Andromache, he had an infant son. He was commonly referred to as a leader of the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing 31 Greek fighters in all. Hector is known for his courage but also his noble and courtly nature. There are a few main differences between Hector in the Iliad and in the Movie Troy. These are who he fights and kills and how he acts in the heat of battle.

In Troy Hector is a courageous, loyal, honorable warrior. He kills many Greek men and kills hero Ajax, King Menelaus and also mistakenly kills Patroclus after thinking he was fighting Achilles because Patroclus was wearing Achilles Armour.

In homer’s Iliad Hector is portrayed to appear less courageous and heroic , he is still the best warrior in Troy but he is more cowardly and less moral. Hector’s epic fight with Ajax in the film seen below is a great example of the difference between Homeric Hector. We can see that the mighty Ajax is killing many Trojans so Hector, without hesitation attacks Ajax where he then proceeds to heroically kill him.

 In the Iliad we can see the difference of Hector's courage levels. "Ajax came up with his shield like wall before him, on which Hector withdrew under shelter of his men, and sprang on to his chariot, giving the Armour over to the Trojans to take to the city...” eventually when the two warriors fight neither can deal a death blow so they then call a ceasefire and express admiration for each other's courage, skill, and strength. Hector gave Ajax his sword, which Ajax later uses to kill himself.



Another difference is what Hector does to Menelaus. In Troy, Paris is fighting Helen's husband Menelaus. Paris gets completely overpowered and cowers at Hectors feet. When Menelaus goes to finish Paris, Hector steps in and kills Menelaus. This breaches the terms of an agree set up between the leaders so the Greeks attack. In the Iliad Menelaus never dies at Troy, in fact he takes Helen back to Sparta where he “is to punish her’”. 

One other difference between Hector's portrayal in the Iliad and the Movie is how he faces the enraged Achilles. In the film we can see Hector courageously risk his life to remain honorable and fight Achilles after he cut Patroclus's throat. Achilles and Hector battle face-to-face and eventually Achilles kills Hector by spearing him in the left side of Hector's chest and then stabbing him through the heart. In the Iliad Hector is not so courageous and honorable, although before he goes meets Achillies face to face he does have this to say for himself  "No man, against my fate sends me to Hades"

 Hector comes out of the great gates of Troy to face Achilles, however he is overwhelmed by fear and goes to flee but he is hampered by Athena, in the disguise of Hector's brother Deiphobus, this deludes Hector. Achilles then kills Hector when he eventually faces him after realizing he is doomed and decides to go honorably.

Ajax vs Hector: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GyDoL7ij3A 

Hector kills Menelaus:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp9SH5r8Otk

Hector's death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ygRholyh5g 

Character Analysis: Achilles

Arguably in both the Iliad and the movie Troy, Achilles is the main character. He is not usual the run of the mill hero.  He is the most powerful and strong Warrior that Greece has to offer. Although a mighty warrior, he doesn’t always come off as a generic, happy ever after type hero. He is full of rage and very unpredictable. There are large differences between the Achilles in Homer’s epic poem, and Wolfgang Peterson’s 2004 movie Troy, which we will discuss later in this post.

Achilles was a demigod, his mother was the nymph Thetis, and his father, Peleus, was the king of the Myrmidons. The reason he was a great warrior was because he was a demigod and being dipped in the River Styx by Thetis as a child, making him immortal and impenetrable to weapons, as well being the quickest and most fleet footed man in the known world at the time “Sing, O muse, of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.” this quote from the iliad refers to his killing prowess.

One aspect of Achilles that is similar in both the Iliad and Troy is his metal state. He is a very human hero. His anger toward Agamemnon basically created the main events of the Iliad.

Difference between Achilles in the Iliad and the movie are interesting.  Achilles in the film was not invincible because he was killed by Paris shooting him four times through the chest. Achilles never actually died in the Iliad that happened after the events of that story. I will go over this in more depth in a later post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0g8uTZmKM4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ8S8_O0OYM

Achilles dragging Hector's body around Troy after defeating him.

Introduction to the Iliad and the movie Troy.

Homer’s Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem set during the Trojan War. It is based on the struggles between two great ancient empires that was Greek and Troy. Specifically it is about the events that occur at the last weeks of the ten year siege of Troy by the Greeks. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, Greek mythology and ancient folk law is eluded to.

The cause of this war all started because the Greek-Achaeans besiege the city of Troy in order to rescue King of Sparta, Menelaus’s wife Helen after she was abducted( or went willingly, depends on which side of the story you believe) by Prince of Troy, Paris- who is brother of Hector- who we will analyse further in later posts. Paris, son of the aged King of Troy, Priam, was originally prophesied to be the doom of Troy, due to this he was cast out into the wilderness only to be saved by hunters and bought back to Troy, the prophesiers where correct as his relationship with Helen doomed Troy by bringing Agamemnon’s and Menelaus’s thousand ship fleet to the shores of Troy.

Throughout this blog we will compare Homer’s epic poem to the movie Troy by Wolfgang Peterson 2004, as well as the reason for any similarities and differences .