Was "Troy" the Movie Accurate According to Homer?
Did the movie Troy, released in 2004, accurately depict the story of Homer's
epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, and was it a good movie from a critical point of
view? I think it was a good movie from an entertainment standpoint, but it fell short in
it's comparison to Homer's epics. As a fan of "epic" movies, I have watched the movie
Troy a couple of times. In comparing the movie to the epic, there are various
discrepancies between the two. First I'll address the overall flow of the movie, in other
words the organization and coherence of the movie.
The movie Troy was a lavishly produced movie, often quoted as
a "Blockbuster", it was a movie with a large budget and big name actors. But was it
accurate? The time period involved with the legend of Troy is basically attributed to
around 1334 1184 BC depending upon several individuals who chronicled events in that
area. Many believe the excavations at the site discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in
1871 are of the city of Troy. If true, this excavation dates the burning of Troy to around
1200 BC time which is close to the traditional date of 1184 BC generally associated with
the siege of Troy. So how did the movie reflect these times? Was their presentation of
weapons, ships, clothing and such accurate?
"Homer's warriors are often described as being heavily armoured with bronze (Iliad
5.698, 13.372, 14.383), while the epithet commonly used to describe them collectively
is bronze-armoured Achaians' (Iliad 1.371, 3.131, 10.287). The regimented figures
depicted on the Warrior Vase (LH IIIb/c), found by Schliemann at Mycenae are the best
representations of warriors from the Trojan W...
... middle of paper ...
...or mature audiences. It had a love story, war,
revenge, killings, treachery and moral lessons all wrapped in it. In summary, the movie
is good for entertainment, but it does not accurately portray Homer's Iliad and the
Odyssey by straying in numerous areas.
Works Cited
Linn, Bob. CliffsNotes on The Iliad. 10 Jul 2007
.
"Menelaus." Encyclopedia Mythica. 2007. Encyclopedia Mythica Online.
10 Jul. 2007 .
Moerbeek, Martijn. "Warfare in Hellas." Monolith Community, 1998
"Palace of Greek Warrior Ajax Said Found." Live Science Online, Associated Press
30 March 2006
"Shrek 2." Box office / business for. IMDB.com 10 July 2007,
"Troy." Box office / business for. IMDB.com 10 July 2007,
"Troy." Winston Azzopardi, Barbara Huber, Wolfgang Petersen producers. Wolfgang
Petersen
director. DVD. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004.
Pop culture’s mythology theory is used in many forms of media today, from The Legend of Zelda in video games to “Harry Potter in books. One example of usage of the mythology theory is the 1996 movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou? directed by Joel Coen. This movie is based off Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey.” There are many similarities between the two, yet at the same time, there are many differences.
Tens of thousands of stories fit into the hero’s journey archetype created by Christopher Volger. Out of these, a large number of them are stories with remakes that share notable resemblances in their heroes’ journeys. However, none of these quite match those very strong similarities found between Homer’s The Odyssey and Joel Coens’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? These stories share crucial components of the hero’s journey whether it be “crossing the first threshold,” where the main characters of both stories begin their long adventure that transforms them into heroes; “the supreme ordeal,” where the main characters are both deprived of the opportunity to get home sooner; or “return with elixir,” where Odysseus and Ulysses both return to their homes alive the comfort of their wives. In their major plot points, the novel The Odyssey and the motion picture O Brother convey obvious similarities in key elements of their heroes’ journeys such as “crossing the first threshold,” “the supreme ordeal,” and “return with elixir.”
“Mask of Agamemnon” and shaft graves are other important discoveries for Heinrich Schliemann. After leaving Turkey, Schliemann started digging in M...
The classic tale of The Odyssey by Homer has been replicated for centuries. In fact, one of Hollywood's best adaptation is the comedy “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” by the Cohen brothers. The Cohen brothers cleverly reconstructed The Odyssey with a 20th century twist. The film and the literary works provided a parallel journey of the main characters determination to return home. When analyzing the stories themes it had compelling correlations, which focused on perseverance and personal growth. O Brother, Where Art Thou explored new ways to experience The Odyssey's epic adventure through the eyes of cinematography.
Homer's The Odyssey can be truly considered as one of the best epic poems of all time. Odysseus' journey in returning home becomes a test to prove himself. Only on the testing grounds of life can one discover inegrity, loyalty and perseverance. Homer's craft is so profound that theme's found in the poem still pertains to man today. The Odyssey is truly remarable in that Odyseus' character, his morals, and his views are stil admired by people today.
Similar to an elaborate dish, a literary genre consists of multiple necessary “ingredients,” called epic conventions, which classify a text into a particular category. Homer follows an impeccable recipe in his magnificent work. Labeled as an epic, The Odyssey by Homer portrays the Greek hero Odysseus years after his victory in the Trojan War and his awaited journey back to Ithaca. As the plot develops it is evident it is no effortless feat for our hero to return home. The godly Odysseus encounters adversities in the forms of Cyclops, sea monsters, alluring flowers and formidable Greek gods with varying conceptions of him. These characteristics distinguish the Odyssey and its episodes as an epic and bestow Odysseus with the title of an epic
The Odyssey of Homer was written during Homer’s lifetime during the eighth century BC. The Odyssey is classified as an epic and without a doubt is because it focuses on the main concerns of the genre. The creative form I chose to discuss that is constantly engaged by the Greeks was imagery within tragedy and the epic they have demonstrated their mastery of the device. Imagery within tragedy adds a necessary and otherwise unattainable sub-story to the epic. In this essay, three examples of the imagery of this epic will be examined and contrasted between an online scholar video of the Odyssey retold.
Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, is a heroic narrative that follows the adventures of Odysseus, the powerful King of Ithaca. The main story involves Odysseus’s return journey to his homeland after the Trojan War. However, Homer skips around in the action periodically to give the reader a better understanding and interest in what is going on in the epic. Homer takes his audience from the present action involving Telemakhos’ search for news of his father’s return, to the past where Odysseus tells the Phaiakians of his tragic journey home after the war. The events in Homer’s epic are not in order but still prove more effective at guiding the reader through the narrative. Although the events in the Odyssey are not in chronological order, the story line is enriched by Homer’s use of the in media res method because it introduces characters that were not involved in Odysseus’ adventure, because it shows the urgency of Odysseus’ return to his kingdom, and because it allows the reader to become more interested in the opening chapters without having to wait for a climax in the action.
In conclusion, the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou” by the Coen brothers and the “Odyssey” by Homer are very interesting works to compare to one another. Some events can be loosely interpreted while others are very obvious. The film is a very fascinating and entertaining way to see the “Odyssey”, and makes a person see it in a whole new way. The movie can make a person realize how the Greek myths can actually be compared to real life situations and events that people face. It was a great interpretation of the “Odyssey” and both the film and the book the “Odyssey” are very entertaining and powerful stories.
truth in it, for example he says he went to Troy as a henchman, he did
...iece together circumstantial evidence relating to the Iliad, such as the layers of Troy, the citadel of Mycenae and the shaft graves revealing numerous clues into what the Mycenaean civilisation was like. Mycenaean pottery found in Troy gives evidence to the importance of late Bronze Age trade and the wealth, inevitably leading to the Achaeans sacking Troy. The Hittite archives give outstanding evidence to this proving that the Mycenaean’s really did fight at Troy, although instead of it being a ten year time span, it was over hundreds. Therefore Homers legend seems to have been based on a real conflict between two super powers of the late Bronze Age. These conflicts were distilled into a tradition of a single war lasting around 10 years . It seemed the war occurred because Troy was a wealthy city with a strategic location and both super powers wanted to control it.
Over the thousands of years that the epic story the Iliad has survived, there has no doubt been some form of alteration to Homer’s original. Last May, Wolfgang Petersen directed a movie based on the Iliad. This movie, Troy, has proven to be a very loose adaptation of Homer’s original, as are almost all stories that are made into movies, unfortunately. With its timeless storyline, amazing scenery, gorgeous actors/actresses and most of all, its reported two hundred million dollar budget, it is easy to see why Troy was hyped up to be a box office hit. However, the film critics were harsh on this movie, as they had every right to be, and it ended up being a total flop. Compared to Homer’s Iliad, Troy is rather disappointing. But, to be fair, one must keep in mind the limitations of a movie compared to those of a book, and the fact that the title is Troy, not the Iliad. It really is not as bad as expected. Troy is Homer’s Iliad gone to Hollywood. There probably are just as many similarities as differences from the original. The three major upsetting differences in Troy compared to the Iliad are the absence of the Gods, the weak character and plot development, and the addition, exclusion, and reversal of key points.
As we all know, Hollywood isn’t exactly accurate when it comes to the historical accuracy of movies. Although the Iliad is a myth, the movie Troy doesn’t follow the story quite as accurately as it could have. One major difference is the concept of time. In the Iliad, the battle spanned over a ten year period while in the movie, the battle only lasted about 17 days. However, it does have many similarities to the poem. Both the movie and the poem have similar plots as well as the feud of Achilles and Agamemnon, fall of Troy, the death of Patroclus, Achilles avenging the death of Patroclus and the supplication of Priam to Achilles. Other similarities include Thetis telling Achilles that if he is to stay home and refrain from fighting he will be forgotten. However, if he is to fight in the battle of Troy, he will be remembered forever. Another similarity can be found when Agamemnon confiscates Briseis from Achilles. There are many details in the movie that deviate from the epic poem as well. Some differences between the movie and the poem include the deaths of Agamemnon and Menelaus, the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, the portrayal of some of the characters and the role of the Gods in the plot. Also, according to the film, the capture of Troy seems to be the subject of the entire movie whereas in the epic poem, the subject is the wrath of Achilles. Also, the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a little different. In the movie, Achilles and Patroclus are cousins and Patroclus is younger than Achilles. In the Iliad, Achilles and Patroclus are best friends. Patroclus is older than Achilles and acts as the advisor for Achilles. According to the epic poem, Achilles much more angry and violent than how he is portray...
The Odyssey is filled with emotion and adventure. Homer’s ability to show and give the reader a visual of each and every scene gives the story its unbelievable significance. To all the people who read his work there is something to be captured within every sentence, each one different in its own, unique way. Through tales of courage and defeat, friendship and love this book tells of all the values within the life of a single, solitary man, and his journey to attain what is true and dear to him. And this journey is known to all of us as The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a test of human devotion and trust through the gods, the mortals, and the obstacles through which they venture. No matter where they go or what they do, humans are tested for certain characteristics everyday of their lives, whether they realize it or not; and The Odyssey is just one of those many miraculous tests.
Though we do see some similarities between the Iliad and Troy, these similarities are very loosely based. I think the movie made the characters seem less barbaric and some of the sets, especially the city of Troy, seemed a bit too elaborate. The movie, though enjoyable, was definitely not a factual representation of Homers classic Iliad.