Comparing The Iliad And Star Wars

Classical myth has been influential in the arts such as literature and film for many years. Writers and filmmakers look to the past in order to either retell old stories or create new stories that readers and audiences can relate to in modern times. The Iliad is one of these works of art that many filmmakers look to to draw inspiration for their own stories, which is the case for George Lucas and his Star Wars trilogy. There are elements from the Iliad that can be compared to the main characters in the first film of Lucas’ trilogy, Star Wars IV: A New Hope. The Iliad tells the epic story of King Agamemnon who has taken Chryses’ daughter captive and after refusing to let her go, a plague is brought down on the Achaeans from the god Apollo, “The

Patroclus’ death leaves Achilles heartbroken and he is forced to go into battle in order to get his revenge and does so killing Hector, “When Achilles hears that Patroclus is dead because of his own stubborn anger toward Agamemnon, he is maddened with grief. He thinks only of revenge” (534). The poem ends with Hector’s funeral, “”And so they buried horse-taming Hector,”” reads the last line of the Iliad” (537). There are also elements from Homer’s other great epic poem, the Odyssey, that are present in Lucas’ film, A New Hope. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus return home after the Trojan War and the obstacles he faces on his journey that keep delaying his trip home. Both of these epic poems have similarities with the main characters and events that happen in Lucas’ film such as Han Solo and Achilles, and Luke Skywalker and Odysseus. In his article titled, “Star Wars and the Roman Empire,” Martin M. Winkler writes on Lucas’ trilogy and compares the storylines in the films to the Roman empire while placing focus on the similarities

Most epic poems begin with an invocation to someone, most of the times to a muse, which is the case in both poems. An invocation is a writing technique used to help the author convey the purpose of his work while also grabbing the reader’s attention. The opening credits of A New Hope can be compared to this technique since it introduces the story, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... “ and as the credits crawl upward, the audience is at full attention. There are many parallels between the epic poems and scenes in the film. One parallel to the Iliad is the scene toward the end of the film where Luke Skywalker asks Han Solo to help him and the others attack the Death Star. Han doesn’t want to get involved in their fight so he refuses and leaves them to fight them on their own telling Luke: “What’s good a reward if you ain’t around to use it? Besides, attacking that battle station ain’t my idea of courage. It’s more like suicide.” This is parallel to the scene in the Iliad where Achilles turns down Agamemnon’s offer to help them fight off the Trojans: “But since I no longer desire to battle with glorious Hector… I will drag my ships to the sea and load them up to the gunwales… in three days I shall arrive in the fertile region of Phthia. There is the treasure I left…” (Homer, lines 357-363). Both Han Solo and Achilles are needed in the