Position:Home>Books & Authors> The movie of "troy" and the book of "Iliad"?

Right!.!.!. if you haven't seen the movie 'Troy', go and rent it!. I haven't seen it for a while and can't be much help there!. I have read 'The Iliad', so I'll try to be helpful!.

Answers to:

Q1:
Timescale!. The Siege of Troy lasted for years in Homer's 'Iliad'!.

Gods and Goddesses (major difference)!. All the actions in the Iliad happen because of the Greek gods and goddesses!. Paris, as a young man, was asked to decide which of the goddesses Hera, Athene and Aphrodite was the fairiest, as she would get the Apple of Discord!. He chose Aphrodite, who offered him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife, and Hera and Athene then hated him!. They are on the side of the Greeks and want to destroy Troy, especially Hera, who knows that the pious Aeneas will survive and found Rome, which will go on to destroy Carthage!. Hera loves Carthage and has a real vendetta against the Trojans!. Aphrodite and her lover Ares, God of War, are on the side of the Trojans!. Everything which happens in the war is controlled by the Gods and Goddesses and the humans are purely their pawns!.

No 'Sword of Troy', All invented by the filmmakers as far as I know!.

Menelaus (pronounced Men-eh-lay-us not Men-eh-louse) was not killed by Hector!. He took Helen back home with him!. Agamemnon also returned home safely after his victory, to be killed by his wife Clytemnestra!.

Hector's wife Andromache was taken into slavery and her baby son was thrown to his death from the walls of Troy!.

'The Iliad' originated as a spoken text, and therefore some phrases are used over and over again, particularly when describing certain characters!. These would give the storyteller time to think while he told the story - they act almost as verbal fillers!. Classic ones include the description of Hector's wife as "the white-armed Andromache"!.

Q2: In the book:

Achilles is gay!. He's desperately in love with his cousin and lover Patroclus!. He is torn apart by his death and kills Hector for vengeance!.

He sees Briseis as nothing more than a possession!. He took her and he's cross that Agamemnon took his spoils of war!. This is why he sulks in his tent and refuses to fight!. He is not in love with her!.

Achilles' mother Thetis is a sea nymph, an immortal!. She forsees that he will die at Troy and so sends him away, dressed as a woman!. Odysseus goes to where he is and offers all these girls presents!. The one who takes the sword rather than a more girly present is unmasked as Achilles!.

Bearing the three above comments in mind - the obsessive love for Patroclus, the sulking over Briseis and his ability to look like a woman, I would argue that in the poem by Homer, Achilles can be no more than seventeen!. (Apologies if you *are* seventeen, but it has to be said that generally they're obsessive, selfish and that males can look like girls given the right makeup and clothing!.)

Achilles' mother Thetis goes to Zeus, king of the gods, and gets him to promise that, because her little baby son has been bullied by nasty Agamemnon and his precious new toy taken, the Greeks will not win a battle until Achilles relents and joins them!. Zeus agrees and the Greeks have horrendously bad luck until the death of Patroclus, when Achilles is roused to such anger that he joins the battle again!. To say Achilles is a mummy's boy who does whatever his mother tells him is an understatement!. Thetis is completely in charge in that relationship and Achilles pretty much says "Yes mother" and "No mother"!.

Q3:

This is a purely subjective question!. Achilles is the hero of the film, but in the novel there is no one real hero!. Odysseus is the most cunning; Hector is the most noble; King Priam the most regal!. Achilles is the best fighter, but that's about it!.

Q4: Can't help you much here, I'm afraid!.

If you want some extra credit, then you could add in Shakespeare's version of Achilles as he appears in the play Troilus and Cressida!. Shakespeare has very little time for Achilles and Patroclus and presents them negatively!. Here's some notes - hope they're useful!.

Act One Scene Three:

Ulysses (Roman name for Odysseus): says:

"The great Achilles, whom opinion crowns/ The sinew and the forehand of our host"
(Everyone thinks Achilles is the best of the Greeks; this rather irritates all the Greek leaders to whom Ulysses talks)

and goes on to complain about his behaviour:

"With him [Achilles], Patroclus,/ Upon a lazy bed, the livelong day/ Breaks scurril jests"
(Patroclus spends his time imitating the Greek leaders and making rude jokes about them which Achilles finds hilarious)

Achilles, when he appears in Act Two Scene One, speaks in prose: Shakespeare makes his lower characters speak in prose and his higher ones in poetry, thus indicating that Achilles is of the lower orders!. An example of this is the quote:

Achilles: "Your last service was sufferance, 'twas not voluntary!. No man is beaten voluntary!. Ajax was here the voluntary, and you as under an impress!."

In Act Two Scene Three, Thersites, who is a comic character described as "a deformed and scurillous Greek" calls Achilles a fool repeatedly:

Thersites: "Agamemnon is a fool to command Achilles; Achilles is a fool to be commanded of Agamemnon; Thersites is a fool to serve such a fool; and Patroclus is a fool positive!."
(This is great stuff - you can compare and contrast Achilles in the film with this quote!. Was Agamemnon foolish to bring Achilles on board, a stronger fighter and a more popular commander than him!? Was Achilles foolish to serve Agamemnon's interests or was going to Troy for eternal glory a good decision!? Were Achilles' men foolish to go along with him on a mission which would glorify their leader!? The comment about Patroclus can show how attitudes have not changed over time - the Elizabethan audience looked down upon him for being the submissive male in a gay relationship, and even in the 21st century Achilles has to be shown as heterosexual in order to sell the film - modern audiences will not accept a gay action hero!.)

Hector and Achilles meet in Act Four Scene Five!. Hector makes most of the speeches; Achilles says very little, showing that Hector is considered the more important character!.

Examples of Achilles' lines:

Achilles: "I am Achilles!."
and later: "I tell thee yea!."

In Act Five Scene One, Thersites says to Patroclus:

Thersites: "Prithee, be silent, boy; I profit not by thy talk; thou art thought to be Achilles' male varlet!.
Patroclus: "Male varlet, you rogue! what's that!?"
Thersites: "Why, his masculine whore!."

In Act Five, Scene Five, the death of Patroclus is reported!.

Ulysses: "O, courage, courage, princes/ great Achilles/ Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance;/ Patroclus' wounds have roused his drowsy blood"

and then you get to see Achilles when angry:

Achilles: "Where is this Hector!?/ Come, come, thou boy-queller, show my thy face;/Know what it is to meet Achilles angry;/Hector! where's Hector!? I will none but Hector!." (and then he exits)

Now that Achilles has been roused to kill, Shakespeare sees him as having become a great hero, and he starts to speak in poetry rather than prose:

Achilles: "Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set,/ How ugly night comes breathing at his heels;/ Even with the vail and darking of the sun,/ To close the day up, Hector's life is done!."

(To get the full effect of that speech, proclaim it loudly in your bedroom when all your family are well out of earshot!. You'll see the difference in style so easily once you've yelled it to the ceiling a few times!.)

I really hope some of what I've given you is useful!. I'll mark your question as Interesting and I'll check it tomorrow, so if you want any more info just amend your question and tell me specifically what you want!. I'm on holiday from uni and don't have much to do and this is kind of fun!. I wish I got interesting assignments like this!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

---

---