Essay on Comparison of Troy and the Iliad - 883 Words

Wolfgang Peterson tackles the job of bringing the epic of Homers The Iliad to the big screen in his film Troy. Iliad being a lengthy text, it is impossible to include every detail in a movie. Therefore, there are obvious deviations from the book such as the length of the Trojan War, and the absence of celestial participation in the war. There is also an absence of mortal female characters such as Chryseis, Hecuba, and Cassandra in the movie. In contrast, though, the female characters who are included in the film are developed more elaborately than they are in the book. In The Iliad, the first of many quarrels between Agamemnon and Achilles is ignited by Briseis and Chryseis. Because Agamemnon is forced to relinquish his prize,†¦show more content†¦According to The Iliad, Chryseis is a priestess of Apollo and Briseis is the princess of another land. In Troy, Briseis is said to be the cousin of Hector and Paris of Troy, who has recently committed herself to the worship of Apollo. Hecuba, queen of Troy, is never mentioned nor shown in Troy, and neither is the daughter of the royal family, Cassandra. These two women also do not play vital roles in the book, however their presence is fairly significant. To make up for their absence, the movie Troy focuses more on the three female royalties actually portrayed: Briseis, as already mentioned, Andromache, wife of Hector, and Helen, the cause of the Trojan War. Andromaches character in the movie parallels her character in the book. She is dedicated to her husband and fears for his safety when he goes out into battle. And when she realizes that he has died, the world [goes] black as night before her eyes, she faint[s], falling backward, gasping away her life breath. (Homer, XXII. 547-549) Similarly, in the movie, Andromache is devastated when Hector dies. Diane Krugers rendition of Helen in Troy is a bit unlike Homers Helen. In the movie, Helen is consistently loving and accepting, and when Paris cowers from his duel with Menelaus, she remains supportive of him, claiming that he cowers for the sake of love. In the book, Helen is not so one-dimensional and lashes out at him whenShow MoreRelatedComparison between The Iliad and The Women of Troy Essay903 Words   |  4 PagesThe Iliad by Homer and the Women of Troy by Euripides are both Greek works of literature that look at the Trojan War from different perspectives. Book 6 of the Iliad illustrates that the ultimate glory is to fight for the city with no regard to the impact on the family. The Women of Troy focuses o n the negatives that war causes, especially towards the soldier’s wives and children. Whereas the Iliad focuses on the battle itself and centers on the warriors, the Women of Troy focuses on the wrathRead MoreComparison Between The Odyssey And The Iliad1068 Words   |  5 Pagesdescribes an outcry against death; whereas in the Iliad death is portrayed as an accomplishment., Both were in the times that is also known as Before Common Era, or BCE. It is known that Iliad begins 10 years before the great Seige of Troy and eventually the odyssey had begun a couple years after that(Classical Lit). When Homer had written these novels it is clear that they have numerous lines, and Homer had written both. In the novel The Iliad it consists of fifteen thousand, six – hundredRead MoreThe Iliad Of The Homer s Iliad Essay1475 Words   |  6 PagesThe Iliad ranks as one of the most important and most influential works in terms of world literatures since its establishment. Between the underlying standard to which the Iliad offers us as audience members, along with the plethora of writers that have followed in the footsteps to which Homer’s Iliad paved, the impact that the Iliad has played is remarkable in itself. While the Iliad can be credited for much of present day literature we study today, Hollywood can be created for the plethora ofRead More Troy vs. The Iliad Essays1385 Words   |  6 PagesTroy vs. The Iliad 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 millionRead MoreTroy vs. the Iliad Essay1398 Words   |  6 Pagesthe epic story the Iliad has survived, there has no doubt been some form of alteration to Homers original. Last May, Wolfgang Petersen directed a movie based on the Iliad. This movie, Troy, has proven to be a very loose adaptation of Homers 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 doll ar budget, it is easy to see why Troy was hyped up toRead MoreThe Iliad By Homer892 Words   |  4 Pages The Iliad by Homer depicts the great struggle by Agamemnon and the Greeks to take the mighty city state of Troy and return Helen to her rightful husband, Menelaus. While many ponder if the war actually happened, or why the gods always seemed to be more human than humans themselves, few ask the key but often overlooked question; why is Agamemnon the leader of the Greeks in the first place? What happened that put him in charge of the Greek forces? Why does there seem to be an underlying resentmentRead MoreThe Epic Of Homer s The Iliad1297 Words   |  6 Pagesof Homer’s The Iliad. Fast-forward to 2004, the age of media, where the epic adventure war film Troy was released, starring none other than Brad Pitt as Achilles; so dreamy. Despite the fact these works of art were executed in different cultures thousands of years apart, as well as in different mediums, their charact ers greatly contrast each other. On the other hand, these different genres are comparable in the fact that Troy follows many of the important plot concepts as The Iliad. The filming techniquesRead MoreThe Song Of Roland And The Iliad933 Words   |  4 Pages The Song of Roland and The Iliad are both epics that represent the cultural viewpoints of medieval France, and Ancient Greece, respectively. The Song of Roland, based on historical fact, details the heroism of one of Charlemagne’s knights, Roland, when fighting against an overwhelming force of foreigners to defend the rear of Charlemagne’s army. In comparison, The Iliad accounts the triumphs of Achilles during the mythical Trojan Wars to win possession over the beauty of Helen. Despite similaritiesRead MoreThe Epic Poem, The Iliad by Homer879 Words   |  3 PagesHomer’s epic poem, The Iliad, is about the battles and events during the Trojan War between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. Mortality and Immortality is the main crucial distinction between humans and gods. That being said, another interesting thing about them is how similar they are to human beings. They make mistakes, become jealous, and get their feelings hurt unlike our modern conception of god as infinite, omniscient and omnibenevolent. The Iliad literature on the gods does not displayRead MoreKleos in the Iliad Essay1074 Words   |  5 PagesKleos in the Iliad When we consider the Hero in ancient Greek culture, we must forget our notion of what a hero is. The ancient Greek concept of a hero was different from our own cultures. The motivation for any Homeric Greek is glory, or Kleos, that is to be honored and respected among their people. Not only does kleos imply being honored and respected, it literally means ‘to be heard.’ Achieving kleos entails that your tale and ultimately you will live on forever. Kleos is essential