The Iliad, one of Homer’s Epics, was written about a ten year war between the city of Troy and the Greek city-states. This great poem, still somewhat prevalent today in modern society, is the tale of the Trojan War. Recently the epic was recreated into a two hour film loaded with historical inaccuracies, although in some instances, does follow the Iliad fairly well. Some of the mistakes made by Hollywood are minor details, such as when the Trojans brought the gigantic wooden horse into the city of Troy. In the Iliad, gates had to be dismantled, which wasn’t shown in the movie, instead the horse was simply brought into the city. None the less, inaccuracies greatly outweighed any real historical relevance in the Iliad. Examples are the actual length of the war. In history, it lasted ten years, in the motion picture, a mere 17 days. Another example is that in the Epic, Achilles was actually dead before the Trojan Horse infiltrated the city. In the movie Troy and the Iliad, there are many instances where reality and Hollywood clash, such as the character backgrounds, geography and the actual war. A large part of the historical Trojan War rested with the geographical layout of the city of Troy. In the movie, surrounding Troy are walls, forty to fifty feet tall. In the film, Priam, King of Troy, while
There was a river in front of Troy on the plains of the battle field. Although it may seem like a minor detail yet again left out by Hollywood, it actually played quite a large role in the Iliad. Having a river in any situation makes all the difference. If the river was included in the movie, everything from the battles to the invasion of Troy to the basic day to day duties of the characters in the film would be changed. The exclusion of the river in the movie is a big chunk of reality that was harshly excluded by
...nt built to strengthen Troy against attack, palaces and cemeteries. He stated that Homer must have seen these features when he wrote the Iliad.
Films have always been used to bring out various cultural artifacts and traditions. Through film, it would be easier for one to point out the culture in which one or the main character belongs to. The Iliad and Troy remains to be amongst the most renowned literal and film pieces that have been read, viewed and appreciated throughout history. Just as is the film Troy, which is based on the epic, The Iliad, Gladiator is a 2000 British–American epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott. The Gladiator features the character of Crowe, a fictional character, who is very loyal to Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius. Crowe is betrayed when Commodus, a very ambitious son to the then the emperor Marcus Aurelius takes over power after killing his father.
Iliad is one of the commonly understood pieces as epic that based on the Trojan War in ancient Greek. However, the meaning of the piece goes deeper and reflects more on the ancient Greek. The Iliad is a story about the evolution of Achilles persona and emerges as an epic of the war. Homer puts the elements of anti-war relatively on display portraying the ideal epic world that progresses through elements that defines the coexistence of the society.
...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.
“Then the screaming and shouts of triumph rose up together, of men killing and men killed, and the ground ran blood.” From first examination the Iliad seems to be an epic founded on an idealized form of glory, the kind that young boys think about when they want to join the army. A place full of heroism and manliness where glory can be achieved with a few strokes of a sword and then you go home and everything is just lovely. Many people view the Iliad this way, based on it’s many vivid battle descriptions and apparent lack of remorse for the deaths that occur. This, however, is not how war is presented in the Iliad. Homer presents a very practical outlook on war countering the attainment of the glory with the reality of its price and the destruction it causes. He successfully does this by showing the value of the lives of each person that dies and, in a sense, mourning their passing, describing the terror and ugliness of war, and, through the characters of Achilleus and Hector, displaying the high price of glory.
The Iliad by Homer is an epic poem separated in different books or chapters that shows a fictionalized account of the Trojan War. Book 6: Hector Returns to Troy is the specific portion of the poem that is being covered in this essay. Hector from the Iliad shows a very clear aspect of his personality, a strong sense of loyalty and tenderness for his loved ones and also his people by being on the front lines during the war and showing his people he is willing to fight with them and essentially sacrificing himself for his family. Hector even knows his forgiveness towards his brother, Paris even though Paris is the main reason the Trojan War is in existence.
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.
The 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 on 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 wrath the war brings upon the families left behind. The central theme in both the works is the Trojan War and they both offer perspectives of the duty of a person, the role of predetermined fate, and the role of women.
The Iliad is a reliable source of information about the city of Troy in the late Bronze Age. This is because it presents the evidence from two very different fields: archaeology and linguistics/philology. Though there is the idea that details in the Iliad reflect society, as it was long before the eighth century B.C. Then on the other hand the Iliad isn’t entirely a reliable source. Homer wasn’t writing to accurately recount history, but instead his objective was to entertain the people with epic poetry. Homer was so far disconnected from the events that took, so where did he get his information? Homer most likely collected his information from generations before him, stories told from generation to generation. The pr...
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...
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.
The Iliad is a classic epic poem written by Homer about the Trojan War and the rage of an Achaean warrior, Achilles. The book introduces the reader to the war and the personal battle between Achilles and King Agamemnon; because of this argument between these two major characters, Homer introduces the role of the gods when Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to go to Zeus and beg for his interference on Achilles’ behalf. The major role the gods play in the Iliad is their interference in the Trojan War as immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal.
...den tone, and despite all the fame and greatness Hektor has acquired, all is lost in Troy, as a result of his death. Homer must be portraying an anti-war attitude here, otherwise he would surely end the play with the triumph of Achilleus, or the victory of the Argives over Troy. If he had positive or even neutral thoughts about war, he would end with and upbeat triumph, but he does not. The final book makes the Iliad out to be a tragedy, which is exactly what Homer thought war was, an unnecessary tragedy. The point that Homer wants to get across with his final book is that all the action and all the fighting that went on for all those years is not something to be proud of, for it ruined multitudes of lives. The extreme agony and woe only help to show that Homer believes that the positives of war could never encompass all the sorrow and negative consequences of war.
The Iliad is still a relevant piece of literature because the themes of the Iliad can still be applied to our current lives, therefore readers can learn valuable lessons from the choices or mistakes of the characters. Much of the the Iliad involves Trojans and Greeks fighting a war over a dispute that originated between Paris and Menelaus. For most of the fighters, the dispute was impersonal, however they fought because they had previously sworn an oath to go into battle for their leaders, if war should happen. This is relevant to today’s time because when conflicts between nations occur people are called to fight a war for their country out of loyalty, although the conflicts do not personally involve them. The Iliad exemplifies how deep loyalty
The Iliad is not a story about the Trojan War at all, the war is just to set the stage for Homer to bring together the swift footed Achilles and Hector, the Prince of Troy, so they can be compared. The Iliad starts with how Achilles is dishonored by Agamemnon and withdraws from the war and ends with his return to the fight and eventually falling at the end. Hector is brought into the story and displays through his character what a real hero should be like.