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
The Iliad is an epic written by Homer around 750 BC. It tells the story of the struggles of the 10th year of the Trojan War. Hector, prince of Troy, is one of the main characters in this book and was killed by Achilles. The hero of The Iliad is Hector because although he isn't the most courageous soldier, his respect for others and dedication in battle makes him the hero of The Iliad.
In the case of the Argonautika the book illuminated every step of the journey that the Argonauts took but in the movie there were major parts left out and the story line was skewed severely. If you compare the Odyssey, the book and the Odyssey the movie, the movie was much closer to the book, yes there might have been things left out or changed for the purpose of making the movie easer to view, but there weren’t large chunks left out or changed severely. For instance, in the movie Jason and the Argonauts, the voyage home was left out completely. They got the fleece and got in their boat and in a few moments were back home. This was not an accurate account of the trials of the Argonauts. The Argonauts had many hard ships getting back home because they could not go the same way they had come, because the Clashing Rocks were now to forever stay together never to reopen once a ship successfully passed through them, as did the Argo. Also the Argonauts had the Kolchians following them wanting to get Medeia and the Golden Fleece
Perhaps a more suitable question would be “Has archaeology proved the historicity of the Iliad?”, or even “Did the version of events Heroditus describes have any foundation in truth?”. If the existence of Troy itself is uncertain, then the historicity of the war can only be more so. Bibliography Ancient Sources:.. Homer, the Aeneid, translated by Samuel Butler, taken from www.patroclos.de. Homer, the Aeneid, translated by T.E. Lawrence (Wordsworth, 1995).
Homer’s Iliad has been a European myth for many millennia , the long poetic narrative written in the 8th century B.C. recounts a fearsome war fought over a beautiful woman. The reliability of Homers Iliad as a true historical document has been challenged for hundreds of years and only through archaeological studies can the truth be deciphered. The Iliad was written five centuries after the war, where the stories had been passed down through the oral tradition, therefore the type of society reflected within the poems resemble much more the time of Homer . The fact and fiction of the Iliad has been uncovered through archaeology. Archaeologist found a site in which they thought to have been ‘Troy’ destroyed by the powerful country of Mycenae in the late Bronze Age. They found large amount of material culture from where they could reconstruct the society, this included pottery, engravings, murals and clay tablets. A reason for the Trojan War has always inspired great controversy. The Trojan War according to Homer was fought over the abduction of a beautiful women but this theory appears improbable. Other causes which could have sparked a war is Troy’s geographical positioning. This made it extremely opulent, where other countries of the Aegean would trade there goods and use its harbour. The Mycenaean’s being an extremely imperial, violent and militaristic country would have seen Troy as a great opportunity to gain territory and wealth, on this motive the war took place.
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...
Homer, Iliad is the narration of the Trojan war. The Trojan war was one of the most important and significant wars of Greek mythology, Homer described how the war was triggered by the abduction of the most beautiful women known as Helen. This paper will argue how the traditional view of this poem is accurate because it indeed was Helens beauty and her selfishness that sparked the Trojan war. Although Helen was not happy about the outcomes of her mistakes. This paper will present how Helen faced many forms of self judgment, how she created many relationships with significant characters, such as Paris, Priam and Aphrodite. Homers portrayal of this significant women was remarkable as we were able to feel her pain and anguish, the readers were
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.
However, in his description Homer also mentioned the names of eight particular rivers that ran from the Aegean sea to the shore of the city. “All the rivers which flow down from Ida, to the seas,Rhesos and Hepta Poros, Cyprus and Rhodes, Genericos and Aisopos, Scamander and Simois, where shield and helmets had fallen in heaps and the bodies of brave men-all these rivers they led upon it, turning their streams together… torrents of rain fell unceasing that the sea might sooner swallow it up “. (Iliad, Book XII)It appears that as time progresses, the equipment used to collect data to help solve the Mystery of Troy is getting more sophisticated; therefore, more precise details are being compiled about the city of Troy. As a matter of fact, Thomas Neil who is one of many geologists that have stated “The reality of Homer’s description of place, event and topography correlated with geologic investigation helps show that the ‘Iliad’ is not just a legend but regularly consistent with paleogeographic reconstruction” (Thomas, Neil, March 3, 2003. Geology corresponds with Homer’s description of Ancient Troy). Also, the Scamander River and the Semois River were mentioned multiple times in the Iliad. (Book XIII, Book V and XII). These rivers were important in linking the coastline of Troy to its location in Hisarlik,
...tling over Helen, Zeus sending the dream to Agamemnon, and Thetis convincing Zeus in the aid of the Trojans. We can see how the Gods affected the plot of the Iliad. If we were to eliminate them, the movie Troy makes more sense. In the movie, since Zeus did not send a dream to Agamemnon he had no real reason to attack Troy. But because Aphrodite was not there to save Paris from his death in the duel with Menelaus, Hector had to save him and death of Menelaus was the perfect motive for Agamemnon to take Troy. The addition of these changes was beneficial to the movie, if one is looking at it from the standpoint of a businessman. These changes allowed the audience to feel more emotion towards the characters, thus allowing them to “bond” with them. In the end of the Iliad, most of the characters die, and as we all know, that is the worst way to end a Blockbuster movie.
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 Trojans take the horse back to Troy and while everyone sleeps, the Spartans (who have been hiding inside the horse) open the gates of Troy to let in their army and burn Troy to the ground. In the process, Prince Paris sees Achilles trying to get Briseis to safety and Paris kills Achilles. 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.
In Homer’s The Iliad he tells of the battles and events during the time of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. This was just a small portion of the Trojan War that had lasted ten years. The Iliad shares the ideas of the glory of war, military values over family life, and the impermanence of human life and its creation. One thing that Homer does is characterize the two different warriors Achilles and Hector. These two great warriors both show different kinds of traits that shape the character they become throughout the The Iliad. Achilles is the main hero in The Iliad, but Homer subliminally tries to persuade the reader that Hector is the true hero in this story.
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.
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