Was 'Troy' The Movie Accurate According To Homer?

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Was "Troy" the Movie Accurate According to Homer?

Did the movie Troy, released in 2004, accurately depict the story of Homer's

epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, and was it a good movie from a critical point of

view? I think it was a good movie from an entertainment standpoint, but it fell short in

it's comparison to Homer's epics. As a fan of "epic" movies, I have watched the movie

Troy a couple of times. In comparing the movie to the epic, there are various

discrepancies between the two. First I'll address the overall flow of the movie, in other

words the organization and coherence of the movie.

The movie Troy was a lavishly produced movie, often quoted as

a "Blockbuster", it was a movie with a large budget and big name actors. But was it

accurate? The time period involved with the legend of Troy is basically attributed to

around 1334 – 1184 BC depending upon several individuals who chronicled events in that

area. Many believe the excavations at the site discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in

1871 are of the city of Troy. If true, this excavation dates the burning of Troy to around

1200 BC time which is close to the traditional date of 1184 BC generally associated with

the siege of Troy. So how did the movie reflect these times? Was their presentation of

weapons, ships, clothing and such accurate?

"Homer's warriors are often described as being heavily armoured with bronze (Iliad

5.698, 13.372, 14.383), while the epithet commonly used to describe them collectively

is ‘bronze-armoured Achaians' (Iliad 1.371, 3.131, 10.287). The regimented figures

depicted on the Warrior Vase (LH IIIb/c), found by Schliemann at Mycenae are the best

representations of warriors from the Trojan W...

... middle of paper ...

...or mature audiences. It had a love story, war,

revenge, killings, treachery and moral lessons all wrapped in it. In summary, the movie

is good for entertainment, but it does not accurately portray Homer's Iliad and the

Odyssey by straying in numerous areas.

Works Cited

Linn, Bob. CliffsNotes on The Iliad. 10 Jul 2007

.

"Menelaus." Encyclopedia Mythica. 2007. Encyclopedia Mythica Online.

10 Jul. 2007 .

Moerbeek, Martijn. "Warfare in Hellas." Monolith Community, 1998

"Palace of Greek Warrior Ajax Said Found." Live Science Online, Associated Press

30 March 2006

"Shrek 2." Box office / business for. IMDB.com 10 July 2007,

"Troy." Box office / business for. IMDB.com 10 July 2007,

"Troy." Winston Azzopardi, Barbara Huber, Wolfgang Petersen producers. Wolfgang

Petersen

director. DVD. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004.

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