For my Literary Foundations class, I
had to read Homer's The Iliad. I thought I’d really enjoy it, being a
huge fan of The Odyssey and Greek
mythology in general. Yet, I ended up not caring for it much. It was an
interesting story but I couldn't sympathize with Achilles or fully understand
the ancient Greek motivations. It made me wonder why Troy, the movie based off The
Iliad, was such a huge success. How could the story translate into a film
and why would modern audiences even like it? Well, I’ll tell you why: because
it was nothing like the book.
The Iliad:
 |
| wikipedia.org |
The book begins with Achilles (the
godlike Greek warrior) and Agamemnon (the warlord) having a dispute. Agamemnon
takes away Achilles' war “prize”, the slave girl Briseis. Achilles, mad at the
warlord for taking away the woman that he thinks is rightfully his, decides to
not fight in the war. Not only does he not fight, but he even prays to the gods
to kill his countrymen. He figures that if enough Greeks die, they'll blame
Agamemnon and turn against him.
This was the guy the ancient Greeks
were crazy for? Achilles sounds like a mean spoiled brat, not a hero. The war
rages on as he sits on the sidelines. The gods argue and intervene in human affairs.
The men fight and both sides suffer losses. It’s not until Achilles’ friend,
Patroclus, is killed in battle that he finally reenters the war.
Furious at Hector for killing Patroclus,
Achilles returns the favor and then proceeds to desecrate Hector’s body by
dragging it around. Finally, Hector's father comes to Achilles to beg for the
body so they can do a proper burial. Moved by the father's plea, Achilles gives
Hector up. And the book ends with Hector's funeral.
Homer doesn’t have to show the rest of
the war because Hector’s fall foretells the fall of Troy. I think the book ends
on his death, not the presentation of the horse or even Achilles’ death,
because the story is character driven rather than plot driven in my opinion.
The Trojan War is important, but The
Iliad is about Achilles’ internal journey and the effect war has on the
Trojan people. Hector personifies Troy. When he dies, so does the city. All the
participants of the war no longer have significant roles – mothers don’t have children,
wives don’t have husbands, and the warriors don’t have a cause anymore. Hector’s
funeral signifies the end of everything to do with the war. Plus, the funeral
is only possible because Achilles has worked through his rage and shows
compassion. This action shows how he has grown as a character and what he’s
learned about restraint.
The
Iliad was one of those books where you think you know it because
it’s so famous but the actual text is much different. There was no Trojan horse
in the story (it was only mentioned later in The Odyssey). We didn’t see the death of Achilles. And there were
no clear good or bad guys. It was not what I expected and I’m still trying to
figure out if that’s a good thing or not.
Troy:
 |
| tvtropes.org |
I’d always wanted to see Troy
– to be honest, I pictured Achilles as Brad Pitt when I read – so I figured
this was the perfect time to watch it. I’d just finished The Iliad so I was totally ready. Wrong!
When they say it’s “based on” The Iliad, they mean that it very vaguely resembles it but is
basically a different story. The movie begins with narration that summarizes
the war so far. Already, Achilles has different motivations than the ones he
has in the book. He is more rebellious than his literary counterpart and since the
whole Briseis situation is different, the rebelliousness results from a general
disdain for Agamemnon’s rule.
The Greeks, except Achilles and Odysseus, are actually
painted as bad guys in this movie whereas Homer’s characters were neutral. In The Iliad there wasn’t a clear
distinction between good and bad people but rather each side occasionally made
mistakes. In Troy, Agamemnon is
painted as a greedy, ruthless warlord. His brother, Menelaus, is also
dishonorable because he agrees to fight for Helen – his wife, the reason for
the war – but tells Agamemnon he can still attack the city anyway. Achilles’
opposition to Agamemnon also functions as a sign that we shouldn’t actually
like the Greeks. Our hero doesn’t even like them. Rather, we feel sympathy for
the Trojans – honorable Priam, brave Hector, and love-struck Paris.
We can even relate to Helen because she was married off to
Menelaus but is in love with Paris. That’s why she goes away with him and the
whole war begins. Yet, in the book she is simply given to Paris as a gift from
Aphrodite. Paris and Helen aren’t even featured that much in the book. Paris
complains a little and Helen is homesick and that basically sums up their roles
within the text.
Another large departure from the book involves the role of
Briseis. She is a main character in the movie, whereas her part in the book is basically
being the reason for Achilles’ refusal to fight. Her character also has a
completely different dynamic in Troy
because she is Hector and Paris’ cousin. The Greeks capture her when they are
sacking Apollo’s temple and Achilles forms a bond with her. Throughout the
movie, he comes to her aid and they fall in love. She challenges him and they
both grow as characters. Plus, there is an interesting conflict between her
loyalty to her family and her love for him. It’s a huge step up from simply
being the reason for Achilles’ reluctance to fight – which is important of
course, but is about him feeling wronged rather than anything about her.
Why so many changes? Simple. Audiences need to relate to a
movie to care about it. We need clear good guys and bad guys so we know whom to
root for. And a feisty heroine who can be equal to our hero. And a love story
to make sense of why the Greeks and Trojans are fighting in the first place. We
want spectacle and to actually see the conclusion, not just infer it. We don’t
want a hero who is willing to let his men be killed because his girl is taken
away. Or a foolish couple who’ve started a war without even being fools in
love. Or having everything settled by the gods, leaving the people with
basically no free will. Times have changed. So Troy has changed to accommodate us.
I could go on and on about the differences between The Iliad and Troy but it’d probably take longer than the Trojan War itself. Overall,
the movie changes a lot of The Iliad’s
plot and adds both backstory and a conclusion that isn’t in the text. It gives
minor characters huge roles, erases the roles of the gods, and changes
character motivations to make them more relatable to our modern thinking. Troy is certainly an entertaining
spectacle but it is nowhere near an accurate representation of The Iliad. It bills itself as being
based on the book, but perhaps “loosely based on the story of the Trojan War”
would be a better description for it. Well, at least it’s not actually titled The Iliad, right? That would have been
even more misleading.
Basically, remember that Troy
is not The Iliad. Troy is Hollywood and Brad Pitt… not
Homer and ancient Greece.
By Alex Kowal
