Similarities and Differences Between Troy and The Iliad

In 2004, Wolfgang Peterson directed the film Troy, which was loosely based on The Iliad by the Greek bard, Homer. The classic poem was written in the 8th century B.C. and is the first known complete story of Western civilization. The movie is a telling of the classic legend, set down through the ages by Homer, of the Trojan War, waged between Sparta and the fortress city of Troy. The epic battle was launched over the love of one woman, Helen of Troy (Menelaus’ wife) who had sailed back to Troy with Prince Paris of Troy after falling in love with him during peace talks in Sparta. According to Homer, Helen had a “face that launched a thousand ships”, as exactly one thousand ships carrying 50,000 troops, including the warrior Achilles, sailed from Sparta to Troy to reclaim her (Homer, 1952).

Brad Pitt stars as Achilles and Eric Bana as Hector, with the late Peter O’Toole appearing as King Priam of Troy, father of Paris and Hector. The film is a $175 million dollar epic war saga, set in the Bronze Age and filmed in Malta, which was nominated for 11 various film awards ("Awards," 2005). Troy was placed into the Best of Warner Brothers 50 Films 90th Anniversary Collection and grossed nearly one-half billion dollars worldwide (Peterson & Benioff, 2004).

As with any Hollywood adaptation, the purist lovers of Homer’s Iliad will be sorely disappointed in the numerous discrepancies that ended up in the screen adaptation, which was written by David Benioff. Those who do not know The Iliad, or are not bothered by historical accuracy, will find the movie a stunning and compelling spectacle of war during the Late Bronze Age of heroes and legends. This paper will delineate the similarities, as well as the differences, between the Homeric poem, The Iliad, and the box-office sensation, Troy.

For centuries, scholars have debated the historicity of The Iliad. The poem has gone through cycles of early Greek belief and later, centuries of disbelief. Recently, the archeological discoveries of Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlik (Lovgren, 2004), have reignited debate; however, most scholars agree that the poem is a mix of factual locations and wars, fantasy and myth. As such, when speaking of historical similarities between Troy and The Iliad, we speak of a comparison of a film to its mythic counterpart.

Most of the characters and locations in the film are found in the book, and many of the major plotlines also remain the same. Primarily, Menelaus’ reason for his siege of Troy was revenge and honor for Helen. His brother, Agamemnon, did use Helen as his reason for his armies assisting the attack on Troy, but his true motive was greed and power. The infamous Trojan Horse, which most people are familiar with even if not familiar with its origin, appeared in a later work by Homer, The Odyssey. It was the major tactic responsible for the Greek’s victory over the Trojans. Paris and Helen were lovers in both book and film, and he did take her from Sparta to Troy by ship.

After Achilles killed Hector in battle, both book and film represent accurately his adherence to King Priam’s desire to give his son a proper burial. King Priam did enter the Greek camp at night to plead to Achilles for the body of Hector. Achilles’ mother, Thetis, appeared in both book and film and provided the prophecy that was at the center of the legend of Achilles: that “If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive but my name will live forever” (Homer, 1952, Chapter 9.410). Finally, in both Troy and The Iliad, the Greeks are victorious. There are truly more similarities than there are differences, primarily because the screen adaptation was taken directly from The Iliad and no other source. However, it is the plot and character discrepancies that seem to provide the biggest bone of contention for purists who are familiar with The Iliad.

The most glaring omission from the movie, Troy, is the presence and influence of the Gods. Achilles was said to be a God. In the book, he is the son of Thetis, goddess of the sea. According to Greek mythology, Thetis’ marriage to a mortal, King Peleus, was arranged by Zeus and Poseidon (Atsma, 2000). Their offspring, Achilles, was then a demi-God, but this is never explained in the movie. In fact, none of the drama and bickering and interference of the Gods, or the supernatural, are relayed in the film version. Another discrepancy concerns the length of the Trojan War. In The Iliad, the war lasted ten years. According to the movie version, the war lasted approximately ten days.

The war itself was not a war between Greeks and Trojans. In fact, the term ‘Greek’ did not even exist in 1250 B.C. Homer refers to Achilles as the leader of the Myrmidons of Thessaly and portrays the war as a civil war between Hellenic kingdoms. The Greeks of the time referred to themselves as being from their respective territories, such as Achaians, Danaans, and Argives.

As for the spark that ignited the war, Helen was portrayed as a love-smitten woman who left her unattractive husband for the handsome Prince Paris. In Homer’s tale, Helen had a daughter by Menelaus. Paris, who had been promised the most beautiful woman in the world by Aphrodite, spirited her away to Troy. The film recounts a scene at sea wherein Hector discovers his brother’s stowaway and warns him of the dire consequences of his actions. But Homer’s poem does not place Hector in Sparta at all. Menelaus’ attack is truly spurred by revenge, and that much remains intact. However, in the book, Agamemnon joins in the attack on Troy because of a dream sent by the gods while in the film version his attack is motivated by greed.

Early in the film, the bond between Achilles and Patroclus is portrayed as Achilles spars with his young ‘cousin’. But Patroclus, in The Iliad, was a friend of Achilles and not a relative. Patroclus was not younger than Achilles in the book. Briseis of The Iliad was the princess of Lyrnessus, captured by Achilles after the assault on her city in which he slaughtered her entire family. She was Achilles’ war prize. In Troy, she was portrayed as Hector’s cousin and a Trojan priestess, captured by Achilles during a bloody and murderous raid on the Temple of Apollo. It is this raid in the movie, which occurs when Achilles’ forces arrive early in Troy, which ignites the war.

According to Homer’s tale, Paris and Menelaus make a pact to duel each other to prevent the war from even beginning. In Troy, Paris and Menelaus do partake in a duel, but it is interrupted by Hector after Paris is injured. Hector then kills Menelaus, which does indeed mark the beginning of the Trojan War. However, the movie strays far from The Iliad in this respect. For in Homer’s tale, it is the goddess Aphrodite who carries the injured Paris back inside the safety of the city walls. Menelaus does not die, but survives the war and is later reunited with his wife, Helen.

The battle between Hector and Achilles remains true to the book, but there are a few variations that are notable. In The Iliad, Hector actually ran from Achilles. He was said to have run around the city three times before finally facing his opponent for the final battle. Overcome with grief for his slain son, King Priam is led by the god Hermes to Achilles’ tent, where he recovers the body and discovers his niece, Briseis. It has already been established that in The Iliad, Briseis is not related to Priam; however, in the film, she leaves Achilles tent and returns to Troy with her uncle.

Homer portrays Briseis as utterly devoted to Achilles and she remained with him until his death. Achilles was killed by Paris, by a poison arrow shot through his heel. However, this did not occur in the final sacking of the city and in order to save Briseis, as portrayed in Troy. Paris was given knowledge of Achilles’ humanness or weak spot. by the god Apollo, and in The Iliad, Achilles died at Paris’ hands as an act of revenge for the death of Hector. This death is not referred to in The Iliad but appears in one of Homer’s later works, The Odyssey. As such, Achilles was not present in the belly of the Trojan Horse and was not present for the final burning and sacking of Troy. In The Iliad, Achilles’ death occurred approximately in year nine of the ten-year war.

Another curiosity surrounding Achilles’ death was the fate of his loyal and brave soldier, Ajax. He was not killed by Hector, as portrayed in the film, but Homer writes that he committed suicide after the death of Achilles (in The Odyssey) when he was not given the slain warrior’s armor. Also, King Priam referred to Achilles’ father as being deceased, but in The Iliad, the son dies before the father.

Paris did not escape Troy with Briseis, as portrayed in the movie, but died in the war at the hands of Philoctetes, from an arrow. Hector’s wife, Andromache, did not escape with their son, either. Andromache, according to The Iliad, was captured and made a concubine to and by Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus. Achilles’ son was not mentioned in Troy. In a tragedy too barbaric to portray in the film, Hector’s infant son, Astyanax, was thrown off of the walls, but not until Odysseus bashed his head in. Another barbarous act not portrayed in the film is the murder of a dozen Trojan warriors by Achilles. He killed them in order to burn them on Patroclus’ funeral pyre.

Another character who dies in the film but not in literature is Agamemnon. In the film, he is killed by Briseis as Troy is being ransacked. According to Homer in The Odyssey, Agamemnon survives the war and takes Cassandra (who does not appear at all in Troy) home to Argos as his concubine. He is murdered at a later time in the bath, by his wife, Clytemnestra, as revenge for sacrificing their daughter to the god of wind. She then dissects him, cooks him in a stew, and serves him to their children. This scene was also not shown in the film, for some reason.

Other details with which Hollywood took liberties were more historical in origin, dealing with weaponry and ships and fortresses. During the time of the Trojan War, the warriors depicted by Homer fought with spears. Swords were not common weaponry until after the Bronze Age, although rudimentary swords have been unearthed in archeological excavations ("Trojan War," n.d.). The helmets and shields portrayed in the movie did not appear until five hundred years later. Instead, the Achaians of 1250 B.C. wore small helmets, shaped like bowls, and carried light leather shields. In book X of The Iliad, Homer (1952, verse 254) describes the armor thusly:

On his head he put a helmet made of leather, without crest or plume, what people call a skull-cap. It protected heads of brave young men. Meriones gave Odysseus bow, quiver, and a sword. On his head Odysseus set a hide cap, on the inside skillfully reinforced with leather thongs. Outside, wild boars' white teeth were placed here and there, strategically and well. In between these layers was a piece of felt.

Ships, also, were more rudimentary and not sleek and stylized like the ships in the film, which portrayed ships that appeared 400 years or so later (Rose, 2004). The marbleized statues that appear on the sets of Troy of this film are reminiscent of sculptures that did not appear until the fifth century B.C. (Rose, 2004). Coins, such as the ones placed on the eyes of the fallen soldiers in the film, were not even invented until five or six hundred years later. Also, given that there were no siege engines in the Late Bronze Age, the walls of Troy would not have needed to be four or five stories in height (Rose, 2004).

In The Iliad, King Priam’s daughter, Cassandra, prophecies the arrival of the Trojan Horse, however, she does not appear at all in the film. As for the horse itself, the main gate of Troy had to be taken apart in order to get the Horse inside the city walls. In the movie, it is pulled through the gate and through the city streets with ease. In The Iliad, the wooden horse is only vaguely alluded to at the end of the book. The Trojan Horse appears in Homer’s next poem, The Odyssey, but most accounts of the horse are derived from Virgil’s Aeneid (Fairclough, 2000). Achilles son, Neoptolemos, and not the father, participated in the final sacking of Troy.

These are but a few of the similarities and contradictions of the film, Troy, and the book, The Iliad. Given that Hollywood must make a movie to appeal to a wide audience, and for a set budget, it is understandable that they often rearrange stories and characters to suit the time frame and please the audience. Such liberties are known well in the film industry and necessary, in most cases, to the making of a blockbuster movie.

I would highly recommend this movie for anyone to see. Even though it does not follow its inspiration, The Iliad, to the letter, the book offers a seductive glimpse into the life and times surrounding the Trojan Wars. Heroes and Gods were the stuff legends and myths were made of, and this is no more apparent than in the movie, Troy. The soundtrack, especially the title song, “Remember”, by Josh Groban, echoes the glory, tragedy, and loss of the story. Those who are not familiar with the classic book behind the award-winning film may be inspired to dig a little deeper for the truth of the Trojan Wars, the beauty of the Homeric poems, and ultimately find this classic piece of literature.

References

Atsma, A. J. (2000). Thetis 1. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/NereisThetis.html

Fairclough, H. R. (2000). Virgil, Aeneid 2. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/ VirgilAeneid2.html Homer (1952 translation). The Iliad of Homer (Samuel Butler ed.). University of Chicago.

Lovgren, S. (2004). Is Troy true? the evidence behind movie myth. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0514_040514_troy.html

Peterson, W. (Director), & Benioff, D. (Screenwriter). (2004). Troy [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Brothers.

Rose, M. (2004). Troy’s fallen. Retrieved from http://archive.archaeology.org/online/ reviews/troy

The Greek age of bronze: the Trojan War. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/war.htm

Troy 2004 awards. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332452/awards