Troy By Wolfgang Petersen And Homer s Historic Epic Iliad

The 2004 film Troy by Wolfgang Petersen and Homer’s historic epic Iliad both center on the Trojan War between the Achaeans and the Trojans, but with two distinct differences in coverage. During Homer’s era, these heroes, the great Achilles and Hector, were known to all, but in modern times they are not as prevalent and thus both artists needed to adapt their approach to this tale. Homer’s Iliad delves into the ninth year of strife with Achilles and Agamemnon‘s quarrel in full effect and the Greeks on the verge of sacking Troy. Petersen’s Troy, however does not have the same established background that Homer possessed and adapted by beginning with who these characters are and how the story of the Trojan War began. The coverage of Troy also pushes pass the easing of Achilles wrath and into the sacking of Troy, fleeing of Aeneas, and the demise of Achilles. Rather than a simple recreation of the Iliad, Troy attempts to balance the grand story of Achille s’ struggle for immortality, Hector’s courage to save his people from foretold death, and who is truly on the virtuous side. With no background for the audience to base the story, Troy begins around 1200 BCE with King Agamemnon of Mycenae conquering the final Greek troops of Triopas to unite Greece, before the Trojan War. Quite a different beginning than the start of the Iliad, which occurs roughly ten years later. The audience needs to know these characters relationships and history first. When the film opens, Agamemnon is the