TROY: IN A VORTEX OF VARIABILITY
The movie Troy, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starred by Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, brings to us the Trojan War into reality and us to the reality of the Trojan War. Although the depiction is very artistic and intense, the movie possesses enormous discrepancies and variability in relation to Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. It can be inferred that the movie Troy employed these variations in order to intensify the plot and add color to the characters, which will appeal especially to non-readers of Hamilton and those unknowledgeable of the war.
DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTERS
The two interpretations of the Trojan War depict some of the characters in different ways. These differences may either be attributed to their attitudes and internal personalities or their genealogies and detail. Agamemnon is portrayed in the movie as pugnacious, avaricious nobility who wanted to conquer Troy and other neighboring lands, Thessaly for example. He uses Menelaus’ predicament as an opportunity to achieve his personal goal. “I didn’t come here for your pretty wife. I came here for Troy,” Agamemnon tells Menelaus. This description adds a stunning effect to Agamemnon’s role in the Trojan War, unlike in his portrayal by Hamilton. In Mythology, Agamemnon is just “the brother of Menelaus.” But both interpretations show his naiveté when he and Achilles entered a dispute caused by a woman. Still, the natures of their dispute presented in these two depictions are entirely different from each other (See VARIATIONS IN PLOT).
Patroclus is, in Mythology, Achilles’ beloved friend. The movie Troy describes him as Achilles’ cousin. In both depictions, Patroclus fights eagerly in substitute for Achilles, and is killed by Hector. The movie also does not clearly illustrate Patroclus’ zeal to fight, which Hamilton exaggerated in Patroclus’ conversation with Achilles.
Briseis is just a maiden according to Hamilton, but the movie adds a twist in Briseis’ character by making her a Trojan princess, a cousin of Paris and Hector.
Odysseus is not given utmost importance in the movie, but his characters in both depictions are similar. Hamilton describes him as “the king of Ithaca, shrewdest and most sensible man.” In the movie, Odysseus pompously tells Achilles: “You have your sword, I have my tricks!”
Thetis, a sea nymph and Achilles’ mother, is also portrayed differently in both the movie and the classic. Hamilton presents Thetis as a caring mother who made Achilles wear women’s clothes and hide among the maidens. Thetis already knows that Achilles will not be able to return to Greece if he will join the Trojan War. Contradictory to the classic, the movie Troy narrates Thetis’ urging her son to join the war in the following line: “If you go to Troy, glory will be yours. They will write stories about your victories. The world will remember you.” Still, Thetis portended, similar to Hamilton’s tale: “But you’ll never come home.”
In the case of the main characters, Achilles’ role is intensified by visually portraying his nature. We see his different facets in Hamilton, but we discover more vividly the character of Achilles in the movie. Brad Pitt’s physique added taste to Achilles’ role. Still, not only we see a hero of dexterity and fortitude but also a man hated and loved by many. “Of all the warlords loved by the gods, I hate him the most!” is the curse of Agamemnon. Agamemnon also ridicules him, “Mighty Achilles, silenced by a slave girl,” after being appeased in furor by the princess Briseis. Achilles is also shown to have fallen in love with Briseis and have been merciful to Priam, Trojan king and Hector’s father.
In the movie, the Trojan characters are as commendable as mighty Achilles. Hector is the brave and patriotric Trojan hero of Hamilton. Hector is a man of principle; he does not acquiesce with the idea that the war should be strategized based on “bird signs.” Paris is not shown as the husband of Oenone and Priam’s son who was made into a shepherd for the fear that he might bring destruction to Troy. Instead, he is portrayed as a man with true and passionate love for a woman, ready to confront the real enemy, in this case Menelaus. “This is not a conflict of nations; this is a dispute between two men, and I don’t want to see another Trojan die because of me,” stated Paris with fortitude. He challenges the Spartan king to have a one-on-one combat. He is also shown in the movie as the last Trojan hero to survive, killing mighty Achilles and ending the story.
VARIATIONS IN PLOT
One lucid observation about the movie is that there is no depiction of the intervention, or meddling, of the gods. It seems that the Trojan war is a war among mortals only, not including the deities. Another observation is that the roots and even the motives of the war are slightly different in the two interpretations; Hamilton narrates the history from the indifference of the Olympians towards Eris, the goddess of discord, to the argument among Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena, to the judgment of Paris, to Paris’ seizing of Helen, and to the launching of the thousand ships for romantic love. In contrast, Troy commences with a nationalistic battle between Thessaly and Sparta, followed by the revelry of the Greeks and the Trojans, Paris being Helen’s paramour (not as a prize from Aphrodite), Helen’s elopement to Troy with Paris, and Agamemnon’s joining Menelaus’ fleet after realizing of his personal plans. Lastly, Troy shows the arrival of the Greeks in Troy in a different manner. There is no mention of the sacrifice of Iphigenia to Artemis, and Achilles is the first one to land on the shores of Troy, instead of Protesilaus reaching the river of Simois first, which is based on Hamilton’s work. There is also the desecration of the temple of Apollo that Hamilton does not mention while Troy is able to fictionalize to add a realistic effect.
Odysseus discovers Achilles in different situations. In Troy, Achilles is having a mock fight with his cousin Patroclus and Odysseus persuades him to join the force. In Mythology, Odysseus recognizes Achilles in his costume, which his mother Thetis made him wear.
Hamilton narrates the story of Briseis in the following manner: Briseis is the slave maiden of Achilles while another maiden, Chryseis, is under Agamemnon’s possession. Apollo’s oracle, Calchas, orders the release of Chryseis, making Agamemnon ask for a replacement and try to seize Briseis. He succeeds in his plan, bringing dispute between he and Achilles. In Troy, there is no Chryseis, while envy is the force that pushed Agamemnon to seize Briseis from Achilles’ hands.
Another big difference can be attributed to the duel between Menelaus and Paris. Hamilton describes their battle as just a part of a big aggregate war, and then ended with the fight between the two lovers after the Greek and Trojan troops had drawn back on either side. In Troy, the one-on-one combat is held as if it was planned. In Mythology, Aphrodite intervenes by rescuing her hero Paris; while in the other Hector kills Menelaus to save his brother. In Troy, there is a pact: the winner will take home Helen, the loser will burn before night. Paris and Hector destroys the pact, which enrages Menelaus and the Greek army, leading to a more vicious battle. The war ends after the Greeks had retreated. Hamilton narrates it the other way around: from a mass battle it transformed into a duel, then Aphrodite saves Paris, and the Greeks declare victory, followed by Athena’s deed, and ended with the resumption of war.
In the end, certain details are observed in the movie and questions arise. Was the horse to be offered to Athena (Hamilton) or to Poseidon (Troy)? Is Paris still alive during the fall of Troy? Is Agamemnon really killed by Briseis (Troy)? Did Paris shoot Achilles with his arrows inside the palace (Troy) or at the Scaean gate (Hamilton)? Such differences may confuse a man who is a good reader and a critical film viewer at the same time.
Lastly, what is ironic about the film is the connection between the title and the protagonist. Troy is the title, and we expect a protagonist from the Trojans or a more focus on the Trojan kingdom, but then Achilles, a Greek, is given utmost attention than any other character in the movie.
THE MOMENTUM IN THE EPIC MOMENT
The epic moment in the film is the combat between Hector and Achilles. It is a gory and painful duel, even more aggravated by their removal of helmets. The intense mood is heightened by the landscape – arid desert, city walls, observing Trojan royalty. It is a long fight, with special focus on the swaying of the swords and motion of the shield. In the characters’ faces are the pains, sorrows, and conviction to fight. Of course, their courage to accept death is also depicted in the scene.
FALL OF TROY?
Although the movie Troy is in a vortex of variability, some will say inconsistency, others will order infidelity, but for me this variability results to a sense of creativity and originality due to innovation, and the “revised” aspects of the movie are employed for its applicability in modern days. The movie exhibits the realistic emotions and actions of man, without the supernatural interferences brought about by the immortals, making the tale more applicable to society in these modern times.
To conclude this critical essay of the movie Troy, let me impart some of the lines that affected me most, bringing in me life-changing lessons that we need in our walk in life.
I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of tomorrow. –Helen. This line reminds us that all our actions, even though they result to death, will indeed bring results not only to our lives but to the lives of the people around us as well. What will happen tomorrow? Will there be chaos, dissension, war, or peace? These are the questions that we need to ask every time we plan to perform such deeds, or else our action might result to a battle between nations, between Greece and Troy.
You left your home for me. – Paris to Helen. In this line, Paris decides to take actions in return to Helen’s sacrifice. We should be grateful in all the things done for us. They might have sacrificed their money, their homes, their families, so we should be ready to offer ourselves for them too.
Honor the gods, love your woman, and defend your country! – Hector. This line is the code that the Trojans believed in when at war, the true epitome of patriotism. We live in a war-filled world, full of combats, tribulations, dissensions, but still we should always remember in our deeds our God, family, and people. To them we offer the fruits of our hardwork. If this had been the principle of the Trojans thousands of years ago, today this could be ours too.
This movie and the tale itself, even though in a whirlpool of differences, should be required viewing and reading to all mankind, not because they are parts of history and mythology, but because they contain morsels of morals that edify us as people of strength, courage, wisdom, and virtue.
