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Brenton Malnofski
Paper 3 – Troy
Troy is a 2004 film starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, amongst many
others. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the film is an adaptation of Homer’s classic
poem, the Iliad. The story of the film begins with the Trojan prince Paris convincing the
Spartan queen Helen to come with him back to his home of Troy. This doesn’t sit well
with the Spartan king, Menelaus, and soon the Greeks launch a siege, prompting the start
of the Trojan War.
Although functioning as an adaptation of the Iliad, Troy incorporates elements of
other Greek mythology stories into its narrative. It also makes some pretty drastic
changes to the original source material. The reasoning is often for the purpose of making
the story more accessible to an audience, as well as giving it a more cinematic feel. The
following will analyze some of the major differences Troy has to the Iliad and other
outlying mythology stories, and will explore the intentions and effects of those changes.
An unrelated story prior to the Iliad depicts many Greek kings vying for Helen,
and Odysseus stopping them from quarreling. He declares that Helen should choose her
own husband, and all Greek kings will come to the aid of her husband if anything
happens to her. Helen chooses Menelaus, and when Paris smuggles her away, all the
Greek kings sail to Troy in honor of their pledge.
In the film, Odysseus’ role is a wise, supportive warrior and king of Ithaca, and
never is there any indication of a history between him and Helen. Also, the pledge for
Helen amongst the Greek kings isn’t shown in Troy. Menelaus is depicted as slimy and
unlikable, implying that Helen doesn’t reciprocate his feelings and is unhappy. This
change lends added weight to her decision to stow away with Paris.
Another noteworthy point is that the Iliad begins with the Greeks having been in
Troy for ten years. In the film, the entire war lasts only seventeen days, and includes the
Greeks’ journey to Troy. This was changed likely to lend an isolated, contained, slightly
claustrophobic feeling to the location, as well as removing any potential feeling an
audience might have of having possibly missed key events during those ten years.
Unlike the film, the Greek gods play a central role throughout the events of the
Iliad. A separate story details how Paris takes Helen from Sparta only after Aphrodite
promises her to him. A dispute between the goddesses Aphrodite, Hera and Athena
revolved around who was the fairest, and Zeus was asked to choose. Aware that picking
one would only anger the others, he lent the task to Paris. The goddesses each offered
bribes. Hera offered land, Athena offered skill and wisdom, and Aphrodite offered love.
Paris selected Aphrodite’s bribe, the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen.
In Troy, this entire backstory is completely absent, as it was not included in the
Iliad. The circumstance behind Helen’s love for Paris is depicted as more genuine, rather
than being an act of a god. This decision, along with the omission of the kings’ pledge
plot, was likely made to humanize Paris and Helen more, and to allow the audience to
more closely focus on their relationship, which is the pivotal catalyst for the rest of the
film. Since the mythology backstory is removed, the subsequent story appearances by the
gods wouldn’t make sense to an audience, and they have also been removed.
In the Iliad, Paris’ decision leads to Aphrodite assisting him and the Trojans
throughout the war, as does her lover Ares, and Apollo. In retaliation, Hera and Athena
side with the Greeks. There are never any references or indications that any of the
Olympians are involved in the war in the film. The decision to completely omit the gods’
side of the story is understandable, and possibly beneficial to the film. There is already a
large ensemble cast of characters as is. Including the gods amongst this ensemble would
likely double the film’s cast and render it a confusing, jumbled, un-filmable mess.
Streamlining the story to focus on just a handful of important characters, plus some
supporting ones, was a good decision in making it more accessible to an audience
unfamiliar with the material.
A key trait of Achilles is left ambiguous in the film. Never is there a confirmation
or denial that he is immortal, like in the traditional story. If he was declared immortal in
the film, an audience might possibly not feel any weight or tension during his fight
scenes, because they would know that he cannot die and will inevitably come out on top.
But since it’s never addressed, one could assume either option. The scene of Paris landing
the killing arrow shot to his heel is kept consistent, however, and Achilles is never shown
being injured prior to this. So, the immortality might be subtly hinted at, just never
confirmed.
Rather than approaching the city alone as in Troy, Achilles leads the Greek army
to the gates before tracking down Hector. Upon being faced with Achilles, Hector flees
around the city and fights only when Athena tricks him. The change to have Achilles
approach Troy alone adds to the roguish qualities he possesses in the film, and makes him
more interesting. Having Hector directly approach Achilles of his own volition allows the
audience to recognize that he is an honorable, respectable man, rather than a coward.
Juxtaposing the two men with these characterizations in the film makes it difficult for an
audience to choose who they’d rather side with. This serves to make both of them more
likable and relatable, and it’s more tragic when Hector is killed.
The battle, unlike in the movie, is extremely short in the story. Achilles quickly
kills Hector with a spear throw before Hector can close in with his sword. Had this been
kept the same in the film, audiences likely would have felt cheapened out of a legitimate
fight, and the scene would’ve felt anticlimactic. Drawing it out and making it more
cinematic allows an audience to feel suspense and fear for one of the character’s deaths,
as opposed to a quick, one-sided fight with no real tension. The tension would’ve been
even less apparent if Achilles was confirmed to be immortal.
The Iliad ends with the funeral of Hector. The Trojan horse, fall of Troy, and
other post-Iliad events are told in other stories. However, the way the events are depicted
in the film, having it end at Hector’s funeral would’ve likely made it feel like the story
was being cut off prematurely, and audiences’ investment in the remaining characters
would go unfulfilled.
Overall, the changes the filmmakers made to the Iliad’s story were for the benefit
of the film. Streamlining the story to focus on only a closely-knit group, changing some
characterizations to make certain characters more sympathetic and interesting, and
including additional related mythology stories were all wise decisions to create an epic,
sprawling story that is completely accessible to casual viewers and mythology enthusiasts
alike.