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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.