Here's an article I wrote. It's about comparing a movie....in this article: Troy, and seeing how accurate it is compared to real history.





Scene:
I decided to evaluate the movie “Troy”, this movie express the horror and destruction of the ancient city of Troy which was razed by the Greeks. This conflict occurred when Paris, a young prince of Troy, was with his brother Hector making a pact with Menelaus for peace. After the agreement was finalized Paris took Menelaus’ wife Helen (Queen of Sparta) to Troy was his new wife. Menelaus informs his brother Agamemnon of this event and Agamemnon who has long wanted to destroy the Trojans sees this as an opportunity for battle. With the help of Achilles the Greeks are able to fight the undefeated Trojans but are soon brought to a stalemate with the experience Prince of Troy, Hector. Achilles throughout the movie is unwilling to fight for the Greeks once Agamemnon claims that soldier’s names will not be remembered. The scene I will be evaluating and examining will be the scene in which Achilles attempts to avenge his cousin’s (Patroclus) death. Who was killed mistakenly by Hector when Hector was under the impression that he was Achilles but in reality Patroclus is really just wearing Achilles armor. Achilles soon arrives at the gates of Troy and calls Hector out for a dual. Hector soon appears and the battle ensues. Achilles proves the better fighter and after the dual Achilles takes a rope to Hectors feet and ties the rope to his chariot. Achilles then rides the chariot back to the Greek camp on the shores of Troy dragging Hector the whole way back.


Vocabulary and Terms:

Razed: To destroy or demolish, often structures.
Briseis: Vestal Virgin Priestess of Apollo taken by the Greeks during their invasion. She and Achilles fall in love.
Odysseus: Veteran Greek, who is known for his wisdom and way with words more so than his sword.
Agamemnon: Strongest of the rulers of the Greek City-States. He uses the incident of Helen as an excuse to bring the Greeks to war against Troy.
Menelaus: Younger brother of Agamemnon. Helen was promised to him as a wife.

Identification of Scene:
The inaccuracy within the movie of Troy is quite miniscule but there are a few points here and there that show a missed concept or two. Firstly, After the death Patroclus Achilles did not take the armor that Patroclus stole but in reality his mother obtained a new set of armor before him. With this detail we can assume it was quite some time between Achilles’ fight with Hector as Achilles’ mother was not in Troy. This was found at: (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/achilles.html). Inaccuracy lies heavily within the mentioning of the gods during the fight between Achilles and Hector. Zeus was said to have sent the gods to restrain Achilles and stop him from sacking Troy this however was unsuccessful. Zeus was never mentioned in Troy. In fact the only gods ever mentioned was Poseidon and Apollo. Another flawed characteristic of Troy found at: (http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/achilles/g/Achilles.htm) was the fact that Achilles chased Hector around the walls of Troy three times before Hector decided to duel Achilles. In the movie however Hector did not run but stood and faced Achilles at the gates of Troy. In addition Achilles then tied Hector's body to his chariot and dragged it around the battlefield for thirteen days according to: (http://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/achilles.htm)
in the movie however this did not happen. Hector’s body was only drag for a short amount of time. Finally, the last inaccurate part of this scene is that Hector was first wounded by a broken spear in the shoulder and then stabbed in the chest by Achilles. This is inaccurate as in history Hector was killed by Achilles blade in the neck.

Filmmaker’s Intent:
The sole intent of this scene is to show to different combatants fighting for different causes. Achilles, fighting for revenge and in a angry more cut throat manner and Hector, fighting to defend a kingdom and fighting with just sheer experience. These two different personalities were supposed to be the climax of the movie when they clashed. The director, Wolfgang Peterson, attempted to keep to the real parts of history as possible but with Hollywood that is not always completely done. I suppose that having Hector run from Achilles was not in the character’s nature as throughout the movie Hector was displayed as heroic and brave in contrast to his younger brother Paris who was cowardly and weak which is clearly outlined at the end when Paris shoots an arrow through Achilles ankle and chest multiple times. Also displaying the fight scene as they did in Troy was most necessary to explain that Hector was not to go down in one blow and that he was strong and a formidable opponent for Achilles. Lastly, in the movie Troy they did not drag Hector behind a chariot for thirteen days in fact they instead had a cease fighting for thirteen days. This move by Wolfgang was most likely to avoid long scenes in which Achilles dragged Hector and the peace time was a more “likely” scenario to fill.

Point of the Scene:
The point of the scene is to portray the contrasting elements in which makes someone to fight in a war. This scene also shows that “justice” to say does not always win. Cruel people win sometimes and bad things happen to good intentioned warriors. This whole scene conveys to the audience the true brutality of the Trojan War.



Last Edit: Jul 3, 2011 17:49:56 GMT by Chris