Indroduction

In this blog I will be highlighting and analysing the key differences between the Epic poem, ‘The Iliad’ and the film adaptation, ‘Troy’. The Iliad is the epic poem based around the Achaeans 10 year siege on the city of Troy. The Iliad focuses mainly around the last few weeks of the siege rather than the whole 10 years and the conflict between King Agamemnon and Achilles. The Iliad starts near the end of the war when Chryses is asking for Chryseis' return after Agamemnon makes her his slave.

The film, however, starts much earlier and depicts the dinner of peace in which Menelaus of Sparta is discussing terms with Prince Hektor of Troy. Hektor’s brother, Paris, has sneaked upstairs to accompany Menelaus’s young wife and ask her to come back to Troy with him. She chooses to go and Paris smuggles her on the boat the following morning. This is a key in triggering the following war –along with Agamemnon’s desire to control Troy- as there is now an incentive to invade. Agamemnon prepares 1000 triremes for the voyage and the movie plays through to the fall of Troy.

There are many differences between the book and the film and we can learn a lot about Greek culture from both. I believe this blog will enable us to create connections between ancient and modern society and in turn assist our understanding of the Ancient World.