Troy

TROY

Summary

Troy has been taken from Homer's sprawling[1] tale of love and war in ancient Greece. In 1193 B.C., Paris, Prince of Troy, has fallen in love with Helen, Queen of Sparta, who is wed to King Menelaus; Paris steals her away from Sparta. Menelaus' brother Agamemnon, King of the Mycenaeans, is eager to expand his empire through Troy to the lands of the Aegean Sea, and he uses Paris' romantic slight against Menelaus as an excuse to take part to the war. Priam, King of Troy, summons his armies, led by Prince Hector, but Agamemnon has a formidable ally, Achilles, a mighty and seemingly unstoppable warrior. Spartans will be able to win the war with a brilliant idea of Odysseus to build a big wooden horse, hide some men into it and convince the Trojans to bring it into the city as a gods offer.

Main Characters

Paris: Orlando Bloom; Prince of Troy, he steals Helen from Menelaus.

Helen: Diane Kruger; Queen of Sparta, she's wed to King Menelaus.

Menelaus: Brendan Gleeson; King of Sparta, he starts a war against Troy when Paris steals Helen from him.

Agamemnon: Brian Cox; Menelaus' brother, he is the King of Mycenaeans and he takes part to his brother's war to expand his empire.

Priam: Peter O'Toole; King of Troy, he is very bound to his sons and his land.

Hector: Eric Bana; Prince of Troy, he is brother of Paris, he fights and loses his life for his brother and for his father and his land's honour.

Achilles: Brad Pitt; King of Myrmidons, he fights for his own honour and he falls in love with a cousin of Paris, Briseis.

Briseis: Rose Byrne; she's Priam nephew and a priestess of Apollo, she falls in love with Achilles.

Odysseus: Sean Bean; King of Itaca, he has the great idea to build the wooden horse.

Your Favourite Character

My favourite character is Achilles. I like his big bravery and his big sense of honour. He is a wonderful man and a great warrior. I estimate that he doesn't fight to get favours from Menelaus or Agamemnon, or for the King of Kings' honour, but he fights for his own honour and to be remembered in the ages. I really like his love story with Briseis: he accepts to let her come back home instead of keeping her prisoner because he loves that girl, even if he seems to be so rude.

Setting

The story takes place in the city of Troy, in his beaches and in the Temple of Apollo (outside of the city).

Short Historical Flashback

The War of Troy

The first nine years of the war consisted of both war in Troy and war against the neighbouring regions. The Greeks realized that Troy was being supplied by its neighbouring kingdoms, so Greeks were sent to defeat these areas.

As well as destroying Trojan economy, these battles let the Greeks gather[6] a large amount of resources and other spoils of war, including women.

The Greeks won many important battles and the Trojan hero Hector fell, as did the Trojan ally Penthesilea. However, the Greeks could not break down the walls of Troy.

Patroclus was killed and, soon after, Achilles was felled by Paris.

Helenus, son of Priam, had been captured by Odysseus. A prophet, Helenus told the Greeks that Troy would not fall unless Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, fought in the war; the bow[7] and arrows of Hercules were used by the Greeks against the Trojans, the remains of Pelops, the famous Eleian hero, were brought to Troy, and the Palladium, a statue of Athena, was stolen from Troy.

Phoenix persuaded Pyrrhus to join the war. Philoctetes had the bow and arrows of Hercules, but had been left by the Greek fleet[9] in Lemnos because he had been bitten by a snake and his wound had a horrendous smell. Philoctetes was bitter , but was finally persuaded to join the Greeks. The remains of Pelops were gotten, and Odysseus infiltrated Trojan defences and stole the Palladium.

My Personal Comment

In this film there are different kinds of story: love stories, family's stories, war stories, honour stories.

I like Historical film very much, especially legends and Greeks stories. In this film there are fantastic fightings and wonderful costumes, the sitting is very suggestive. I really liked the love story between Achilles and Briseis: they have different origins, they descend from different populations, but they fall in love. Achilles goes against his honour and his instinct to save the girl he loves. I really liked the wooden horse, and I cherish Odysseus, he's a man with a great intellect. I also like Hector's character: he shows his great love for his ancients, for his land and for his father. He falls to protect his loved brother. Paris is not so brave, he may be too young to know what honour and bravery are, he only cares to be happy. In fact, he runs away through the secret tunnel when Troy is being destroyed. The only right thing he did was to suggest his father not to bring the horse into the city walls. I didn't like the characters of Menelaus and Agamemnon, they only care about power and glory.