Troy Historical Accuracy

The Trojan War. Fought many millennia ago it is still remembered today as a war over love and power due, in no small part, to its immortalisation in Homer’s written epic: The Iliad. In today’s world, things are best remembered in a more visual form and this is shown by the creation of Wolfgang Petersen’s movie, Troy. However, as is the way of Hollywood, things from the original epic were changed for the purpose of film. Homer’s epic already raises doubts about the overall accuracy of the tale, as the nature of an epic is to exaggerate and dramatize a story, so how does an exaggerated and modified version of an already embellished tale maintain its historical accuracy?

Troy managed to create a seemingly accurate storyline and host of characters

However, in bringing a huge city like Troy to life, as well as the vast battles, many things can slip by. Many of the statues throughout Troy were of a design outdates by about five centuries or were works of complete fantasy. However, for such a large city the layout and overall orientation of the buildings was exact with everything known about Troy. Throughout the film the Trojans are depicted as civilised and cultured and the Achaeans as more barbaric and rough however this is probably not the truth. The Achaeans are known for many traditions and systems still in place today, like democracy, and they are also known for being civilised. The portrayal of the two cultures in the film are more to garner sympathy and support towards the Trojans, as they are the ones who ultimately lose and sympathy towards them creates more of an impact on the audience in the final

In the Iliad much of what happens is because of the gods, or the gods will show up at convenient times for the humans, such as when Aphrodite stopped the battle between Paris and Menelaus in the original story. However, veering away from the gods allows Troy to explore other reasons for why the Achaeans would have attacked Troy. One of the main reasons explored in the movie was Troy as a dominating trade port and Agamemnon’s greed and lust for power spurring him on to attack and burn the city. The younger generation in the movie, Hector, Paris and Achilles, were the most openly cynical of the gods, perhaps in an attempt for the audience to identify more with them, as many people no longer share a faith in