The Iliad Compare And Contrast Essay

The first book in The Essential Homer, translated and edited by Stanley Lombardo, and Wolfgang Petersen's film, Troy, tell the story of the Trojan War. The Essential Homer contains a translated and abridged version of the Iliad which is an accurate representation of the ancient mythology of the Trojan War. The film Troy also portrays the myth, but interpreted by Wolfgang Petersen. Petersen’s rendition of the Trojan War contains many differences from the Iliad, including the absence of Greek gods, change in lineage for the character Briseis, and a change in the events surrounding the death of Patroclus. While the Iliad from The Essential Homer and the film Troy by Wolfgang Petersen, portray the mythological story of the Trojan War, Petersen’s

In the Iliad, Briseis is taken as a token of war before the Greeks arrive at Troy and when she is taken away by Agamemnon, she became a reason why Achilles refused to fight (Homer, Iliad 1). This is similar in the movie Troy except that Briseis is instead related to the people the Greeks are fighting (Petersen). A slow romance develops between the two and so it can be imagined the trouble Achilles had to face when deciding whether to disregard Briseis’s feelings when killing her people, especially her close cousin Hector, and fighting for the Greeks. Achilles’ romantic feelings can also be seen in the movie when he saves her from being raped by Greek men and as he rushes to save her inside the burning city of Troy (Petersen). Although both versions of the war feature Briseis, Petersen’s focuses on how Achilles’ actions could have been influenced by the conflict struck when fighting the people Briseis loves. Achilles’ actions can then further be examined when Petersen changed the events around the death of