Keywords: troy film analysis, troy accuracy, troy film historical inaccuracies
As generations continue steadily to revolutionize, various new prospects lie ahead for the countless inhabitants of earth, regardless of what corner they reside in. At a time when technology is changing so rapidly, the histories, traditions and cultures of days gone by are sometimes forgotten, if not lost altogether. To counter this, Hollywood directors and producers alike create fantastical films that bring to life the countless stories and legends that are carried down through generations, but have a chance of being lost forever. Among the stories that was written down rather than told was Homer's epic poem, the "Illiad" that was basically the legend of the Trojan War. The storyplot which is regarded as based on history was converted into a film in 2004 by director Wolfgang Petersen. The films plot is dependant on the King of Mycenae, Agamemnon, who has forced the kingdoms of Greece into a loose alliance after decades of war. Menelaus, the King of Sparta and Agamemnon's brother, strives to make peace with Troy, who's the most powerful rival to the emerging nation however when the Trojan prince, Paris, steals away Menelaus's wife, Helen, Agamemnon strives to get her back for his brother and for the time being, using the function as an chance to fight Troy and take it down, so that Sparta could be the strongest Greek nation. Although a nifty little plot, predicated on the Greek epic poem, many things can be questioned, as it is unknown if the epic poem was even predicated on history itself. A film that is historically inaccurate gives no benefit to its viewers as the storyline can be so twisted and changed that it is no longer, a tale of history, tradition or culture. When examined meticulously, it is plainly evident however, that the film Troy, is historically accurate as it is based on true facts from the ancient Greek life. The military, portrayed through fighting formations, weapons, and naval warfare, the culture of the Greeks portrayed through burial customs, belief in gods and architecture as well as class structure, portrayed through the roles of women, the respect to the king, and the respect to the Myrmidons, Achilles fighting group, are bits of evidence that lead to the verdict that the film Troy is historically accurate.
The military and its different parts that it is consisting of are essential to any nation, particularly one which is emerging to be the most effective. The military not only protects the nation from invaders but also helps in the conquering of new territories to expand the nation so that it can grow. Expansion and conquering enemies all bring up a nations status, which explains why the Greeks fought with each other to get power and respect from others. Area of the militaries practices which were necessary to its existence were fighting formations. The fighting formations of the Greeks were tightly formed and organized so the enemy cannot penetrate. "The battle line a carefully built wall, the warriors standing with shield touching shield in a good line. This is more likely to have been the position before a battle, with armies drawn up in opposing lines and meeting in this simple formation. The battle probably broke up into a mle, only after one side had given way, accompanied by individual duels and single combat. " It really is evident that the fighting formations were strongly structured so that the army appeared not only better and mighty, but more organized and for that reason more likely to intimidate the enemy. After the formations were broken, the warriors fought individually, trying to kill as much of the opponents as you can. This type of fighting in formation was also portrayed in the film "Troy" where Hector's army gathered beyond the Trojan walls standing hand and hand, using their large rectangular shields touching the other person for protection. Once battle was initiated however, the men separated and fought individually. This event in the movie was clearly an accurate portrayal of fighting formations in Greece during 1250 B. C. E and therefore starts to prove that the film Troy is historically accurate.
Another division of the military, one of the main in fact, is the weapons. Without weapons, battle would be very difficult to win because warriors would need to be clever and exceptionally strong in order that they could overtake their enemy with their bare hands. Luckily, the Greeks had very developed weapons, which proved to be useful against opponents. Weapons like spears and swords were used extensively in the Greek military, although spears were the first weapon of choice. "Swords always seem to be to took second place after spears. " This is also portrayed in the movie "Troy" as when Hector faces Achilles in a single using one combat, they use their spears first and then their swords. Spears in the film were constructed in such a manner that they looked like they were supposed to. "Throwing spears (javelins) were usual, however, many were obviously thrusting spears, such as Hector's, which was supposed to be 11 cubits long. Spear shafts were made of ash wood. " Although it is impossible to tell the exact length of the thrusting spears found in the film, they were pretty long, visually looking to be about 5 metres, which is approximately the distance of 11 cubits. The rod of the spears were all made out of wood, although again, it is impossible to inform whether or not it was particularly out of ash wood, however it was definitely crafted from wood. Therefore it is evident that the film Troy sticks to history due to materials and props they used on set to film the production, the same materials and objects that have been used over three thousand years ago.
The last division in the military which was of high importance to the Greeks, was naval or the sea category. Without naval ships, armies cannot have gotten around and travelled to the areas to expand their territories or challenge their enemy as a consequence for a wrongdoing. The Greeks used many types of warships, although those that were most typical through the Trojan War and which were described in Homer's epic poem "Illiad" were Pentekonters. "Two types of ships are mentioned by Homer: light, fast ships powered by 20 oars, and heavier warships powered by 50 oars. These 50-oared galleys had one level only. They appear to have been built mainly from pine wood, with oars of polished spruce. while the bow terminated in a almost vertical prow with a metal sheathed ram at the waterline. Pentekonters had a mast with a square sail that was taken down before going into battle" Inside the movie "Troy" the ships used also had one degree of oarsmen and about 50 men rowing with oars. The front of the ship had an almost vertical prow that was slightly curved to the condition of the ship that helped stop the ship when it reached the shores. The ships found in the film also had square shaped white masts which were lowered when the ship reached the shore. Evidently, the portrayal of the military in the film, whether naval or on land, was historically accurate because the things depicted were truthful to history and actual Greek objects and occurrences.
The culture of any nation, whether emerging or already established plays an important role in the everyday lives of citizens. Culture is a development in inhabited area that shows how prosperous the place is, because the key focus is no more on just mere survival, as there are things to do. Religion, architecture, art, beauty, sports are are just some of the areas of culture that show how rich a nation is, because people can have the average income, but if they are culturally satisfied, they'll be happier than those people who have no culture. Culture played an important role in the lives of the Greeks plus they had advanced burial customs, religion and architecture, which made their nation an improved place to live. Burial customs are one aspect of culture that was superior and there is always a belief in the afterlife in the Greek culture, whatever religion. "Inhumation was most usual in Mycenaean times, but by c. 1200 BC cremation became the primary method of burial and was universal" Evidently, by enough time of the Trojan War, cremation was used most often and this is depicted in the film as well because everyone who dies in the film, whether it was Patroclus, Hector or any other warrior; these were all collected and burned. "In cremation, bodies were burned on a pyre soldiers killed in warfare were only rarely buried on the battlefield. Frequently these were cremated on the battle site and their ashes taken home. " It is obvious that soldiers were generally not buried at the website of the battle where they fought, rather just cremated and the ashes were gathered and taken home. This is the case in the film "Troy" when many soldiers died; chariots collected the bodies and carried them just outside of the battle field where there was an enormous fire where other soldiers would cremate the bodies. Again it is evidently portrayed that the film "Troy" was historically accurate since it followed the burial customs that the ancient Greeks practiced themselves.
Religion was another essential requirement of the ancient Greeks life plus they all worshipped some gods. For some Greeks, certain gods were unimportant, but others were considered almighty to them. Towards the Trojans, the God Apollo was of high importance. "A god worshipped throughout the Greek world, and the embodiment of moral excellence. . . He was the god of prophecy, healing, archery. He was also a god of light (sometimes being recognized with the Sun and with the god Helios). " In the film "Troy" the main worship was to Apollo and this is portrayed through frequent mention of Apollo, when King Priam or his men were prophesising. Everything centered on Apollo, who Priam prayed to nightly and also to whom he assumed the wooden Trojan horse by the Greeks was built. "The valuable temple of Troy's patron god Apollo (filled with 5 foot high solid gold statue of Apollo) is located outside the city, down the beach. " This is the situation in the film because the Trojans created a temple just outside the location and in front of it was a massive gold statue of Apollo. Clearly, the historical accuracy of the film "Troy" is just as before proved as it supports the facts from ancient Greek religion.
Another form of culture is the art through mainly architecture that is apparent in any nation that is on the rise to being one of the better. Architecture shows how culturally rich a society is because again the key focus is no more survival, but other activities as well, which show how prosperous a nation may be. Troy had an enormous wall that protected the town inside which was their main form of architecture. "The walls of fortifications are an average of 16. 5 ft thick and are designed of massive stones weighing up to 10 tons. Evidently the fortifications at Troy were extremely large which explains why nobody could penetrate them before Greeks created the Trojan horse. That is also portrayed in the movie "Troy" when the Greeks attack but cannot penetrate the walls until they sneak in through the horse. The walls found in the film are visibly crafted from stone and very large, although it is impossible to see the exact measurements of the fortification. Overall, the portrayal of culture in the film "Troy" is historically accurate because the burial customs, religion and architecture portrayed in the film is the same as that of the ancient Greek world.
The class structure of the ancient Greek world was much unique of ours today, even though some things are similar to today's world. Historical accuracy in the class structure system is paramount to an effective depiction of the ancient Greek world in film. The respect given to women, to the king, and also to Achilles' elite warrior group, the Myrmidons, each is historically accurate because it is nearly the same as the respect given in the ancient Greek world. The respect directed at ladies in the ancient Greek time period was small but there have been enjoyable parts to it. "Female characters of the upper class led a relatively independent life. . . . Although women were technically of citizen status, that they had no rights of citizenship. Women had no political rights and may take no part whatsoever in government. " Evidently women had small respect but those of top of the class were fairly independent, being allowed to do more than the poorer women, although do not require could participate in politics. That is also portrayed in the film "Troy. " The women of the palace who had been princesses roughly took no part in the politics of the palace where all the men assembled, led by the king and his princes to plan out things for Troy. Although women had no role in politics and government, they played an important role in religion. "Within religion women did play an important role, like a dominant role at funerals, weddings. . . . There were many priestesses. That is also portrayed within the film "Troy" as when Briseis, the cousin of Hector and Paris, decided to become Apollo's servant she was commended and it was said that Apollo will have an excellent servant. Although women had this advantage, these were considered weak and a reference to this is made in the movie when it's said that "peace is made for women and weak" by Agamemnon. Evidently using that metaphor, women were considered fragile and therefore peace went straight along with women since peace didn't showcase nations might or power. Evidently, the film "Troy" is historically accurate because it correctly portrays the respect given to women in the ancient Greek class system.
In the ancient greek language world, there was always a lot of respect directed at the king of the country, whether he deserved it or not. Kings were very respected officials and demanded that they were given honour even if they were wrong on something. Inside the film "Troy" the respect given to the king, particularly Agamemnon was high although he didn't do anything. Odysseus, comments on this to Achilles who gets angry over the fact that warriors are giving the king things that they stole, even though he did nothing at all to deserve the gifts. Odysseus says "War is old men talking, and teenagers dying. " Evidently it is portrayed that the king had much respect whether he deserved it or not, and in this case, it is evident that Agamemnon did not deserve the respect that he had been given. Nonetheless, the king continued to be showered with gifts, as warriors were honoured to maintain his presence and also to get a promise by him.
Achilles' elite group of warriors, the Myrmidons, were also an organization that was given a lot of respect and was allowed to be different because they were essential to the winnings of several battles. However the king, particularly Agamemnon disliked Achilles and his group very much for their individuality, he used them because of their skill. For example, all Greek warships that sailed had white sails however the ship that was utilized by the Myrmidons, had a black sail and was a showcase of their individuality. The Myrmidons, led by Achilles were so skilled that when they went out on their own onto the beaches of Troy, rather than waiting for the other Greek ships behind them, Agamemnon complained but soon acknowledged that it was the group's choice to do what they need. Evidently Achilles' group, the Myrmidons, had a lot of respect from others, even Agamemnon who let them do what they wanted to, because of the Greek need for them and their skill. Overall class structure and the respect that was presented with in the film "Troy" was historically accurate since it truthfully portrayed women, the king and the Myrmidons.
From the beginning of the film "Troy" directed by Wolfgang Petersen, right to the finish, the film proves that it is historically accurate and thus keeps the legend of the Trojan War, on paper by Homer through his epic poem the "Illiad" alive. When analyzing the military portrayed in the film through the fighting formations, weapons and naval warfare, it is evident that the producers stuck to history and made a precise portrayal of the Greek military. Culture as well can be an aspect that proves to be truthful to the ancient greek language world through the portrayal of burial customs, religion and architecture. Finally, class structure and respect is just one more part of the film that remains historically faithful through the portrayal of the respect given to women, the king and Achilles' elite band of warriors, the Myrmidons. Overall, it is apparent how new periods of time can still maintain history and portray legends, traditions and cultures of the past accurately, so that the audience can take advantage of the film and the storyplot of the ancient world will never be lost.
