In the film, Achilles (portrayed by Brad Pitt, looking rather more bulky than usual) is the greatest warrior alive, with a reputation unparalleled in the world. However, he is a loose canon of sorts, as likely to kill his own leaders as the enemy. Achilles is tempted to the battle with Troy, portrayed as one of the greatest battles in history, by the call of everlasting glory. Achilles is persuaded in the end by no less an ironic character than his own mother, who recounts to him the prophecy of an idyllic life at home should he stay, but then to be forgotten after he dies, or the chance at immortality in legend, despite the fact that he’ll die at Troy. Achilles sets sail.

Agamemnon (Brian Cox) uses the event as a chance to band all the Greek city-states together into a final battle with Troy, the greatest rival to his power in the Aegean (and the centre of much of the civilization of the world at that time). This is where the retelling becomes much more modern than ancient. The Illiad is not so concerned with economics and hegemonies as it is with ethics and honour – Agamemnon is portrayed as a Realpolitick power-seeker of the first order, willing to stop at nothing to decimate allies and foes alike for his own power, willing to use honourable pretenses to achieve dishonourable ends. Does one sense a thinly-veiled critique of the modern siege-makers in this?

The intrigues and the plotting of the Greek leaders are cast in high relief against the more pastoral leadership of ‘good king’ Priam (portrayed by Peter O’Toole with his characteristic panache). Hector is a strong and wise leader under his father; Paris is the foolish and rather cowardly one. (We are missing the back-story of the Illiad of how Paris came to be part of Troy’s royal family, and it is assumed that there is no unusual story there.) We rather lose sight of the fact that, indeed, Paris stole the queen of Sparta (again, the modern idea creeps in – in our day, a woman would have the right to choose where she wished to live, but not so in the ancient world; one might question whether the queen of a nation has the right to abandon her role and ‘shack-up’ with the neighbouring prince at will, but I digress…).

A nice touch to the film is the hand-off of the great sword of Troy to a young man named Aeneas, with the instruction that so long as a Trojan has the sword, Troy will live on (this connects to the Roman epic poem, the Aeneid, which tells of Aeneas’ journey from Troy to Rome, making them the spiritual successors of Troy, particularly meaningful when the Romans then conquer the Greeks).

* * * Troy * * *
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen