TROY the movie

[roidan]

Achilles (Brad Pitt)

Achilles was the son of the mortal Peleus and the Nereid Thetis. He was the mightiest of the Greeks who fought in the Trojan War, and was the hero of Homer's Iliad.

Thetis attempted unsuccessfully to make her son immortal. There are two versions of the story. In the earlier version, Thetis anointed the infant with ambrosia and then placed him upon a fire to burn away his mortal portions; she was interrupted by Peleus, whereupon she abandoned both father and son in a rage. Peleus placed the child in the care of the Centaur Chiron, who raised and educated the boy. In the later version, she held the young Achilles by the heel and dipped him in the river Styx; everything the sacred waters touched became invulnerable, but the heel remained dry and therefore unprotected.

When Achilles was a boy, the seer Calchas prophesied that the city of Troy could not be taken without his help. Thetis knew that, if her son went to Troy, he would die an early death, so she sent him to the court of Lycomedes, in Scyros; there he was hidden, disguised as a young girl. During his stay he had an affair with Lycomedes' daughter, Deidameia, and she had a son, Pyrrhus (or Neoptolemus), by him. Achilles' disguise was finally penetrated by Odysseus, who placed arms and armor amidst a display of women's finery and seized upon Achilles when he was the only "maiden" to be fascinated by the swords and shields. Achilles then went willingly with Odysseus to Troy, leading a host of his father's Myrmidons and accompanied by his tutor Phoenix and his close friend Patroclus. At Troy, Achilles distinguished himself as an undefeatable warrior. Among his other exploits, he captured twenty-three towns in Trojan territory, including the town of Lyrnessos, where he took the woman Briseis as a war-prize. Later on Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks, was forced by an oracle of Apollo to give up his own war-prize, the woman Chryseis, and took Briseis away from Achilles as compensation for his loss. This action sparked the central plot of the Iliad, for Achilles became enraged and refused to fight for the Greeks any further. The war went badly, and the Greeks offered handsome reparations to their greatest warrior; Achilles still refused to fight in person, but he agreed to allow his friend Patroclus to fight in his place, wearing his armor. The next day Patroclus was killed and stripped of the armor by the Trojan hero Hector, who mistook him for Achilles.

Achilles was overwhelmed with grief for his friend and rage at Hector. His mother obtained magnificent new armor for him from Hephaestus, and he returned to the fighting and killed Hector. He desecrated the body, dragging it behind his chariot before the walls of Troy, and refused to allow it to receive funeral rites. When Priam, the king of Troy and Hector's father, came secretly into the Greek camp to plead for the body, Achilles finally relented; in one of the most moving scenes of the Iliad, he received Priam graciously and allowed him to take the body away.

After the death of Hector, Achilles' days were numbered. He continued fighting heroically, killing many of the Trojans and their allies, including Memnon and the Amazon warrior Penthesilia. Finally Priam's son Paris (or Alexander), aided by Apollo, wounded Achilles in the heel with an arrow; Achilles died of the wound. After his death, it was decided to award Achilles' divinely-wrought armor to the bravest of the Greeks. Odysseus and Ajax competed for the prize, with each man making a speech explaining why he deserved the honor; Odysseus won, and Ajax then went mad and committed suicide.

During his lifetime, Achilles is also said to have had a number of romantic episodes. He reportedly fell in love with Penthesilia, the Amazon maiden whom he killed in battle, and it is claimed that he married Medea

[roidan]

Hector (Eric Bana)

Hector was the eldest son of Priam and Hecuba; he was the husband of Andromache and the father of Astyanax.

Hector was the mightiest warrior on the side of Troy during the Trojan War, and he led many of the attacks against the Greek troops. He and Ajax fought to a draw in single combat, and he killed Patroclus, the close friend and companion of Achilles. He was eventually killed by Achilles, who was eager to avenge Patroclus' death. Achilles then desecrated Hector's corpse by dragging it behind his chariot before the walls of Troy, and refused to give up the body for burial. Achilles only allowed the body to receive funeral rites after King Priam came to his tent to plead for its return in person.

[roidan]

Helen (Diane Kruger)

Helen (often called "Helen of Troy") was the daughter of Leda and Zeus, and was the sister of the Dioscuri and Clytemnestra.

Since Zeus visited Leda in the form of a swan, Helen was often presented as being born from an egg. She was reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. When Helen was still a child, she was abducted by Theseus. Since she was not yet old enough to be married, he sent her to Aphidnae and left her in the care of his mother, Aethra. The Dioscuri rescued her and returned her to her home in Lacedaemon, taking Aethra prisoner at the same time.

When Helen reached marriageable age, all the greatest men in Greece courted her. Her mother's husband, King Tyndareos of Lacedaemon, was concerned about the trouble that might be caused by the disappointed suitors. Acting on the advice of Odysseus, he got all the suitors to swear that they would support the marriage rights of the successful candidate. He then settled on Menelaus to be the husband of Helen. She lived happily with Menelaus for a number of years, and bore him a daughter, Hermione.

After a decade or so of married life, Helen was abducted by -- or ran off with -- Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy. Menelaus called on the other suitors to fulfill their oaths and help him get her back. As a result, the Greek leaders mustered the greatest army of the time, placed it under the command of Agamemnon, and set off to wage what became known as the Trojan War.

After the fall of Troy, Menelaus took Helen back to Lacedaemon, where they lived an apparently happy married life once more. After the end of their mortal existence, they continued to be together in Elysium.

There were a number of different accounts of Helen's relationship with Paris. In some, she was truly in love with him, although her sympathies were mostly with the Greeks who beseiged Troy. In others, she was a beautiful and wanton woman who brought disaster upon those around her. In still other accounts, she never went to Troy at all: Hermes, acting on Zeus's orders, spirited her away to Egypt and fashioned a phantom out of clouds to accompany Paris; the real Helen was reunited with Menelaus after the Trojan War.

[roidan]

Paris (Orlando Bloom)

Paris was the youngest son of Priam and Hecuba. When he was born, it was foretold that he would be the cause of the downfall of Troy, as told in a dream of Hecuba. He was sent out of Troy in hopes that the message would be false. He went to Mount Ida in order to be a shepherd.

Eris, the goddess of strife, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. She came anyway, and she threw a golden apple into the middle of the wedding. Inscribed on the apple was a message. It read "To the fairest." Immediately, the apple was claimed by Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They all asked Zeus to decide on who should receive the apple. Zeus knew how much trouble he would be in if he decided on one, because the other two would have grave revenge. So Zeus descended to Mount Ida where Paris was farming and asked him to be the Judge.

Paris, being a mortal, could not decide. However, each of the three goddesses decided to make it easier for him. They would each offer him gifts, and he would get the gifts form the goddess he chose.

Hera offered Paris power. She offered to give him all of Asia, and great power. He thought this offer was great, but he decided to hear the other offers first before deciding.

Athena offered him great wisdom, and great luck in battle. He would be the best strategist in the world. He loved this idea, but he waited to hear Aphrodite's offer.

Aphrodite offered him two things. The first was his body, and the second was the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Since Paris's first love was women, he decided to pick Aphrodite's offer. Hera and Athena vowed vengeance.

Paris soon went home to Troy after that, and with Aphrodite's help, he managed to send a fleet of ships, break into Menelaus's palace in Greece and kidnap Helen. He also took a lot of treasure with him.

As Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world, all of her suitors were the most powerful people in Greece. In order for peace to be kept when Helen chose a suitor, all other suitors must vow to keep Helen as the wife of whom she chose. So when Helen chose Menelaus, all of the other suitors had to agree that if anyone tried to kidnap her, they would try to get her back. So, when Paris kidnapped her, all of Greece declared war on the city of Troy.

These actions of Paris and Aphrodite started the Trojan war. Paris fights, but he is mostly out of legend until Hector is killed by Achilles. While Achilles and his allies bring Hector's body back into Troy for a funeral, Paris take a bow and arrows and shoots it at Achilles. Apollo guides his arrow so that it hits Achilles's foot, in the famous Achilles tendon. Achilles dies. Paris is soon killed afterwards in the war.

[roidan]

Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson)

Menelaus was the son of Atreus and the brother of Agamemnon. He was married to Helen, and became the ruler of Helen's homeland, Lacedaemon; the couple had a daughter, Hermione. Helen's abduction by Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, was the cause of the Trojan War.

Menelaus fought bravely at Troy, although he did not occupy as important a position as his brother Agamemnon, who was the commander-in-chief of the Greek forces. At one point he agreed to settle the conflict by single combat with Paris, but Aphrodite interfered to prevent the duel from being decisive, and Athene prompted a resumption of hostilities.

During his return from Troy, Menelaus' ships were becalmed on the island of Pharos, near Egypt. In order to discover what he should do to obtain fair winds for the journey, Menelaus had to consult Proteus, the old man of the sea. He waited until Proteus had gone to sleep among his herd of seals and then seized him tightly. Proteus changed into many shapes in an attempt to escape, but Menelaus perservered, refusing to let go. Finally Proteus, unable to get free, agreed to answer Menelaus' questions truthfully. He described the sacrifices necessary to appease the gods and gain safe passage across the sea, as well as revealing that the gods would transport Menelaus to Elysium at the end of his mortal life.

Menelaus eventually returned safely to Lacedaemon, where he and Helen apparently settled back into happily married life.

[roidan]

Agamemnon (Brian Cox)

Agamemnon was the son of Atreus and the brother of Menelaus. He was the king of either Mycenae (in Homer) or of Argos (in some later accounts), and was the leader of the Greek forces during the Trojan War. He married Clytemnestra and had several children by her, including Orestes, Electra, and Iphigenia.

When the Greeks sailed for Troy, their fleet was trapped by unfavorable winds at Aulis. The seer Calchas revealed that their misfortune was due to Agamemnon, who had boasted that he equalled Artemis in hunting; the winds would only change if Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia was sacrificed. Agamemnon reluctantly agreed to the sacrifice, but Artemis herself whisked Iphigenia away from the altar and substituted a deer in her place.

During the seige of Troy, Agamemnon offended the greatest of the Greek warriors, Achilles, when he took the girl Briseis from him. Achilles' anger with Agamemnon furnished the mainspring of the plot in the Iliad. After the sack of Troy, Agamemnon acquired Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam, as his concubine, and took her home with him to Greece.

Agamemnon had an unhappy homecoming. He was either blown off course and landed in the country of Aegisthos, or he came home to his own land to find Aegisthus waiting for him. In either case, Aegisthus had become the lover of Clytemnestra, and the two together murdered Agamemnon and Cassandra shortly after their arrival. Aegisthus and Clytemnestra then ruled Agamemnon's kingdom, but were eventually killed by Agamemnon's son, Orestes (or by Orestes and Electra in some accounts). The homecoming of Agamemnon and its aftermath were favorite subjects for Greek tragedy.

[roidan]

King Priam of Troy father of Hector and Paris

Priam was the son of Laomedon and was the king of Troy. He became king after Laomedon and all of Priam's brothers were killed by Heracles in the first sack of Troy. Priam himself was the father, by his wife Hecuba and other women, of fifty sons and many daughters, including Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. He unsuccessfully defended his city during the Trojan War, at the end of which Troy was sacked a second time and was finally destroyed.

During the Trojan War, Priam's son Hector was killed by the Greek hero Achilles. In one of the most moving scenes of the Iliad, Priam courageously entered the Greek camp by night and pleaded with Achilles to return Hector's body for burial. Priam himself was finally killed by Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, upon an altar of Zeus in the center

[roidan]

Enjoy the movie...it's going to be about 2 hours and 40 minutes...

[roidan]

The Trojan Horse

When the Greeks had lain siege to Troy for ten years, without results, they pretended to retreat. They left behind a huge wooden horse, in which a number of Greek heroes, among whom Odysseus, had hidden themselves. The spy Sinon convinced the Trojans, despite the warnings of Laocoon, to move the horse inside the city as a war trophy. In the following night, the Greeks left the wooden horse and attacked the unsuspecting and celebrating Trojans, and finally conquered Troy.

[jc85]

Cool!!!

Always fascinated by Greek stories.

Keep them coming.

[roidan]

Odysseus

Odysseus (called Ulysses in Latin) was the son of Laertes and was the ruler of the island kingdom of Ithaca. He was one of the most prominent Greek leaders in the Trojan War, and was the hero of Homer's Odyssey. He was known for his cleverness and cunning, and for his eloquence as a speaker.

Odysseus was one of the original suitors of Helen of Troy. When Menelaus succeeded in winning Helen's hand in marriage, it was Odysseus who advised him to get the other suitors to swear to defend his marriage rights. However, when Menelaus called on the suitors to help him bring Helen back from Troy, Odysseus was reluctant to make good on his oath. He pretended to have gone mad, plowing his fields and sowing salt instead of grain. Palamedes placed Odysseus' infant son in front of the plow, and Odysseus revealed his sanity when he turned aside to avoid injuring the child.

However reluctant he may have been to join the expedition, Odysseus fought heroically in the Trojan War, refusing to leave the field when the Greek troops were being routed by the Trojans, and leading a daring nocturnal raid in company with Diomedes. He was also the originator of the Trojan horse, the strategem by which the Greeks were finally able to take the city of Troy itself. After the death of Achilles, he and Ajax competed for Achilles' magnificent armor; when Odysseus' eloquence caused the Greeks to award the prize to him, Ajax went mad and killed himself.

Odysseus' return from Troy, chronicled in the Odyssey, took ten years and was beset by perils and misfortune. He freed his men from the pleasure-giving drugs of the Lotus-Eaters, rescued them from the cannibalism of the Cyclopes and the enchantments of Circe. He braved the terrors of the underworld with them, and while in the land of the dead Hades allowed Thiresias, Odysseus' mother, Ajax and others to give him adivice on his next journey. They gave him important advice about the cattle of the sun (which Apollo herds), Scylla and Charybdis and the Sirens. From there on the travels were harder for Odysseus, but they would have been much worse of it wasn't for the help of the dead.

With this newly acquired knowledge, he steered them past the perils of the Sirens and of Scylla and Charybdis. He could not save them from their final folly, however, when they violated divine commandments by slaughtering and eating the cattle of the sun-god. As a result of this rash act, Odysseus' ship was destroyed by a thunderbolt, and only Odysseus himself survived. He came ashore on the island of the nymph Calypso, who made him her lover and refused to let him leave for seven years. When Zeus finally intervened, Odysseus sailed away on a small boat, only to be shipwrecked by another storm. He swam ashore on the island of the Phaeacians, where he was magnificently entertained and then, at long last, escorted home to Ithaca.

There were problems in Ithaca as well, however. During Odysseus' twenty-year absence, his wife, Penelope, had remained faithful to him, but she was under enormous pressure to remarry. A whole host of suitors were occupying her palace, drinking and eating and behaving insolently to Penelope and her son, Telemachus. Odysseus arrived at the palace, disguised as a ragged beggar, and observed their behavior and his wife's fidelity. With the help of Telemachus and Laertes, he slaughtered the suitors and cleansed the palace. He then had to fight one final battle, against the outraged relatives of the men he had slain; Athena intervened to settle this battle, however, and peace was restored.

[Achilles Tang]

Roidan,

Are you by any chance the Public Relations agency for Troy the movie?

Good job! hehehehehe!

[flubberina13]

How about organising a reefers' outing to catch the movie?

[bwilly]

plan to get the dvd..

add to my collection..

hehe..

[ryz]

VERY VERY NICE Movie!!! Just watched it today... in the ranks of LOTR if you ask me...

[bum]

got tix for tomolo liao...

think think make a movie of Homer's Odyssey?

they can call it Troy 2

[roidan]

boss: hehe..no lah..in no way related to the movie in a commercial sense...

anyway, some difference in the movie compared to the articles above....adapted for screenplay as they always call it

Menelaus and Agamemnon both died in the movie, Menelaus died at the hands of Hector when he was about to kill Paris outside the city gates, Paris crawled to Hector and as Menelaus about the kill Paris, Hector drove a sword into Menelaus...

Agamemnon was killed at the end of the movie by the woman Achilles feel in love with on the shores of Troy.

With Menelaus death in the movie, Helen did not return to Sparta, instead she fled by a secret passage to safety. Paris told her to leave first and then went back to shoot Achilles in the heel (hence Achilles Heel) before fleeing to safety as well.

In the mythology, Paris supposed to die as well...

And in the movie, did not show the duration of 10 year war before the appearance of the Trojan Horse...

And I think Hector is a great man....respect him

[KingFish]

Think we talked about this some time ago, all hoping to catch on the LOTR fever while its hot. The story is only the tip of the iceberg. Anyone who is interested can try Iliad by Homer*, but Good Luck . (*not a Simpson)

Some of you will be glad to know that at least 2 movies are being filmed right now based on Alexander the Great. Yes, they are bringing back some real classics.

When o' when shalt they start on the Battle of Thermopylae?

[flubberina13]

I eagerly await in anticipation...

Till then...it is to Helen of Troy...the face that lauched a thousand ships...

[Achilles Tang]

Are you sure she has the correct face or not? It could sink a thousand ships!

[flubberina13]

Can't be helped lah...I forgot to go for the audition lor...

AT :

Flubby :

[JustinK]

Very very nice show!! caught it yesterday night, definite must catch... its something of a mix between LOTR scenes and gladiator, and you gotta watch Brad Pitt as Achilles, he's damn COOL, one man killing machine!! 2 and a half hours somemore, worth every cent you pay!

[bum]

just came back from watching TROY...

action wise...OK but

gotta say i'm a little disappointed with the movie adaptation.

IMO, they made too many changes from the original....

think after the LOTR trilogy, i'm pampered liao.

(even that was only threading the line)

didn't Paris look like a Legolas-wannabe at the end?

at least they still let him kill Achilles.

i'm a little rusty, but

other than Achilles and Hector, everybody else died differently, right?

what else can you expect from abridged movie versions.

[Creetin]

just watched it.. good show but i feel its not authentic enuff. too mani americano lines and Pitt being e star of e show was very guilty of it.... not greeky enuff.....

its along e lines of gladiator but gladiator's plot was kinda more touching and powerful compared to Troy... fight scenes were great though. best part of troy must be e scenery... very good locations used! as well as the huge armies of soldier actors involved...

[flubberina13]

Are you sure she has the correct face or not? It could sink a thousand ships!

Yup...really a disappointment...

No evidence of strength in character and the face...

A face with more defined looks will be better...