Mythology: Part Two

As a continuation of my last post, it is important to realise that the mythological content within Homer's The Iliad does not end with Thetis' prophecy of Achilles or the prologue of Helen and Paris' love. It goes much that. In fact, gods, mythology, and Greek religion is seen right throughout the entire epic poem (and the lack thereof can be observed right throughout the film). In particular, consider a few stories and why they were not included in the film:

While The Iliad details only the last few months of the Trojan War, it gives the war its full credit of ten years through the quote “Already have nine years of great Zeus gone by” (Homer, Iliad; 2.134) – unlike the film, which only accredits it seventeen days. At the beginning of that decade, Troy began the huge undertaking of building its wall. For this, they enlisted the help of the Poseidon, sea god, brother of Zeus. However, after the wall had been completed, Poseidon demanded compensation for his efforts, and the Trojans refused. In his fury, Poseidon not only left Troy without divine protection, but actually became its enemy.

However, Poseidon, it seems, was fickle. In another instance, he turned against the Greeks because they would not offer him a sacrifice after he had built them a wall, which was intended to defend the Greek ships. This is evidenced by this quote from The Iliad: “Seest thou not that now again the long-haired Achaeans have builded them a wall to defend their ships, and about it have drawn a trench, but gave not glorious hecatombs to the gods?” (Poseidon to Zeus, Homer, Iliad, 7.448); and Zeus' response: “Go to now, when once the long-haired Achaeans have gone with their ships to their dear native land, then do thou burst apart the wall and sweep it all into the sea, and cover the great beach again with sand, that so the great wall of the Achaeans may be brought to naught of thee.” (Zeus to Poseidon, Homer, Iliad, 7.459). Ultimately, however, Poseidon favoured the Greeks, rather than the Trojans.

When, years later (according to the poem), Troy is defeated, sacked and burned to the ground, there is a huge element of irony. Poseidon was not only associated with the sea (and earthquakes), but also with horses – and of course, the means by which the Greeks managed to penetrate the city was by hiding themselves within a giant horse that the Trojans themselves dragged in.

In The Iliad, the Greeks assemble at Aulis, nine years into the war, getting ready to sail for Troy. However, they are unable to sail because of onshore winds, which had arisen due to the goddess of the Hunt, Artemis, taking extreme offence when Agamemnon, brother of Menelaos, had killed a deer that was sacred to her. As a repayment, Agamemnon is forced to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigeneia, to Artemis, which he does reluctantly, but ultimately willingly. The winds change and the Greeks set sail.

As in the previous post, one reason why these were not included in Wolfgang Petersen's Troy regards pacing. The film focusses of the action of the war in its height (the last few months in The Iliad), and, therefore, has no time to explore such fine details that the two stories above express. While it would have been a clever display of storytelling to include the ironic element of Troy's destruction (by having the first story in the film), the film's plot simply leaves no space for this. And if it were to be included, it would feel tacked-on and unnecessary.

Another reason is this: these myths are morally unacceptable in today's Western society. Of course, Paris' action of whisking Helen away with him to Troy is naïvely idealistic (evidenced by his undeniably quixotical words from the film: “Run away with me.”) and, to some extent, morally wrong, considering that Helen was married – but this is accepted in light of its dreamy, romantic aura. The two myths aforementioned, however, are entirely inappropriate.

The first details divine fury and retaliation, which is not a popular flavour amongst theists. Most theists in today's society take the stance that divine beings benevolent; and, thus, people with such beliefs may have been offended with a divine being acting with such reckless hate. The second is even worse: murder is completely deprecated nowadays, and since we are not accustomed to the ideas of sacrificial rituals, the death of Iphigeneia seems needless and brutal. How could a man kill his own daughter?

Once more, much of Greek mythology does not sit well with us.

That's why so much was omitted.