Seen Troy? (2 Viewers)

[cayte]

You guys probly don't want to hear about anything to do with Homer just now, but it's worth seeing, if only to talk about all the inaccuracies afterwards and feel like your knowledge is worth something!! Pissed me off, but wasn't as bad as I expected.

 

[greeninsanity]

I was looking forward to it so much but then it was just so loosely 'inspired' by the Iliad that it really annoyed me...

 

[hatty]

ive never read the iliad
is it actually a book i can borrow or something?
ive seen it on the internet but i cant read such long things on a monitor

 

[cayte]

Lol, oh dear. You never studied ancient, huh hatty? Or at least not Greece, Persia, Troy, Minoa, etc... Homer wrote two epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey, basically recounting the goings on of the Trojan War and its aftermath. Very long, often painfully dull, but with some funny and sometimes violently graphic digressions. You should be able to borrow it from any uni library. (Just searched usyd's cataloue and we have hundreds of books of or relating to Iliad).

 

[*girl04*]

yeah we are going to see it with our ancient class for an excursion ... fun fun

 

[MissSavage29]

I went and saw troy on friday night - and absolutly loved it!!!
we studied the trojan war last year and i actually thought alot of it was historically correct -wasn't too bad... couple of little things but all in all... i think it was excelent.

 

[angelduck]

Come on! The acting was good - damn that Hector/Archilles fight was well coreographed, but wayyyyyyyyyyy inaccurate. For starters, that damn temple and the gods in it (all but that golden goid Appolo) were Egyptioan. Troy was supposed to be on a hill, and they used roman fighting tactics that werent invented for another thousand + years. Stupid Hollywood!
And dont get me started on that soundtrack!

 

[hatty]

what tactics were they meant 2 use?

 

[cayte]

I thought the acting, and indeed the whole production, was actually quite self-conscious for the most part. At moments it was sincere but I so often felt that I was watching actors, not people, a(n inaccurate) presentation of a legend, not a story or a film. And all the best women were ignored and people were dying who shouldn't have died and fighting duals with people who never existed and bah all sorts of things!! All the good stuff happens right where they ended the film. And the bloody war was SUPPOSED to last for TEN YEARS!! Oh, the things they do to a good story for a little bit of eye-candy. Not that the eye-candy wasn't enjoyable...

 

[Trigger189]

historically inaccurate? its mythology.

 

[randhi]

yeh it is mythology but why put such a big word for it, its a story. ever since i studied about the trojan war my view of the story has changed when i was little i use to believe it was real... and now i know its not. anyways i'm going to see it as a school excursion.

 

[cayte]

Which part exactly is mythology? Troy certainly existed, it was uncovered by Schliemann in the late 19th century, using Homer's description in the Iliad. Homer's writing was embellished, true, but who is to say that the Greco-Trojan wars didn't occur? The beauty of ancient history is that one cannot say "I know".

Regardless, to change significant details in a much-loved legend is frustrating. It's like when a book is adapted into film. The book's fans are often disappointed. So, fans of Homer's Iliad may well have cause for disappointment.

To get into a debate about historical accuracy requires a definition of history: is it simply the events, or does it have as much to do with their sources? I'm not starting that debate, it can go to another thread. This is just about history students' opinions of a film based on history.

 

[Trigger189]

I could not have imagined this film with the gods included.

 

[angelduck]

Actually Schiemann uncovered a city dating to pre-troy, not troy, he destoryed TRoy!!!! Stupid historian.....
Yeah, no, the movie itself was good - soundtrack suxed, but as to the legend thing, a legend is still history. It gives us insight into the gods and society of the time. Troy (the Iliad) is all about gods playing against each other and this wasnt apparent in the film at all. Also, many main characters (Cassandra?????) were forgotten, and some had bigger parts than they should have(Archillies, his lover/prietess was NOT that big a deal) Ajax died on his own sword, NOT HECTORS!!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid Hollywood!
In all seriousness, it wouldnt have been that hard, but they were only after money, and thats why it was like that - i mean, Priam's treasure was on servants!!!! WHAT THE?????? And the famous golden door was wood, not gold - hello! if it was wood they would have burened it! AND 15 DAYS FOR A BATTLE?????????? I repeat STUPID HOLLYWOOD
If you dont agree with me, GOOD! my extension topic is Movies and their crappy portrayals of history! So, at least this movie gave me another paragraph!

 

[Trigger189]

wow, thats an interesting topic, sounds good

 

[cayte]

Originally posted by angelduck
Actually Schiemann uncovered a city dating to pre-troy, not troy, he destoryed TRoy!!!! Stupid historian.....

Well, yeah, but he did uncover it. From memory he actually managed to destroy six other ancient cities before getting to Troy. That's what you've got to accept about archaeology though, it basically destroys history in an attempt to preserve and recreate it.

 

[cayte]

btw, that does sound like a very interesting topic. Not as stilted as most, good luck to you.

 

[angelduck]

Thankyou! Yeah, it means i get to see movies as homework (Always good) and it is alot more interesting than most peoples topics, like "which was the first war or the second world war" or "origins of the spanish civil war" - damn modern people. And i couldnt do an ancient one, coz all the ones im interested are in the syllabus, oh well. Yeah, he did destroy stuff (i think i already said that) but archaeology doesnt always destory things!

 

[cayte]

Lol, well, if you're uncovering a site (as I know you're aware) you inevitably destroy everything above where you've worked. Of course things are preserved, but other things will have been lost in the process. Unless you're the bog man and the only thing to destroy around you is mud.
I started History Extention, but it was taught by the modern teacher and there were only two ancient students in the class and historiography was NOT my thing and it was on late Monday evening and I'd finished at 11am that day and it just wasn't a happy relationship, so we had to break it off. It was better for both of us. What was the point again... Oh yeah, I feel your pain in having the Modern students overlord the Ext course!

 

[Enlightened_One]

Originally posted by hatty
what tactics were they meant 2 use?

Spartan tactics. Helen was from Sparta, and Spartans were the greatest fighting force of the time. They used the phalanx. They also sent out the hoplites to die first, as spear fodder.

And the war might not be a mythology, because they found Troy, but bloody Schliemann buggered up all his glory and ruined the greatest archaelogical find of the time.