Week 8 TROY Flashcards
1
Q
How Troy was told
A
- known from the homeric poem called the Illiad
- composed in its final form and written down in the middle to late 8th century BC
- part of a larger cycle told orally
- put in 5th century bc Athenian playwright dramas (Aeschylus, sophocles, euridipes
- and in the aeneid by Virgil (1st century bc poet)
2
Q
The epic cycle
A
- birth of Helen (daughter of Zeus and leda, a mortal)
- wedding of peleus and thetis (parents of Achilles)
- judgement of Paris (fairest goddess Athena, hera, aphrodite)
- Helen marries menelaus, all must support him but Paris steals her thanks to aphrodite
- greeks go to battle and Trojan war between greeks and trojans for 10 yrs
- Hector kills patroclus, Achilles kills Hector, Paris kills Achilles
- sack of Troy (priam and astyanax killed, Trojan women enslaved
- greeks return home (agamemnon killed by wife, menelaus survives and gets Helen back)
- Trojan prince aeneas escapes and founds the city of Rome
3
Q
Homer’s poem the Illiad
A
- tells the story of Achilles and agemnenon and its tragic consequences, results in death of Hector
- story mentioned in flashbacks but not during action
- themes: shame, honor (time), appropriate attributes for a leader, fame
- ends with the funeral of Hector, best of leaders because he was concerned for his family and sacrificed himself
4
Q
Troy depicted in art
A
- mykonos pithos of 675 bc showing the destruction of Troy
- Athenian sculptures showing Cassandra being raped at athenas alter, son of Achilles killing king priam
- holds many different perspectives (euridipes’ Trojan women, and andromache, hecuba, helen)
5
Q
Prince aeneas
A
- Prince aeneas escapes Troy with his father and founds the Roman race
- supports Julius caesar’s claim to be descended from Venus
- story told by Virgil’s aeneid written for roman emperor Augustus
6
Q
When/where was Troy set in (film in 2004)
A
- bronze age 1200 bc around hittusa and the hittite empire (big powers, mycenae, hittites, Assyrians, babylonians)
- diplomacy, alliance and trade but compete for territory
7
Q
Schliemann
A
- man who set out to find Troy
- wanted to prove that Troy existed from the homeric epics, and he uncovered a flourishing city covered by layers of centuries of building, built over one another, early bronze age to roman period) 9 layers!!
- found a hoard of gold “treasure of king of troy priam”, he lied basically, scattered gold and put together (uncontemporary with the mycenaeans)
- destroyed by wars and earthquakes, not a large scale war like the Trojan war
8
Q
Troy: the film (2004)
A
- set in 1196 BC, stated explicitly in the beginning
- used many archeological remains as props and some are from the correct time period (armor, shield, chariots)
- even rendition of the lions fate from mycenae
- however also have egyptian portrayal on walls, buildings
- coinage mention but it wasn’t invented till 6th century bc
9
Q
Wrongs of troy: the film
A
- compressed 10 years in a few weeks
- character of briseis includes lots of different characters
- including events not mentioned in Homer in a chronological and linear manner
- no gods have direct intervention (trojans trust gods too much and make bad war decisions)
- rationalization of the decisions make the story more contemporary and relevant
- People act out of choice, not victims of fate
10
Q
Achilles in Troy (2004)
A
- thetis is seen in the film, not as a goddess but she sees the future
- in a scene, Achilles is given his own choice between a happy life of obscurity of a short, glorious life dying at Troy
- obsession with fame is very homeric
11
Q
Fates of characters (agamemnon and menelaus)
A
- two brothers, menelaus and agamemnon (greeks), and Hector and Paris (trojans)
- in film: menelaus is killed by Hector after Paris fails in fuel (story: menelaus survives). menelaus is an uncaring, abusive husband who cares for himself but wanted peace with trojans. His death was made into a pivotal moment in the story
- in film: agamemnon is killed by briseis during sack of Troy but in story he survives but is killed by his wife. He’s a power hungry megalomaniac, willing to control Troy and a bully! Burn troy! Dies while dishonored thr gods and attempting to enslaved briseis
- VILLAIN DIES SHAMEFULLY
12
Q
Fates of characters (Hector and paris)
A
- in film: Paris survives and rescues Helen and others from destruction of Troy
- in story: Paris dies during the Trojan war
- a romantic and a hero, noble intentions and survives the war. He is a main character and romantic lead (loved by helen) and able to kill Achilles or villain for causing ruin, war, innocent and suffering
- in film: Hector follows the story and dies defending the city to Achilles
- noble man, a good character throughout
13
Q
Achilles as the hero
A
- begins as hedonistic fame-hungry killing machine with fans and a divine mother
- traditional hero, but not likeable
- gradually becomes noble, avenged his friends death, sulks, emo, disrespects enemy’s body
- dies saving the girl
- dies in achilles heel
14
Q
Characteristics of Troy as an epic
A
- narrative based around a clear hero and villain
- epic in scale, visuals, music
- epic film sets and music
- reference to structures and visuals of historical epics, Spartacus with the rolling flaming bales of hay
- commentary on how to be a good hero/leader and legends have a real core, it is a man and the consequences of his actions which creates history
15
Q
Was Troy (2004) successful?
A
- financial box office success
- not very critically reviewed or awarded !historidally inaccurate, changing homeric story, unclear sympathetic hero, wooden characters, illiad is very difficult to be successfully made into film
