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how accurate is the movie Helen of Troy?



The drama version of Helen of Troy by director John Kent Harrison was different from the Iliad of Homer. It focused more on the character of Helen and it also focused more on the love triangle between Paris and Menelaus. This version was more of a love story than of an action film.

The Iliad by Homer focused more on the war and on the role of the gods. The original story started with the party of the gods and goddesses and Eris was not invited and so she revenged by making a golden apple for the “fairest” and so every goddess was competing for it until Paris chose Aphrodite’s offer that the fairest woman in the world would fall in love with him. He gave Aphrodite the golden apple. That simple decision of Paris led to the destruction of Troy when Helen, the fairest woman in the world, eloped with him to Troy. Even though it was tough for the king to face what Paris did to their country, he and the whole of Troy still welcomed Helen and so she became Helen of Troy. The Iliad also focused on the role of the gods in the story. They were the ones who controlled the war between Greece and Troy, and were also the ones who added spice to the story of the Trojan War.

Personally speaking, I was quite impressed with the way the actors in the movie carried out their roles. Their personality in the movie, however, was a bit different from the real version of the story. Helen [Sienna Guillory in real life] was very childish in the movie compared to the version of Homer. She was also a bit seductive in the film. Matthew Marsden was suitable for his role as Paris in the film. In almost all of the accounts about Troy, Paris was made to be charming but sort of a coward. In the movie, Paris was not only charming but courageous as well which was contradictory to the Paris in the Iliad. James Callis was also very good in portraying the character of king Menelaus in the film, but again his behavior was very different from Homer’s description. He was more generous in the film. I was really impressed with the way Rufus Sewell portrayed Agamemnon. He was very effective in being an antagonist. His facial expressions were excellent and convincing.

In the technical aspect of the movie, the overall rating for me would be above average. The technical designer made different effects to make the story more dramatic. One example of these would be the kind of music they played. They played a specific music during Helen and Paris’ scenes which added to the emotions of the scenes. The scene wherein Agamemnon was about to kill his daughter was also dramatic because the laughter of the child was heard by the viewers. I was also impressed with the “freeze the time” technique wherein it focused only on the 2 characters [Helen and Menelaus] staring at each other. The fighting scene of Paris and Hector during the first part of the movie was also amazing. The technical designer used a system wherein the actions of the persons were slowed down and it had sort of a shadow to put emphasis on the fighting movements. Lastly, I was not quite impressed with the lighting of the movie. There were a lot of scenes where the lighting was too dark. I was also not amazed with the lighting in the scene where the three goddesses appeared. The flow of light was very unrealistic and it looked too artificial.

There were a lot of differences between the original text and this version of Troy. The script, for example, was simpler in the movie than in the version of Homer. The plot of the movie, however, was more complex compared to that of Homer. In Homer’s version, he included the gods which explained certain results in the story while in this version, the gods where not included leaving some scenes vague for the viewers because they do not know why a specific action happened that way. One example would be when Paris struck Achilles in the ankle. The viewers had no idea that Apollo was the one who controlled the direction of the arrow. The plot of Homer’s account was similar to the plot of the movie. Both started with Paris being a shepherd then he met Helen and they eloped straight to Troy which started the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. The Greeks then thought of building a horse to be able to enter the city of Troy and they were successful in destroying the city.

The version of Homer was different from this version mainly because of the involvements of the gods. The film had some scenes that were not mentioned in the original text. One of these was the competition where Paris and Hector fought and Paris found out that he belongs to the royal family. Another would be the surrendering of Helen to Agamemnon which did not happened in the original story. Some characters were also different from the movie. Cassandra in the movie was weirder than in the original text. Paris was too daring in the movie while in the text he was more of a coward. Menelaus was friendly and more approachable in the movie than in the real account. Helen in the movie was too childish and too ‘bold’ while in the original text her character was more attractive and more dignified. Agamemnon in the movie was more effective because of his facial expressions and his delivery of lines. The setting in both accounts was the same. The theme of war was also the same for both versions. Some of the conflicts were different from the original text. An example would be when Achilles killed Hector. In the original text, Achilles killed Hector to revenge for Patroclus while in the movie, he killed Hector to have honor. The resolution was also the same for both accounts but the way it was presented in the movie was better than the original story. As a whole, I really enjoyed watching the film. It was very intriguing and very interesting. It is good enough to rent and to watch at home.

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Excellent post, well stated on all counts. I too thoroughly enjoyed the miniseries, but as you say, parts of it were much different than in the Iliad. Paris was portrayed to be as good or better a warrior as Hector, which is laughable to anyone who read the Iliad. And Achilles is portrayed as Agamemnon's terminator rather than as the complicated man the Iliad showed him to be. And the miniseries really focused on the romance of Helen and Paris, though in the Iliad, after the duel with Menelaus, it was really pretty much over. Also, we are shown events but not told that the gods caused them, as you say. For example, in the duel, Paris was choking when Menelaus dragged him by his helmet, but in the Iliad, the reason the strap broke was because Aphrodite broke it to save Paris.

But the miniseries did show some realistic scenes, such as the heavy casualties the Greeks must have suffered from Troy's archers when they first landed. That of course is not in the Iliad, but seems highly realistic in that the Trojans initually controlled the high ground overlooking the beach, a perfect spot for archers to fire arrows down on the invaders.

just me,

Ishiagara

As Hector said, honor your gods, love your women, defend your country.

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I agree with both posts. Also, there was nothing in the Illiad to suggest that Agamemnon lusted after Helen, and especially not their end encounter.

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Very true, Book. And even if Agamemnon did lust after her, according to the literature, she was generally considered the most beautiful woman in the known world, so Aggie would have been in good company. In fact, the literature tells us that all the eligible single kings of Greece were her suitors, although many were doubtless more interested in taking over Sparta through Helen than in Helen herself.

just me,

Ishiagara

As Hector said, honor your gods, love your women, defend your country.

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Remember the story of Helen comes from different sources written over different ages. Euripides "Helen" will have different details from the Helen that is mentioned in Aeschylus' Orestian Trilogy; there will be different details than found in other narrations. I found the story reasonably accurate in how it reflected the various legends.

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The OP is correct in that there were some differences this film had with the Greek mythology, but it was still a lot closer to the original story than any other film I have seen. At least the eventual fate of the main characters was consistent with Homer and other Greek writers.

Troy, from a year later, while it was splashy, bore only occasional fidelity to Homer with one of the main Trojan characters living, and two of the Greeks dying in the war, who according to the mythology, returned home alive. The 1956 film Helen of Troy, was also adherent only at times to the Greek story.

So not only was Sienna Guillory a genuine pleasure to look upon, (as was Diane Kruger!) this film was much more faithful to Homer's epic. This is easily my favorite film about the Trojan War.

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