Film Analysis Troy (2004) | Historical Accuracy of Troy

Film Analysis Troy (2004) | Historical Accuracy of Troy As generations continue to revolutionize, various new prospects lie ahead for the many inhabitants of earth, no matter what corner they live in. At a time when technology is changing so rapidly, the histories, traditions and cultures of the past are sometimes forgotten, if not lost altogether. To counter this, Hollywood directors and producers alike create fantastical films that bring to life the many stories and legends that are carried down through generations, but have a chance of being lost forever. One of the stories that was written down rather than told was Homers epic poem, the Illiad which was basically the legend of the Trojan War. The story which is thought to be based on history was turned into a film in 2004 by director Wolfgang Petersen. The films plot is based on the King of Mycenae, Agamemnon, who has forced the kingdoms of Greece into a loose alliance after decades of war. Menelaus, the King of Sparta and Agamemnons brother, strives to make peace with Troy, who is th e most powerful rival to the emerging nation but when the Trojan prince, Paris, steals away Menelauss wife, Helen, Agamemnon strives to get her back for his brother and in the meantime, using the event as an opportunity to fight Troy and bring it down, so that Sparta could be the strongest Greek nation. Although an ingenious plot, based on the Greek epic poem, many things can be questioned, as it is unknown if the epic poem was even based on history itself. A film that is historically inaccurate gives no benefit to its viewers as the story can be so twisted and changed that it is no longer, a tale of history, tradition or culture. When examined meticulously, it is clearly evident however, that the film Troy, is historically accurate as it is based on true facts from the ancient Greek life. The military, portrayed through fighting formations, weapons, and naval warfare, the culture of the Greeks portrayed through burial customs, belief in gods and architecture as well as class struct ure, portrayed through the roles of women, the respect to the king, and the respect to the Myrmidons, Achilles fighting group, are all pieces of evidence that lead to the verdict that the film Troy is historically accurate. The military and its different parts that it is made up of are essential to any nation, particularly one which is emerging to be the most powerful. The military not only protects the nation from invaders but also helps in the conquering of new territories to expand the nation so that it can grow. Expansion and conquering enemies all bring up a nations status, which is why the Greeks fought with each other to gain power and respect from others. Part of the militaries practices which were essential to its existence were fighting formations. The fighting formations of the Greeks were tightly formed and organized so that the enemy could not penetrate. The battle line a carefully built wall, the warriors standing with shield touching shield in a solid line. This is likely to have been the position before a battle, with armies drawn up in opposing lines and meeting in this simple formation. The battle probably broke up into a mà ªlà ©e, only after one side had given way, followed by indi vidual duels and single combat.  [1]  It is evident that the fighting formations were strongly structured so that the army appeared not only more powerful and mighty, but more organized and therefore more likely to intimidate the enemy. Once the formations were broken, the warriors fought individually, trying to kill as many of the opponents as possible. This sort of fighting in formation was also portrayed in the film Troy where Hectors army gathered outside of the Trojan walls standing side by side, with their large rectangular shields touching each other for protection. Once battle was initiated however, the men separated and fought individually. This event in the movie was clearly an accurate portrayal of fighting formations in Greece during 1250 B.C.E and thus starts to prove that the film Troy is historically accurate. Another division of the military, one of the most important in fact, is the weapons. Without weapons, battle would be very hard to win because warriors would need to be clever and exceptionally strong so that they could overtake their enemy with their bare hands. Luckily, the Greeks had very developed weapons, which proved to be useful against opponents. Weapons like spears and swords were used extensively in the Greek military, although spears were the first weapon of choice. Swords always seem to have taken second place after spears.  [2]  This is also portrayed in the movie Troy as when Hector faces Achilles in one on one combat, they use their spears first and then their swords. Spears in the film were constructed in such a manner that they looked like they were supposed to. Throwing spears (javelins) were usual, but some were obviously thrusting spears, such as Hectors, which was supposed to be 11 cubits long. Spear shafts were made of ash wood.  [3]  Although it is impo ssible to tell the exact length of the thrusting spears used in the film, they were pretty long, visually looking to be about 5 metres, which is approximately the length of 11 cubits. The rod of the spears were all made out of wood, although again, it is impossible to tell whether or not it was particularly out of ash wood, however it was definitely made out of wood. Therefore it is obvious that the film Troy sticks to history because of the materials and props they used on set to film the production, the same materials and objects which were used over three thousand years ago. The last division in the military which was of high importance to the Greeks, was naval or the sea category. Without naval ships, armies could not have gotten around and travelled to other areas to expand their territories or challenge their enemy as a consequence for a wrongdoing. The Greeks used many different types of warships, although the ones that were most common during the Trojan War and which were described in Homers epic poem Illiad were Pentekonters. Two types of ships are mentioned by Homer: light, fast ships powered by 20 oars, and heavier warships powered by 50 oars. These 50-oared galleys had one level only. They appear to have been built mainly from pine wood, with oars of polished spruce. while the bow terminated in a nearly vertical prow with a metal sheathed ram at the waterline. Pentekonters had a mast with a square sail that was taken down before going into battle  [4]  In the movie Troy the ships used also had one level of oarsmen and about 50 men rowing wit h oars. The front of the ship had an almost vertical prow that was slightly curved to the shape of the ship that helped stop the ship when it reached the shores. The ships used in the film also had square shaped white masts that were lowered when the ship reached the shore. Evidently, the portrayal of the military in the film, whether naval or on land, was historically accurate because the things depicted were truthful to history and actual Greek objects and occurrences. The culture of any nation, whether emerging or already established plays an important role in the everyday lives of citizens. Culture is a development in inhabited area that shows how prosperous the place is, because the main focus is no longer on just mere survival, as there are things to do. Religion, architecture, art, beauty, sports are just some of the aspects of culture that show how rich a nation is, because the people can have an average income, but if they are culturally satisfied, they will be happier than those who have no culture. Culture played an important role in the lives of the Greeks and they had advanced burial customs, religion and architecture, which made their nation a better place to live. Burial customs are one aspect of culture that was sophisticated and there was always a belief in the afterlife in the Greek culture, no matter what religion. Inhumation was most common in Mycenaean times, but by c. 1200 BC cremation became the main method of burial and was un iversal  [5]  Evidently, by the time of the Trojan War, cremation was used most often and this is depicted in the film as well because everyone who dies in the film, whether it was Patroclus, Hector or any other warrior; they were all collected and burned. In cremation, bodies were burned on a pyre soldiers killed in warfare were only rarely buried on the battlefield. Very often they were cremated on the battle site and their ashes taken home.  [6]  It is obvious that soldiers were generally not buried at the site of the battle in which they fought, rather just cremated and the ashes were gathered and taken home. This was the case in the film Troy when many soldiers died; chariots collected the bodies and carried them just outside of the battle field where there was a huge fire where other soldiers would cremate the bodies. Again it is clearly portrayed that the film Troy was historically accurate because it followed the burial customs that the ancient Greeks practiced thems elves. Religion was another important aspect of the ancient Greeks life and they all worshipped some gods. To some Greeks, certain gods were unimportant, but others were considered almighty to them. To the Trojans, the God Apollo was of high importance. A god worshipped throughout the Greek world, and the embodiment of moral excellence He was the god of prophecy, healing, archery. He was also a god of light (sometimes being identified with the Sun and with the god Helios).  [7]  In the film Troy the main worship was to Apollo and this is portrayed through frequent reference to Apollo, when King Priam or his men were prophesising. Everything centered on Apollo, who Priam prayed to nightly and to whom he assumed the wooden Trojan horse by the Greeks was built. The precious temple of Troys patron god Apollo (complete with 5 foot high solid gold statue of Apollo) is located outside the city, down the beach.  [8]  This was the case in the film because the Trojans created a temple just ou tside the city and in front of it was a massive gold statue of Apollo. Clearly, the historical accuracy of the film Troy is yet again proved as it supports the facts from ancient Greek religion. Another form of culture is the art through mainly architecture that is apparent in any nation that is on the rise to being one of the best. Architecture shows how culturally rich a society is because again the main focus is no longer survival, but other things as well, which show how prosperous a nation may be. Troy had a massive wall that protected the city on the inside and that was their main form of architecture. The walls of fortifications are an average of 16.5 ft thick and are built of massive stones weighing up to 10 tons.  [9]  Evidently the fortifications at Troy were extremely large which is why no one could penetrate them until the Greeks created the Trojan horse. This is also portrayed in the movie Troy when the Greeks attack but cannot penetrate the walls until they sneak in through the horse. The walls used in the film are visibly made out of stone and very large, although it is impossible to tell the exact measurements of the fortification. Overall, the portrayal of culture in the film Troy is historically accurate because the burial customs, religion and architecture portrayed in the film is the same as that of the ancient Greek world. The class structure of the ancient Greek world was much different than ours today, although some things are similar to todays world. Historical accuracy in the class structure system is key to a successful depiction of the ancient Greek world in film. The respect given to women, to the king, and to Achilles elite warrior group, the Myrmidons, all are historically accurate because it is very similar to the respect given in the ancient Greek world. The respect given to women in the ancient Greek time period was small but there were enjoyable parts to it. Female characters of the upper class led a relatively independent life. Although women were technically of citizen status, they had no rights of citizenship. Women had no political rights and could take no part whatsoever in government.  [10]  Evidently women had small respect but those of the upper class were fairly independent, being allowed to do more than the poorer women, although none of them could participate in politics. Th is is also portrayed in the film Troy. The women of the palace who were princesses or so took no part in the politics of the palace where all the men assembled, led by the king and his princes to plan out things for Troy. Although women had no role in politics and government, they played an important role in religion. Within religion women did play an important role, such as a dominant role at funerals, weddings. There were many priestesses.  [11]  This is also portrayed within the film Troy as when Briseis, the cousin of Hector and Paris, decided to become Apollos servant she was commended and it was said that Apollo is going to have a wonderful servant. Although women had this advantage, they were considered weak and a reference to this is made in the movie when it is said that peace is for women and weak by Agamemnon. Evidently using that metaphor, women were considered fragile and therefore peace went straight along with women since peace did not show off nations might or po wer. Evidently, the film Troy is historically accurate because it correctly portrays the respect given to women in the ancient Greek class system. In the ancient Greek world, there was always a lot of respect given to the king of the nation, whether he deserved it or not. Kings were very respected officials and demanded that they were given honour even if they were wrong on something. In the film Troy the respect given to the king, particularly Agamemnon was very high although he did not do anything. Odysseus, comments on this to Achilles who gets angry over the fact that warriors are giving the king things that they stole, even though he did nothing at all to deserve the gifts. Odysseus says War is old men talking, and young men dying. Evidently it is portrayed that the king had much respect whether he deserved it or not, and in this case, it is evident that Agamemnon did not deserve the respect that he was being given. Nonetheless, the king continued to be showered with gifts, as warriors were honoured to be in his presence and to be given a promise by him. Achilles elite group of warriors, the Myrmidons, were also a group that was given a lot of respect and was allowed to be different because they were necessary to the winnings of many battles. Although the king, particularly Agamemnon disliked Achilles and his group very much because of their individuality, he used them because of their skill. For example, all Greek warships that sailed had white sails but the ship that was used by the Myrmidons, had a black sail and was a showcase of their individuality. The Myrmidons, led by Achilles were so skilled that when they went out on their own onto the beaches of Troy, instead of waiting for the other Greek ships behind them, Agamemnon complained but soon acknowledged that it was the groups choice to do what they want. Evidently Achilles group, the Myrmidons, had a lot of respect from others, even Agamemnon who let them do what they wanted to, because of the Greek need for them and their skill. Overall class structure and the respect that w as given in the film Troy was historically accurate because it truthfully portrayed women, the king and the Myrmidons. From the beginning of the film Troy directed by Wolfgang Petersen, right to the end, the film proves that it is historically accurate and thus keeps the legend of the Trojan War, written down by Homer through his epic poem the Illiad alive. When analyzing the military portrayed in the film through the fighting formations, weapons and naval warfare, it is evident that the producers stuck to history and made an accurate portrayal of the Greek military. Culture as well is an aspect that proves to be truthful to the ancient Greek world through the portrayal of burial customs, religion and architecture. Finally, class structure and respect is yet another part of the film that remains historically faithful through the portrayal of the respect given to women, the king and Achilles elite group of warriors, the Myrmidons. Overall, it is apparent how new periods of time can still maintain history and portray legends, traditions and cultures of the past accurately, so that the audience can bene fit from the film and the story of the ancient world will never be lost. What Causes Poverty And Inequality? What Causes Poverty And Inequality? Poverty vary across rural and the urban areas. Rural areas have a higher poverty rate than urban areas due to low-wage jobs and a higher rural unemployment. Poverty rises as the area becomes more rural. Poverty could become a very serious issue everywhere. Lack of basic needs can increase the poverty rate. Urban areas are not likely to be affected to poverty but not all places. What is Poverty? For some people poverty could mean being poor or having no money. But to me personally poverty could mean so much more.Its when people lack the basic necessities for survival. For instance they may have been starving, lack of clean water, proper housing, isolated from family and friends, experiencing racism and discrimination, having problem in getting your basic needs, sufficient clothing or medicines and be struggling to stay alive. Poverty can mean different for each individual. It could mean What causes Poverty and Inequality? Some people may think that countries such as MEDCS (more economically developed countries) no one can be poor or if they are, its just due to some failings and problems. However, that is not the case. In reality it is more a measure of inequality. For example, a person who is relatively poor in a rich country usually suffers less material deprivation than someone who is living in a country with low overall standards. In these countries poverty could be an extreme major problem you are more likely to lack basic needs and survival can be more of a struggle, but because the general living standards are lower in these countries, there may be less relative poverty this will be less difference between the poor and the living standards of everybody else. How can poverty affect inequality? Poverty hits children hardest, like every lack of goods and services hurts every other human being. Poverty can damage childrens environment in every way whether it is physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. For example, women who must walk long distances to fetch household water may not be able to fully attend to their children; this may affect their health and development. And children themselves who walk long distances to fetch water for their family have less time to attend school. This problem particularly affects girls. Poverty can lead to malnutrition, which in turn is contributing factor in half of the under -five deaths in developing countries. Approximately 300 million children all around the world go to bed hungry every day. Fulfilling childrens right breaks that cycle. Poverty has been a very big problem in our world today. Poverty can affect inequality, the gap between the rich and the poor which is quite high and often getting wider and wider..People look at term pove rty in a different way depending if the country is poor or rich. World Hunger and Poverty World hunger is a terrible indicator of world poverty. There are many issues causing hunger which are related to factors that cause poverty. These are famine, drought, poor crop yields etc. The causes of hunger are related to the cause of poverty. One of the major causes of the hunger is poverty itself. According to the UNICEF over 9 million people die worldwide each year because of hunger and malnutrition almost 5 million are children. Poverty is transmitted from one generation to the next generation. For example malnourished babies often may give birth to an under -weight baby. These babies are more likely to die, but if they survive they are less likely to grow and develop to their full potential. The first goal of The United Nations Millennium Development Goals is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. UNICEF helps by building national capacitors for primary health care, healthy children become healthy adults. These people will create better lives for themselves, their communities and their countries. Helping the worlds children survive and flourish is another way in which UNICEF is helping. UNICEF also purchases and helps distribute to vaccines to over 40% of children in developing countries. UNICEF along with other governments and non-governmental organizations at national and community levels work to strengthen local health systems and improve at home care for children including re-hydration to save lives of infants with severe diarrhea and other diseases. Reducing Poverty Reducing Poverty should start with children. Every 3.6 seconds one person dies. This mostly applies to small children .Small children around the world die because of poverty. Poverty is a serious issue our world is facing today for countries all around the world especially countries in LEDCS (low economically developed countries). It is most threatening to childrens rights: survival, health and nutrition, education, participation, and protection from harm and exploitation. It creates an environment that is damaging to childrens development in every way mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. How Can Poverty Be Measured? Generally people who have been below at-risk-of poverty line for several years are likely to be in a more extreme situation than those who are only in such a situation for a short time, these people are those who live below the poverty line.  Ã‚  It is also important to measure the length of time that people are living in poverty.  Ã‚  However in many countries, it does not exist covering several consecutive years and this thus limits the possibility to measure those who are longer term below the relative income poverty line and they are likely to be in a worse situation. Global Perspective on Poverty Some countries are much poorer than other countries due to various reasons. Some countries such as USA and China are well developed and most people might not be suffering poverty. But as I said Poverty is present in this world, it does not matter where you are; it is always present. Some countries could be richer and some may still be developing. The gap in equality between countries has been widening in recent year. I think rich countries should be more aware of countries which have more problems due to poverty, this relates the developing countries. This might help the developing countries. The rich countries could help by giving money to provide poor countries food, Shelter, water and human basic needs. Local Perspective on Poverty Countries all round the world have been trying to solve this problem in many ways. For instance Poverty has decreased in Ethiopia for the past few years. Ethiopia is a developing country for now but few years later it is going to be one of the more economically developing countries. Some parts of Ethiopia, especially over the country side the government has helped to give some shelter and some food and water. Some big organizations have been helping try to overcome this issue. The ESCO and the UNICEF should be one of those who have given more consideration due to this issue; this helps our country solve this problem much faster way. Personal Perspectives on Poverty Being poor is a very repellent issue. We are very lucky students; we are able to sleep with our stomach filled and shelter to live in. I feel we are very lucky. Small children go to sleep hungry and die easily. We have the chance to be well educated and become successful. While as children which are poor dont even have money to eat or drink. They usually go to bed hungry. Some dont even have a place to live in this indicates that I think we are very lucky. Our parents have the money to send us to a proper school and we could get educated and become successful if we take our chance and use it properly. Conclusion As a conclusion all I can say is that poverty is the worst thing that could happen to a human being. Poverty doe not only happen in poor countries but it is also present in rich countries. Poverty and Inequality have been a major problem. One of the millennium goals is to solve this problem. If this problem is solved our world would have peace. Adults or children would be happier than before they will not go to bed hungry and this will make them stay alive and go to school. Work-Cited List (MLA CITATION)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shah,Anup.Causes of Poverty.web.Acessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  UNICEF.Millenium Development Goals.web.Acessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shah,Anup.Causes of Hunger are related to poverty.web.Accessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  European Anti-Poverty Network(EAPN).Poverty and Inequality in the European Union(EU).web.accessed on 21/11/11  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rogers,C.Carolyn.Dimensions of Child Poverty in Rural Areas.web. Accessed on 4/12/11