The boys and I watched "Troy" last night. Yes, the one with Brad Pitt. It was pretty awful, but you could see why Brad Pitt, or any other big star, would want to do it. Who wouldn't want to play Achilles? The brave, sulky Achilles. He's disgusted by all the fame sucks around him, but he's a fame suck himself. He was given the choice between a happy, fulfilling life with a wife and children and peace and contentment, or death at an early age (along with eternal fame) and he chose the latter. If he had been old and wily, like Odysseus, he would have taken the former, I'm sure. Of course, Odysseus is there as well, so perhaps I'm wrong.
The great Peter O'Toole played Priam, not his best performance. I was shocked that they left out Hecuba and Cassandra who are actually two of the best characters. Of course, it was focused on the battle scenes, so I guess they chose with that in mind.
It is a great story and so many great Greek plays use Homer, just like modern literature makes use of the Bible. William kept asking if it was true. They did find a city they think was Troy that was burned at around the time that they think the Iliad was supposed to take place, but whether or not there was an Achilles or a Paris and Helen or Hector, I guess we'll never know.
It's funny how different things affect you in different stages of your life. I always found Cassandra the most interesting character but now that I have two sons, I identify more with Andromache. I didn't use to like Samuel Beckett, but now I agree that it is heroic just to keep going and trying no matter how absurd it all seems. I guess that's what some of the Greeks thought, too. The gods always seemed to be out to get them -- especially in the Trojan War when everything seemed to infuriate one of the gods, even when you were trying to do honour to another one -- but they soldiered on, making speeches and beautiful sculptures and writing magnificent plays.
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