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By taking out the 'God' element that the original poem had, Wolfgang Petersen has given the film more room for human emotions. This allows themes like love to be much more emphasised than the actual war itself. The removal of the Gods participation on the battlefield, sort of detracted from the overall feeling that the war was based around, which was the battle of the Gods. Every action that occured in the plot was somehow influenced by the Gods. This can be shown by Zeus saying "Nothing can be revoked or said in vain nor unfulfilled if I should nod my head." (Book 1, Lines 526-527) This shows how Zeus and even the other gods have the absolute power to change the course of the world and the war with just a 'nod of their heads.' Another example is the instigation of the war by Paris' selection of Aphrodite as the most beautiful Goddess. This in turn gave Paris his prize which was the most beautiful woman in the world. Unfortunately, Helen who is the prize that Paris is awarded is already married to Menelaus, King of Sparta, and so he abducts her. This, coupled with Hera and Athena's anger causes the Trojan war. In the film, Helen
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In the film Achilles is seen to be mourning the loss of a great warrior, Hector. However, in The Iliad, Achilles who slaughters Hector, is not seen showing any sort of sympathy towards the great Trojan warrior's death. The addition of emotions to Achilles' character again gives the whole drama element to the overall theme of the movie. It makes Achilles seem like one of us, instead of the brutal warrior he is actually described as in the poem. This gives the modern audience a sort of pity for Achilles, who has lost his cousin Patrocles (Patrocles being Achilles' cousin)and now he has killed a great warrior, who like him, loved his family. Another point to make is that Helen was eventually taken by Menelaus, and Menelaus was not killed by Hector. By doing this Petersen gave the film a sort of good guy gets the girl type feeling, as Paris is shown to be innocent and harmless, even though he caused the war. In the film he may be seen as a hero type character, but in the poem, he is seen as a villain type character. As stated before, Paris is a villain. because he cause the Trojan
In the film Achilles is seen to be mourning the loss of a great warrior, Hector. However, in The Iliad, Achilles who slaughters Hector, is not seen showing any sort of sympathy towards the great Trojan warrior's death. The addition of emotions to Achilles' character again gives the whole drama element to the overall theme of the movie. It makes Achilles seem like one of us, instead of the brutal warrior he is actually described as in the poem. This gives the modern audience a sort of pity for Achilles, who has lost his cousin Patrocles (Patrocles being Achilles' cousin)and now he has killed a great warrior, who like him, loved his family. Another point to make is that Helen was eventually taken by Menelaus, and Menelaus was not killed by Hector. By doing this Petersen gave the film a sort of good guy gets the girl type feeling, as Paris is shown to be innocent and harmless, even though he caused the war. In the film he may be seen as a hero type character, but in the poem, he is seen as a villain type character. As stated before, Paris is a villain. because he cause the Trojan