Kenneth Flores

Mr. Maslonka
English 101 Section 18
30 March 2015
Troy (the movie)
Historical event or non-historical event? That is still an open question about the Trojan
War. Whether you believe it is true or not, this great myth ties with recurring events, which are
still a current part of everyones lives. This movie focuses on the destruction of the great Trojan
city when they faced the most powerful army that existed at the time, the Greeks. The Greeks
joined the war in order to help the Spartan king, who had lost his wife, Helen, to the young
prince, Paris, of Troy. Enraged by infidelity, he seeked help from the Greek King, Agamemnon,
(greedy king that wanted the world to himself) did not pass down the opportunity to conquer yet
another kingdom. After ten long years of battle then end of the war came as the Greeks
surrendered and left the shores, so did the Trojans think, The Greeks made a big Trojan horse
made of scraps of their ships and offered it as a peace offering. The Trojans welcomed the gift
and after a long night of celebrating and everyone was sound asleep, the Greeks climbed out of
this horse and destroyed the city. As many scholars may point out ...the Trojan War story is
myth, full of supernatural and very unlikely events (University of Cincinnati). Scholars still
are seeking evidence to conclude whether this was an actual event or just a myth.Whether just a
myth or not this great tale digs deep into lesson to be learned based on one's attitude such as
greed, heroism, and ultimate ego.

Greed seems to be a recurring event throughout every century, decade, year, etc. Greed
seems to be a powerful thing that takes control of power hungry humans, but more times than not
it ends in the persons downfall. Greed is most blatant with the powerful king Agamemnon,
which goal is to be the kings of kings. He wants to take control of the world and had the biggest
army that ever existed. Agamemnons greed was his weakness, only seeing what he could take
made him lose the war against the Trojan(Peterson, Troy). The Trojans, at the end, did get the
Greeks to surrender, even though they ended up being fooled. But the war is told as the Trojan
defeating the Greeks against all odds(Peterson, Troy). Greed is one of the biggest theme that
most scholars like to exclude. Its effects are still current and always seen as the cause of all the
casualties from both sides of the war. As scholar thompson says in her summarization of the Iliad
...greedy Agamemnon are not suitable role models for later, more civilized societies, and this
became a problem for future generations. "You want me to look upon your army and tremble?
Well I see them. I see 50,000 men brought here to fight for one man's greed"(Peterson,Troy). The
selfish desire to control the whole world are make bad role models and unfortunately influence
some people that cause harm.
Hero, is a term that everyone would love to be described as and we can only hope to see
in certain situations we encounter in life. Heroism displayed by many man was shadowed by the
heroism displayed by some of the main characters in this movie, but nonetheless there was
heroism was present all around the battlefield. Achilles heroism, although at times questionable,
he shows how much he cared for the man sacrificing themselves and hence he fought or led them
to keep them safe. In the opening battle Achilles almost walks away from a challenge of the two
best fighters from both sides, to end the war, but he almost does not go through with it because of

the demand of respect from the king. He fights his opponent (Boagrius), because Nestor (one of
Agamemnons trusted man) persuades him by saying look at the mens faces, you can save
hundreds of them, you can end this war with a swing of your sword(Peterson, Troy). Then
there is Hector, he is the greatest warrior from the Trojan side. Although not much is known of
his character other than his love for his family and his people, that is enough to see that he is the
hero on the Trojans side. Viewers of the movie Troy and readers of the Iliad identify him as the
Defender of Troy. Even more importantly, he commanded the Trojan army and as Berkowitz
says Some identify Hector as a figure who achieved heroic glory and by this I refer to the trait
within the archetype ancient Greek warrior who does not care about when he dies, but about how
he dies(Berkowitz 1). More importantly he is not battle hungry, he has learned to be valiant and
to always fight because that is what he has to do (Wimilvaney 1). Sometimes the epic hero is one
that fights for things beyond himself, someone that has everything to lose if he does not fight.
Man are haunted by the vastness of eternity, and so we ask ourselves, will our actions
echo across the centuries, will strangers hear our names, long after we are gone and wonder who
we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved? (Peterson, Troy). A men's ego can be
a powerful thing, certain man take it to the extreme to leave their names in the history books as
Achilles did.Achilles had a lot of shortcomings as well. His impulsive character led him to
ignore the advice and counsel of others. His tremendous pride caused him to abandon his Greek
comrades and quit the war because he felt insulted. His explosive anger and bloodthirstiness led
him to desecrate the body of his most heroic adversary, Hector (Achilles 1). His ego blinded
him from accepting any type of counsel. He had one goal in mind and he was gonna attain it his
way. This once again a recurring event through history, even today, sometimes it works out and
people would go down in history, but a lot of times it leads to one's downfall. Achilles is a

perfect example of letting super ego control you, he knew he was destined to die yet he still
fought for the glory of keeping his name alive.
Achilles is a hero of epic, a lover of war, and a bearer and conveyor of strong emotions.
These qualifications endow Achilles with capacities for intense anger, grief, and love; the
power of such experiences is the essence of his character, and is contained in his name in
the components akhos and laos, grief and host of fighting men.1(Rosemerie 1)
On the other side, his ego made him a true hero, this is all he knew and loved so he continued to
do it even after knowing his destiny.
Troy the movie is one of the great tales of heroes and their amazing accomplishments.
Accomplishments in battle and as leaders. Through their great efforts they did enough to have
their stories told through centuries and be recognized by the modern people. Troy amazingly
portrays the life of those heroes which characteristics can still be found in men today. Greed,
heroism, and ego are still very much part of our lives and Troy the movie shows each of the
characteristics extremely well. Even when telling stories from a time that was so different than
ours, it is able to convey a simple message. A message shown by viewing the ups and down of
each characteristic. What can lead to great glory or what can lead you to your downfall.