The Gods envy us...........

Differences in Mythology /the Gods in the Iliad and Troy

One of the main differences between Troy and the Iliad is the involvement or observable involvement of the gods in the siege of Troy. In the Iliad, many gods are physically involved in the war, fighting alongside the mortal humans, however in Troy, the gods are not even shown to exist, they are just the subject of prayer and praises, with the most tangible example being a statue of Apollo. Although the lack of action by the gods in Troy is a very large difference, this has little influence on the plot overall, as in both texts the Greeks defeat the Trojans. However in the ancient Greek myth, texts such as the Iliad provide insight into the context of many situations, such as The Judgement of Paris being the reason for Helen falling in love with Paris, and the reference to the Achilles heel. The following is a quote from the Iliad clealy showing the involvement of the gods.

 " And flashing-eyed Athene took furious Ares by the hand and spake to him, saying: "Ares, Ares, thou bane of mortals, thou blood-stained stormer of walls, shall we not now leave the Trojans and Achaeans to fight, to whichsoever of the two it be that father Zeus shall vouchsafe glory? But for us twain, let us give place, and avoid the wrath of Zeus."

The reason for the lack of gods in Troy is not economic like the major plot differences, in fact seeing gods battle each other and humans would be considered quite entertaining in an action film and would proabably go down quite well with the average viewer. This leads me to believe that the director has chosen not to include visible involvements of the gods in Troy to further develop the characters, such as Achilles, Hektor and Paris. Achilles displays rebellion against the gods when he cuts off the head of a statue of Apollo and later suggests that the gods envy humans

“The Gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed.”

 which makes sense when the gods aren’t visible, but it probably wouldn’t have had the same effect had the viewers witnessed powerful immortal gods fighting on the battlefield next the regular mortals.

Also when a priest of Troy concludes the appearance of birds to be a good omen/sign from the gods indicating they should attack, Hektor says

“Bird signs? You want to plan out strategy based on bird signs?” 

indicating his lack of faith in these omens, and making him seem like a down to earth man who doesn’t want to rely on the gods to plan his battles. This down to earth effect would be lost if the gods were seen slaughtering dozens of mortals on the battlefield in an almighty and divine manner.

And lastly in the critical point of the film where the Trojan Horse is discovered the priest believes it to be a gift from the gods and that it would be disrespectful to reject it. Paris strongly suggests that they should burn it, however Priam, Paris’s father (King of Troy), decides to bring it within the walls of Troy, ultimately leading to the downfall of Troy.

 

The Trojan horse in the film Troy

In this situation, Paris is made too seem right in an I told you so kind of way, however in the case of the Iliad, where the gods take sides and fight amongst the mortals, Paris would have been seen as crazy to doubt the Trojan Horse as being a gift from the gods, as the gods have been seen to exist many soldiers, however in the film his viewpoint seems logical and rational due to the lack of divine activity.

Because the gods do not fight among the men in Troy, and are not even shown to exist, the characters Achilles, Hektor, and Paris are all made more memorable due to their nonconformist views appearing logical and distinguishing them from those who mindlessly follow the gods. This is potentially why the director has made this difference, to create better and more memorable characters thus improving the quality of the film (at least from the perspective of a modern audience).