Agamamnon and Menelaus:
in the film, what are Agamemnon’s motivations for war? Does he act primarily out of loyalty to his
brother? How does the film portray
Agamemnon’s character and relations with the other Greeks? What can you deduce about the social structure of the Greek army? Petersen departs dramatically from the Homeric poems in his portrayal of the deaths of Menelaus and Agamemnon-- in the Odyssey, Menelaus and Helen are among the few Greeks who survive the war and return home in safety. Agamemnon famously made it home to Mycenae only to be slaughtered in the bath by his unfaithful wife Clytemnestra. What are their fates in the film? What points might Petersen be making by having them die as he does?
2 comments:
Agamemnon has one clear motivation when he goes to war with Troy. He obviously wants to further his kingdom and satisfy his greedy hunger for more power and money. Multiple times in the film, characters such as Achilles believe that he does not care about the infidelity between his sister in law and his brother. This is confirmed to be true when Menelaus fights Paris in the film. Agamemnon is quoted in the film talking to his brother saying, “I didn’t come here for your pretty wife, I came here for Troy.” He has no care for his brother’s motivations and is not loyal to him at all. Everybody on the Greek side can tell what his motives are and they think they are wrong. This is clearly the case for Achilles. Achilles and Agamemnon’s relationship is terrible and they never agree on anything. This seems to be his relationship with most of the other Greek leaders. Odysseus when talking with Achilles clearly has a similar disdain for Agamemnon. While recruiting Achilles to fight for the Greeks, he says to forget about him and fight for Greece and his own glory. He also states how he only can fight in this war to keep his own Ithaca from having Agamemnon as an enemy. The only two people who seem to support Agamemnon are his brother and his advisor Nestor. The Greek social structure of the army seems to be based on the fact that the soldiers look to the greatest fighters in the army as role models. In every fight the Greek soldiers shouted Achilles’ name, not Agamemnon’s. There is a clear love for Achilles but none for Agamemnon.
Petersen’s depiction of the deaths of Agamemnon and Menelaus differ greatly from the deaths they actually experienced in Greek mythology. In the film, Menelaus is murdered by Hector when he tries to kill Paris during their duel. I think Petersen used this depiction as a way to show Hector as a great Trojan hero who truly loves his brother and Troy. As Paris was being beaten by Menelaus, he clearly wanted to step in and help but knew that it would be wrong and dishonorable. When he steps in and kills Menelaus, it helps Petersen make Hector look like the savior of not only Paris but Troy also. This helps set up the film for how once Hector dies, Troy is doomed. Hector’s murder of Menelaus showed that the life of Paris and Troy are completely reliant on Hector. Agamemnon is murdered by Perseus when he tells her she is going to be his slave in front of the statue of Apollo. This adaptation does not make sense to me. The only thing that I can think of is that it is a form of revenge for Perseus when Agamemnon holds her captive earlier in the film. Also, it could be a kind of revenge for all of the fallen Trojans including Priam who Agamemnon had murdered shortly before. Petersen’s adaptations make it more “Hollywood-like” by having the bad guys die in the film. But they also have other uses like making Hector look like an even greater hero. Both of these characters play great roles in expressing Petersen’s view of the great Greek epic.
Thanks for your comment, Andrew-- you win the prize for first to make a blog entry! You make some excellent points-- the different fraternal relationships (Agamemenon/Menelaus and Paris/Hector) are definitely played up in the film. And the killing of Agamemnon by Briseis (not Perseus- they sound almost the same, and it isn't easy to understand the dialogue in the film) is even more shocking than the killing of Menelaus by Hector, for reasons we can discuss in class. Students, do you think the movie favors Hector's idea of heroism over Achilles'?
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