The Gods

Rating: 5/10 (29 December 2005)

A quick response to the review that applauds the way this movie depicted the Greek gods and their relationship, or lack thereof, to their human counterparts. If you have actually read and studied the Illiad you would know that Hector would never question or doubt the power of the gods. This movie was made in the modern mode of thinking; that gods are intangible conceits created by human consciousness. In the Illiad, the gods, Apollo, Athena, etc., are just as real as the men of Greek and Troy. They take shape, take the form of certain characters, speak directly to the warriors, and most importantly control the actions of the characters that drive the story. So, instead of applauding this "new" more realistic take, I think the film makers did us a disservice by not being "realistic" to the original story. These heroes did not think and behave the way we do today. It would have been much more interesting, like Homer's original is, if they were true to the story. And while Achilles states in the opening scene that he is not invincible, his mother is depicted as a sea-nymph, which, she was and, which, while not exactly a god in Greek mythology, is still immortal.