Good as it is, don't rely on this to get you through your midterm in Classical Studies.

Rating: 8/10 (15 April 2005)

I was impressed with how a modern screen writer adapted this epic to film. The high school I went to required us to labor through Virgil's translation of Homer. We actually did the Odyssey, probably because the staff thought the story of this brutal genocide was too much for us 14 year olds. I find myself saying "but Homer was Greek so how come he didn't make them morally superior to the Trojans?" I have to admit, I'm no Classical scholar, but it has lead me to research the times further. Why did not the Greeks have a hero similar to Hektor, who fought for his country bravely yet, he knew, futilely. Okay, this is not really a spoiler right? I mean everybody knows who "won". What comes to mind as a modern parallel is Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". The compassionate telling of the vanquished's tale is a rare skill. Also, there's no money in it, and it gets you ostracized politically. Funny thing, you see, I'm in the NRA, and I once asked the people at the Civilian Marksmanship Program to create a "Crazy Horse Medal". Right now, one of their top medals is named after, you guessed it, Custer. They never responded, but a few weeks later I get a letter from Ollie North. Coincidence? Maybe. OK, enough rambling. I hope the Odyssey is as well done if they make it as a "sequel". Then they can do Virgil's Aeneid. Yes, they worked Aeneis in, go watch the movie!