Troy on Channel 4

During the week I watched the 2004 feature film Troy on Channel 4. Actually I just watched the first half of the film since I had to go to work the next day. I was very impressed with the film, although the dialogue was poor – eventually I just turned the sound off since I am very familiar with the Illiad (allowing for the obvious departures from Homer). The architecture of Illium was a bit too Minoan to be credible, but otherwise this was a magnificent interpretation. The subtext of the film was the apotheosis of mortal men into immortal heroes. For the record, I took the side of the Trojans (a futile gesture since the outcome is already known).

Heroes are important in Western culture because they allow ordinary citizens of a state to identify in a personal way with the national “story” (just as readers of a novel will identify with a book’s hero or heroine). If heroes do not personalise the national “myth” then national identity becomes remote and the population does not feel involved (humans are unable to view the world from any perspective except a personal one). In the last two decades heroes have been replaced by celebrities (who make no claims to be virtuous or self-sacrificing).

Above: Welsh rugby international Gavin Henson fulfills all the mythological criteria for a hero – setting out on a quest (restoring the reputation of Welsh rugby), passing a crucial test (maintaining a top level of fitness) and marrying a princess (his relationship with celebrity singer Charlotte Church). In these image conscious times he also looks the part of a hero (although The Guardian sneers at his Wave & Groom hair gel, fake tan and alternating silver and gold rugby boots). And in a twist worthy of all the usual hero monomyths he has been abandoned by the gods (the little tin gods that comprise the Welsh selectors) and dropped from the Welsh national side in the Six Nations tournament because of serious flaws (poor form, tabloid scandals and upsetting his team-mates with an indiscreet autobiography) that ironically elevate him to the status of tragic-hero (and thus will invite even more attention from the tabloid press since tragic-heroes sell).

The book Death Of A Hero relates to a Greek sculpture in the Getty Museum in Malibu. The ancient Greeks identified the political importance of hero cults, predominantly in defining what was virtuous in their society and providing a role model, particularly to young people. Heroes were especially important at times of social unrest or threats to the integrity of the nation.

Carnegie’s view: http://www.carnegiehero.org/heroFund.php
Carlyle’s view: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1091