THE ILIAD: BOOK ONE. Aquila Theatre Company

Transcription

1 THE ILIAD: BOOK ONE Aquila Theatre Company

2 Welcome! 2 The State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ welcomes you to the school-day performance of The Iliad: Book One. The ancient Greek war story has been adapted for the stage by Aquila Theatre using Stanley Lombardo s English translation of the original Greek text. These Keynotes provide information and activities to help you watch the play with a well-informed eye and ear. We hope that the materials in this guide will add to your understanding and enjoyment of the performance and help you make connections to your own personal experience. CONTENTS Welcome/Acknowledgements...2 A Tale of War...3 The Story...4 Character Profiles...5 The Trojan War...6 The Greek Gods...7 A Matter of Honor...8 Production Notes...9 Are You Ready for the Performance?...10 Keynotes are made possible by a generous grant from Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The State Theatre s education program is funded in part by Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Brother International Corporation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, J. Seward Johnson, Sr Charitable Trust, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, McCrane Foundation, MetLife Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Starch and Chemical Foundation, Inc., PNC Foundation, Provident Bank Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Verizon, and Wachovia Foundation. Their support is gratefully acknowledged. Aquila Theatre s production of The Iliad: Book One has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life. Aquila Theatre s production of The Iliad: Book One has also received an Access to Artistic Excellence award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Keynotes are produced by the Education Department of the State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ. Wesley Brustad, President Lian Farrer, Vice President for Education Keynotes for The Iliad written and designed by Lian Farrer. Edited by Katie Pyott and Jennifer Cunha State Theatre The State Theatre, a premier nonprofit venue for the performing arts and entertainment. Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Continental Airlines is the official airline of the State Theatre. The Heldrich is the official hotel of the State Theatre.

3 A Tale of War 3 They say Achilles in the darkness stirred... And Priam and his fifty sons Wake all amazed, and hear the guns, And shake for Troy again. Rupert Brooke, sailing for the Battle of Gallipoli, 1915 How would a staging of The Iliad look if it were set during the Civil War? The Ameri can Revolu - tion? The Hundred Years War? Choose a war from any time and place. Find out what kinds of uniforms and weapons were used during this war and see if you can find descriptions of the battles. Based on your research, sketch designs for scenery and costumes of your special production of The Iliad. Generations of troops, from fifth-century BC Athenian infantrymen to the soldier-poets of the First World War and beyond, have found striking parallels between the poetry of The Iliad and their own responses to waging war. Aquila Theatre Company highlights the idea that war is a universal and timeless experience by placing their production of The Iliad: Book I in a World War II setting. Their inspiration was the cover photograph (right) on Stanley Lombardo s translation of The Iliad. Titled Into the Jaws of Death, this black-and-white photograph was taken by a member of the U.S. Coast Guard from a landing craft on D-Day as the Americans landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. In the performance, the Greek soldiers Achilles, Agamemnon, Odysseus, and their companions wear the uniforms of Allied soldiers in World War II. The audience hears the sounds of modern warfare: booming guns, exploding bombs, hissing smoke. The words of the play, taken directly from Lombardo s translation of Homer, remain true to the original text, and refer to the life and beliefs of the ancient Greeks. Want to hear how The Iliad might have sounded to the original audience? Listen to Stanley Lombardo read the text in Ancient Greek. More War Stories to Explore BATTLE OF AGINCOURT: Henry V, by William Shakespeare (play) FRENCH REVOLUTION: Liberty Leading the People, by Eugene Delacroix (painting) CRIMEAN WAR: The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred Lord Tennyson (poem) AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: The war photographs of Matthew Brady The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane (novel) Glory, directed by Edward Zwick (film) WORLD WAR I: A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway (novel) Anthem for Doomed Youth, by Wilfred Owen (poem) All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque (novel) Gallipoli, directed by Peter Weir (film) WORLD WAR II: Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (novel) The Thin Red Line, directed by Terrence Malick (film) Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg (film) The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk (novel) VIETNAM WAR: The Killing Fields, directed by Roland Joffé (film) The Things They Carried, by Tim O Brien (novel) Platoon, directed by Oliver Stone (film) IRAQ WAR: Generation Kill, by Evan Wright (memoir)

4 The Story Homer s poem, The Iliad, is laid out in 24 books, or chapters. Aquila Theatre s production focuses on book one, with portions of books two and nine also included. Have you ever felt that you were being treated unfairly by someone in a position of authority, such as a parent, teacher, or coach? What kinds of feelings did you have towards that person? How did you handle the situation? The Iliad stretches back nearly three thousand years to tell the story of the Greek invasion of Troy. When Paris, a prince of Troy, steals the beautiful Helen from her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, a thousand Greek ships set sail to punish the Trojans. The Greek army, under the command of King Agamemnon, lays siege to the city of Troy for ten years. As the story unfolds, Agamemnon comes into conflict with Achilles, the bravest of all the Greek warriors; their conflict is the central theme of The Iliad. Before the action of The Iliad begins, the Greek forces had raided several cities near Troy and taken many prizes of war. The choicest prize by far was a beautiful young girl named Chryseis, daughter of Chryses, an elderly and respected priest of the god Apollo. The girl was awarded to Agamemnon. The story opens in the Greek camp on the Trojan shore. When Agamemnon refuses to release Chryseis, her father Chryses calls upon Apollo to send a terrible plague to kill the Greek forces. The prophet Calchas warns that the only way to appease Apollo and end the plague is to give Chryseis back to Chryses. Agamemnon agrees to surrender Chryseis only if he can take Briseis, a girl that Achilles won and now loves. This enrages Achilles, who is restrained from killing Agamemnon his commander-in-chief by the goddess Athena. Achilles calls to his mother, the sea goddess Thetis; on her advice decides to withdraw from the battle. Thetis ascends Mt. Olympus to ask Zeus, the king of the gods, to turn the war against the Greeks in order to punish Agamemnon. Zeus wife, Hera, catches her husband with Thetis and begins to scold him. Zeus lashes out in anger, until Hephaestus, the lame god of the forge, lightens the gloomy atmosphere on Mt. Olympus with his comical behavior. The soothsayer Calchas addresses the Greek army. Keeping his promise to Thetis, Zeus works out a plan to des troy the Greek army. He sends a false dream in the form of Nestor, Aga mem non s most trusted advisor, to tell Agamemnon to launch an all-out attack on Troy that very morning. Without Achilles, though, the war will go very badly for the Greeks. From the Director: For our play, we decided to use book one and part of book two, as it seemed the most logical place to begin our story. We hoped that the production would be exciting and accessible enough so the audience would be left wanting more. Our hope is that you will leave the theater and go read the entire poem! Who Wrote The Iliad? 4 Since The Iliad was created before written language was in use, no one can really be said to have written it. Long after the events of the actual Trojan War, different versions of the story were created by oral poets, who recited The Iliad aloud in public. Although the poets used a formal structure that dictated the rhythm and number of syllables in each line, they were free to change details of the story as they performed it to suit the interests of the audience. There is a lot of debate about the origins of The Iliad we read today. A poet known as Homer is said to have authored it but no one can prove that such a person ever even existed. It is generally believed that The Iliad was composed sometime between 750 and 725 B.C. Modern translations of The Iliad are based on medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, which were themselves copies of ancient manuscripts that were lost countless years ago.

5 Character Profiles Do you think the concept of what makes a great leader or hero has changed over the past 3,000 years? Write down some of the special traits or qualities that you associate with the main characters from The Iliad. Then list some of the people you regard as your personal heroes and note their special qualities. In comparing the two sets of heroes, what conclusions might you make about the two cultures? Achilles Achilles is the Greeks greatest warrior. When he was an infant, his mother dipped him in the River Styx to make him immortal, but since she held him by the heel, this one spot was left unprotected. The prophets warned that the Greeks could not conquer Troy without Achilles. The prophecy also re vealed, however, that if he fought against Troy he would be killed. Throughout The Iliad, Achilles bemoans the fate that the gods have ordained for him: to die young, but to die a hero. Agamemnon Leader of the Greek forces at Troy, King Agamemnon of Mycenae lived a life full of conflict. He married his wife, Clytemnestra after killing her first husband. Later, when the Greek army tried to set sail for Troy, Agamemnon was forced to sacrifice his daughter, Iphegenia, to appease the goddess Artemis. During the Trojan War, he insulted the Greeks best warrior, Achilles. Agamemnon s offenses caught up with him when he returned home from the Trojan War; he was murdered in his bath by Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. Hephaestus Thrown by angry Jove Sheer o er the crystal battlements; from morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A summer s day, and with the setting of the sun Dropt from the zenith like a falling star, On Lemnos, the Aegean isle. John Milton Hephaestus, the god of fire, blacksmithing, and volcanoes, was born ugly and lame. His mother, Hera, was so disgusted by the sight of him that she threw him off of Mount Olympus. (Later, Zeus gave him the same punishment for taking Hera s side in a quarrel.) A great craftsman, Hephae stus made wonderful objects from metal, such as the thunder - bolts for Zeus, weapons and armor for the gods and heroes (including Achilles), and arrows for Eros, the god of love. Agamemnon and Briseis Who s Who in the Play 5 ACHILLES (a-kill-eez) - The son of the mortal King Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. The mightiest of the Greeks who fought in the Trojan War. AGAMEMNON (a-guh-memnon) - King of Mycenae and commander-in-chief of the Greek coalition that attacked Troy. ATHENA (uh-thee-nuh) - The Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, and justice. In The Iliad, she is on the side of the Greeks. BRISEIS (bry-see-us) - A young woman from a city near Troy. CALCHAS (KAL-kas) - A Greek soothsayer, or prophet. CHRYSEIS (kry-see-iss) - The daughter of Chryses. CHRYSES (KRY-seez) - A priest of Ap ol lo from Chryse, a city near Troy. HEPHAESTUS (heh-fess-tus) - The god of blacksmiths and fire. Son of Zeus and Hera, he was born lame. HERA (HEE-ra) - Queen of the Greek gods, wife of Zeus, and goddess of marriage and birth. In The Iliad, she takes the side of the Greeks. NESTOR (NESS-tor) - The oldest of the Greek heroes battling Troy, valued for his wisdom and bravery. ODYSSEUS (oh-diss-yuss) - King of Ithaca and a commander in the war against Troy. THETIS (THEE-tiss) - A sea goddess, mother of Achilles. ZEUS (ZYOOS)- King of the Greek gods. In The Iliad, he usually takes a neutral position, unless influenced by special requests for help. Hephaestus gives Thetis armor for her son, Achilles.

6 The Trojan War Can you think of any other stories in which a lot of troubles are associated with an apple? Helen of Troy The people who fought against Troy came from a part of the world today known as Greece. At the time of the events depicted in The Iliad (around 1200 B.C.), Greece did not yet exist as a country. The region was broken up into city-kingdoms, each with its own ruler. I. The Golden Apple According to Greek legend, the Trojan War started with an apple! When Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to a wedding on Mt. Olympus, she decided to get revenge by tossing a golden apple inscribed "for the most beautiful" among the wedding guests. The goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite began to argue over which one of them deserved the apple and with it, the title of most beautiful. II. The Judgment of Paris The decision was left to Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, who awarded the apple to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. As a reward, Aphrodite gave Paris the love of the beautiful Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Helen left her husband and ran off with Paris to Troy. III. The Oath of Tyndareus Before Helen married Menelaus, many suitors came from all over Greece hoping to win her. To ensure that the losers would not try to take revenge, Helen's stepfather, King Tyndareus, made all of the suitors take an oath that they would defend the winning bridegroom in the future. So when Paris took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the former suitors were obliged to help get her back. Commanded by Menelaus brother Agamemnon, the army included many famous Greek heroes, most notably Achilles, Patroclus, the two Ajaxes, Nestor, and Odysseus. IV. The Greek Army Sails to Troy; War Begins The Greek forces gathered at the Bay of Aulis and sailed to Troy in a thousand ships. They sent ambassadors to the Trojan leaders demanding the return of Helen, but the Trojans refused. Outraged, the Greek armies landed on Trojan soil and began a ten-year siege of the walled city. The first nine years of the conflict were fairly uneventful, but in the tenth year the mighty Achilles, the Greeks best warrior, withdrew from the battle over a dispute with Agamemnon, his commander. This is where the story of Homer s Iliad begins. Phrases we use today that are derived from the Trojan War: Trojan horse Achilles heel The face that launched a thousand ships Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. Was There a Real Trojan War? 6 Until the 19th century it was generally believed that Troy and the Trojan War were imaginary. Then, in 1871, an American named Heinrich Schliemann began excavating an ancient city in Turkey, which he identified through clues he found in The Iliad. To the world s amazement, this retired businessman had discovered the lost city of Troy. Nine cities have been found at the site, one on top of the other. The seventh city was destroyed around 1250 B.C. and appears to be the Troy of legend. You can still see the ruins of its towers and its walls, which were 16 feet thick. What really started the Trojan War? One theory suggest that the Greeks may have been fighting to gain control of the Dardanelles, a water passage between the Mediterranean and Black seas, near Troy. Or perhaps the war truly was fought over a woman named Helen. The truth is lost in the past. What else was going on in the world at the time of the Trojan War? When The Iliad was written? An Iliad Timeline 1193 The Trojan War c.750 Homer s Iliad? B.C. A.D Heinrich Schliemann excavates Troy

7 A Matter of Honor 8 During the performance, listen for the words honor, dishonor, and unhonored. Which characters spend the most time talking about honor? What do they say about it? Based on her beauty, wealth, and position, a female in the ancient world bestowed honor and status on the man who possessed her. Do you see any evidence in our own time of women still being regarded as prizes? Give specific examples. Mother, since you bore me for a short life only, Olympian Zeus was supposed to grant me honor. Well, he hasn t given me any at all. Agamemnon Has taken away my prize and dishonored me. Gaining, maintaining, and defending one s honor is at the center of a lot of what goes on in The Iliad. The reason that the Greeks have launched their attack on Troy in the first place is to avenge the insult done to their King, Menelaus, when his wife Helen was stolen by the Trojan prince, Paris. In the world of these Greek heroes, nothing is more important than honor not even life itself. For Achilles, the promise of attaining great honor makes up for the fact that he is destined to die young. In ancient times, the main way for a hero to gain honor was by displaying courage and skill on the battlefield. As a lasting symbol of his victory, the hero tried to capture war prizes, such as the armor of his vanquished enemy, valuables, and captives. The argument between Achilles and Agamemnon over the captive girl Briseis is largely about honor and constitutes the main conflict in the play. Achilles The Greek word timê (pronounced tee-may) means respect or honor. A person s timê is determined by his rank and position and by his accomplishments in battle, athletic competition, or politics. Honor through the Ages "If you must choose between two paths, either of which will bring death and defeat, then choose the path wherein you die fighting for honor and justice." Ban Gu (32 92 A.D.) "A woman of honor should not expect of others things she would not do herself." Marguerite de Valois ( ) Mine honor is my life; both grow in one; Take honor from me, and my life is done: Shakespeare ( ), King Richard II "Our own heart, and not other men's opinion, form our true honor." Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ) The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons. Ralph Waldo Emerson ( ) "It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor; as such differences become less, it grows feeble; and when they disappear, it will vanish too." Alexis de Tocqueville ( ) "All honor's wounds are self-inflicted." Andrew Carnegie ( ) The girl Briseis is a point of contention between Achilles and Agamemnon. Which of the quotes on the right sounds most like it could have come from The Iliad? Which one most closely mirrors your own beliefs? Looking at all the quotes, can you discern any changes over time in the way people defined honor? "It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them." Mark Twain ( ) "When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned." Herbert Hoover ( )

8 The Greek Gods 7 At the performance, pay attention to how often the mortal characters look to the gods: asking them for help, blaming them when things go wrong, or making sacrifices to appease them. Based on your observations, what conclusions can you draw about the ancient Greeks attitudes concerning: fate? self-reliance? justice? Rage: Sing Goddess, Achilles rage. These words begin The Iliad, and anger continues to be an important theme throughout the story. If you were directing The Iliad, what are some of the things you could do to emphasize the idea of rage? What kinds of ideas would you suggest to the designers and the actors? From the Director: By Homer s lifetime (8th century B.C.), the Greeks had a fullydeveloped belief system, with mythological gods who were said to live on Mt. Olympus, an actual mountain in Greece. The Greeks believed that the gods controlled all aspects of human existence, including emotions, actions, and the forces of nature. Generally, the gods treated people kindly, but they would punish any mortal who offended them. Humans sought the favor and forgiveness of the gods by offering prayers and gifts, often in the form of animal sacrifices. Though the gods were immortal, they looked and acted very much like humans. In addition to displaying human weaknesses such as jealousy, anger, and vanity, the Greek gods frequently involved themselves in the affairs of humans. Their actions started the Trojan War, and throughout The Iliad they play a very active part, each god helping out whichever side he or she happened to favor. One of the surprising elements of this production of The Iliad is just how human the gods appear. The humor that pervades the section on Olympus provides the audience with the chance to enjoy the domestic rivalry of the gods. The inclusion of humor into an otherwise serious tale shows just how skillful Homer was. The Muses In Greek mythology, the muses were nine goddesses who gave inspiration to artists, poets, philosophers, and musicians. Aquila Theatre Company s production of The Iliad invokes the muse to relate this tale of INVOCATION - a prayer or appeal to a higher power human conflict and present Homer s work as it was originally intended as a live performance. The Greek lyrics heard in this production, which have been set to music by a modern composer, are the first seven lines of the Ancient Greek text that make up the invocation to the Muse: Rage: Sing, Goddess, Achilles rage, Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls Of heroes into Hades dark, And left their bodies to rot as feasts For dogs and birds, as Zeus will was done. Begin with the clash between Agamemnon The Greek warlord and godlike Achilles. A muse with a cithara (an ancient harp)

9 Production Notes 9 How would The Iliad look if it were set during the Ameri can Civil War? The Hundred Years War? Choose a war from any time and place. Find out what kinds of uniforms and weapons were used and look for descriptions of the battles. Based on your research, sketch designs for scenery and costumes for your special production of The Iliad. What role does music play in drama? Working in a small group, choreograph a brief (1 minute) battle scene from The Iliad. After you ve rehearsed your scene so that it looks really good, make a video recording of it. Then select at least three contrasting pieces of music make sure each piece is very different from the others in style, tempo, instruments, etc. Play your video for the rest of the class using a different soundtrack each time. Did the music affect how your battle scene played to the audience? The Casting Some of the actors in The Iliad play more than one role, taking on two, three, or more parts and also acting as narrator. In some cases, women even play men! In this way, every cast member is onstage contributing to the performance at almost every moment of the play. It is very important that the actors make each person they play very different from the others, or else the audience might get confused about which character was speaking. Because of the fast pace of the performance, the actors do not have enough time to make major changes in wardrobe and makeup as they switch from one role to another. They rely on changes in voice, posture, and small costume pieces to achieve their transformations. When you are watching the performance, try to observe the ways in which the actors playing multiple roles create distinctly different characters. The Visual Design The visual elements of this production evoke a black-andwhite movie from the 1940s. The set is minimal, inviting audience members to use their imaginations. Four large metal trunks are used in a variety of ways throughout the performance to create different settings: storm-tossed ships, Mt. Olympus, the altar of a temple, and the beach outside of Troy. The costumes are from the World War II era the early 1940s. Instead of wearing the short tunic and carrying the sword and spear of the ancient Greek warrior, the soldiers wear battle fatigues and metal helmets, and use machine guns and gas masks. Lighting plays an important role in creating the mood and suggesting the different settings. Combined with other effects, such as slow-motion movement and smoke, the lighting brings together all of the other aspects of the visual design. The Sound Design Music and sound effects are used in the play to create a soundscape an atmosphere in sound. Some of the sounds used in The Iliad include: machine-gun fire and the roar of fighter planes music for the dancing and singing in the temple of Apollo music that helps make the transition between scenes music that underscores and heightens a dramatic moment Aquila is a New York-based theater company that performs all over the world. They are known for innovative productions of classical drama. Their mission is to bring the greatest works of drama to the greatest number of people in as many communities as possible. Aquila (pronounced uh-kwill-uh) is the Latin word for eagle. CAST Chryses/Nestor/Zeus..Richard Willis Athena...Vaishnavi Sharma Hera...Michele Vazquez Agamemnon...Brian Silliman Calchas/Thetis...Natasha Piletich Achilles...James Knight Hephaestus...John Buxton Director...Peter Meineck Production Design...Peter Meineck Movement...Desiree Sanchez Company Stage Manager...Stephenie Moser Rehearsal Stage Manager...Andrea Wales Technical Director...Kevin Shaw Production Manager...Nate Terracio The music Aquila has chosen to underscore their production of The Iliad is by classical composer Krzysztof Penderecki (KSISH-toff pen-der-ret-skee), who was born in Poland in You ll hear excerpts from these works: Symphony No. 3 Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima for 52 string instruments Fluorescences for orchestra De Natura Sonoris No. 2 The Dream of Jacob

10 Are You Ready for the Performance? 10 While you re inside the State Theatre, take a moment to look around you. The building is a piece of living history, reflecting the social and cultural changes that have taken place in our community over the past 87 years. Built in 1921 as a home for silent movies and vaudeville (a type of live variety show), it was later adapted for firstrun sound films. Since 1988, the State Theatre has been a showcase for live theater: music, dance, drama, comedy, musicals, kids shows, and more. Learn Your Part. One essential collaborator needed to create a live performance is the audience. The weeks and months of thought and preparation that go into a play are directed toward creating a performance that will inspire and entertain you and the other people who are watching and listening. Your role in this artistic collaboration is very important to the success of the performance. Make sure you know your part: When you arrive at the theater, follow an usher to your seat. Before the show begins, make sure to turn off and put away all electronic devices, including cell phones, portable games and music, cameras, and recording equipment. Keep them off for the entire performance. Once the house lights (the lights in the part of the theater where the audience is sitting) go down, focus all your attention on the stage. Watch and listen carefully to the performance. Attending a play in the theater is not the same as watching television at home. At the theater, talking, eating, and moving around disturbs the performers and other members of the audience. And please no texting or checking messages during the show! If something in the play is meant to be funny, go ahead and laugh. And of course feel free to applaud at the end of the performance if you liked what you saw. After the performers are finished taking their bows, stay in your seat until your group gets the signal to leave the theater. Turn it off. No photos. Quiet, please! Do Your Homework. BOOKS Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, by Jonathan Shay. Simon & Schuster, A psychiatrist relates the experiences of Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome to Homer's portrait of Achilles in The Iliad. Images of the Greek Theatre, by Richard Green and Eric Handley. University of Texas Press, 1995 Who's Who in Classical Mythology, by Michael Grant and John Hazel. Routledge, 2001 WEBSITES Aquila Theatre Company Encyclopedia Mythica Online encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and religion The Perseus Digital Library Primary and secondary source material relating to ancient Greece and Rome The Theoi Project Information, images, charts, and more exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art The UnMuseum s Treasure of Troy An account of how archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann used clues in the text of The Iliad to find the site of the ancient city of Troy VIDEO In Search of the Trojan War (1985) A documentary about the search for the legendary city of Troy Troy (2004) Brad Pitt is Achilles and Brian Cox is Agamemnon in this R-rated Hollywood version of The Iliad