Troy Vs. The Iliad

These days, Hollywood is all about remakes. Every year, new movies come from older original movies, books, plays, musicals, poems and myths, that have all been retooled to fit our modern audience. The somewhat recent movie, Troy which is based off the ancient Greek poem, The Iliad, is a prime example.

In the Iliad, the story begins in the middle of the Trojan War. The Greeks, who are led by Achilles, have just won a battle and have taken two beautiful maidens into captivity. That causes a bunch of other events which end in the death of the Trojan prince Hector. Many events throughout the story are influenced both directly and indirectly by the Gods. This undoubtable classic by Homer emphasises respect, glory, love and especially fate.

In Troy, the war is started by Hector's brother Paris, who convinces the spartan queen, Helen, to come back with him to Troy. Menelaus, Helen's Husband finds out and sets an army of 50,000 Greeks off to Troy to get her back and regain his dignity. In this re-telling of the Iliad, The Gods are only mentioned and we never see any signs of their influence. Because the characters can't fall back on the superpowers of the gods, they are responsible for their actions and fate is a much more prevalent value.

Over 200 mistakes were found in Troy, and while not all of them are necessarily fact based, that is still a very high number for any historical movie. I think that if this were truely supposed to be a spot on representation of The Iliad, that this number would be lower. The point of Troy is to entertain you rather than give you a history lession on Ancient Greece, which is why I don't fully consider it a "translation" of The Iliad.

The Modern Obsession with Ancient Egypt

Thousands of years after the end of Ancient Egypt, our modern civilization still finds it fascinating in many different respects. Movies such as The Scorpion King or The Prince of Egypt tell us constantly about Ancient Egypt's obsession with the afterlife and immortality. And if you ask any young kid who has learned about Egypt at all, he will be able to tell you about mummies.
Unfortunately these movies are full of historical inaccuracies and glamorize their ancient civilization to appeal to American audiences.
As such, when reports telling of ancient zombie breakouts are published, you would expect the public to be all over it with a tide of blockbuster movies coming out for the summer season.
In all actuality though, from what the article says about a

brain had been infected with the virus (Solanum) that turns people into zombies.

It is an actual virus that can produce stereotypical zombie reactions.

In an essay written for the journal of religion and film it show real connections of ancient Egypt and how the modern obsession with it in the movies has it totally wrong.

My Interview with Gilgamesh.

Recently, I was able to obtain a meeting with the grand adventurer Gilgamesh. After tracking him down by mail, I was able to get him to agree to an interview at a local coffee shop. The following is our exchange, word for word.

So Gilgamesh, I'm so happy i was finally able to score an interview with you. You sir, are not an easy man to find.
Gilgamesh has no need to be found. He finds all he needs to find and that is final.

Woah woah, easy there big fella. I was just trying to say that i find it hard to believe that you don't have an email or cellphone.
What is E-male? I am the one and only Alpha male! You and your E-male are normal humans who will never surpass my greatness.

Right. So anyway, Have you gone on anymore big adventures since your quest for immortality?
My whole live is a quest, silly mortal. I will finish all that the full gods desire of me to so I can expand and rule Uruk for all of my life.

Sounds good. So, I know you were pretty shaken up by the death of Enkidu. How do you feel about that now?
Enkidu? No!! Why did eh have to DIE??? CURSE YOU GODS!! If he can die that i can too right? WHY WHY WHY??!!


At this point he ran out of the coffee shop, slaying two baristas in the process. I have tried to obtain a follow up interview, but i have once again lost contact with Gilgamesh.

Why do the Humanities matter?

I believe the Humanities matter very much to the civilization, and without their study, our culture would not be as developed or as open to change as it is now. To know why they matter, it is necessary to know what they are.

What are they?
The Humanities, according to the Ohio Humanities Council (which is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities) are:

"the stories, the ideas, and the words that help us make
sense of our lives and our world. The humanities introduce us to people we have
never met, places we have never visited, and ideas that may have never crossed
our minds. By showing how others have lived and thought about life, the
humanities help us decide what is important in our own lives and what we can do
to make them better."

The humanities open up entire worlds of knowledge to us and make it easier to understand ourselves through the comparisons we can make. In my opinion, the Humanities are simply the study of every intangible human creation. Every piece of literature, or poem, or word in a language show how we have advanced as a civilization. Culture, which is the result of evolution, is a huge part of the humanities.

The Humanities matter because they help teach us to think in ways that are needed for the real world. Math and Science are important things to know, because they help us understand the concrete parts of life, but to live, survive and think other skills are needed.
The imagination, which we cultivate as small children by listening, watching, and exploring the world around us, helps provide meaning to things we learn and make sense of the world. Imagination as Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it is the thinking or active mind. That kind of creative thinking is in the class of thoughts that advance the world. It's been said that those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and by being creative, we can find new ways around our obstacles.

The basic ideas of the Humanities give us a framework for understanding others, which is vial for tolerance. The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities say that the Humanities give us an appreciation for experiences of others and how it shows us links between cultures.

To me, culture, thinking, imagination, talking, reading, writing, exploring and everything else there is that we do is important. It is because of humanities that all of those things are so easily available to us to do at anytime we want and i think that is what makes the Humanities matter.