Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology #3)

by Stephen Fry

The involvement or noninvolvement of the gods in the story of the Trojan War is an indicator of how much one might want to treat the story as history and how much as myth. It is perfectly possible to do without the presence of the immortals entirely, as the Wolfgang Petersen film Troy (2004) with Brad Pitt as Achilles and Brian Cox as Agamemnon showed very clearly. Not an Olympian in sight. In the course of this book, I have occasionally paused to make the point that it is possible to interpret Homer’s description of gods assisting mortals as being metaphorical. When writers or artists of the most rational and skeptical stamp find themselves especially inspired or energized they will often describe themselves as “having had the Muse with them.” Greek archers who fired an accurate shot were bound to whisper, “Thanks, Apollo.” It’s hardly different from boxers crossing themselves before a fight or thanking Jesus after one. Cricketers talk about “Mother Cricket,” actors talk about “Doctor Theatre.” When Achilles hears the voice of Athena telling him to calm down during his confrontation with Agamemnon, is he really hearing a goddess or is he listening to his own wiser counsels, the better angels of his nature? The beauty of Homer, and of myth, is that you can always take it to be both at once.