Conclusion

This is the last post I will make. I'm a bit sad now really :( I've put quite a bit of work into this blog. I hope this is enough to merit me getting an excellence. But enough sentiments.

The purpose of this blog was to show my understanding of the relationship between the Ancient Greek culture and Western culture today. I had to talk about the similarities and differences between the film and the poem and give reasons for them, and I think I have most definitely covered that. I had to talk about themes and patterns, and I talked about the themes of fate and war and the ways they manifest in the texts. I had to talk about messages conveyed, which I think is really just talking about themes but in a message form, such as Petersen's (albeit, possibly quite subliminal and maybe unintentional) message that the gods aren't real or the message that fate is inescapable. I had to talk about cultural expectations and codes of behaviour, and I talked about various things such Hiketeia, Arete, Time, Kleos and Xenia and how they relate to today's society. I had to explain the influence of the Iliad on Troy, which I think I did quite a bit, but just to clarify and put it in one statement: Troy is based off and inspired by the Iliad. The characters, plot, setting and themes are all inspired by the Iliad, and the differences between them are just conveniences made by Petersen to allow for better audience appeal or to fit the films budget. And finally, I had to acknowledge my sources, which I will do in the following post to this, which is just a bibliography.

Of course, while I can see the original movie Troy and can evaluate today's culture by just being in it, there is a limitation of the sources of evidence. The Iliad was originally an oral piece of literature, and as it passed from mouth to mouth it would have various changes, so using the Iliad as a source of evidence for the culture is limited in this respect. Also, almost everything we know about the culture of Ancient Greece is known through old literature and art and generally the artistic culture, which is open to interpretation, and things may have been lost in translation. Similarly, I do not own Troy and was not involved in any part of its creation (unfortunately, I would have loved to have been involved), so any judgement calls I have made about purpose or reading between the lines may quite possibly be inaccurate.

In summary, the relationship between Ancient Greek culture and our culture of today is that our culture evolved from the Greeks, and while some things have changed, like specific rituals and belief systems, the essence of humanity is still the same.

 Thank you for reading!

 - Luke Longworth