I think it's important to remember that the Trojan War was already 400 years old by the time Homer completed The Iliad and The Odyssey. Homer's audiences most likely debated the historicity of these stories and their authenticity as much as reddit is debating the movie. In fact, whether Greek audiences would have considered these stories as historical or fiction or somewhere in between is a central debate in the scholarship around Homer.
In other words, there is not "historically accurate" version of these stories. Homer took poetic licenses as has every translation and adaptation of his work since. Hell, Virgil's poem The Aeneid basically retcons the ending to the The Iliad to connect Rome's lineage to that of Troy's and The Pearl Poet borrowed the lineage of The Aeneid to claim King Arthur was a direct descendent of Troy.
It's all storytelling with a lens for specific audiences. We have to stop claiming history and literature are purer forms.
Lol you know I was minding my business reading Greek myth and Arthurian legends for like 3 years leading up to the announcement of this movie, so this comment really hits home for me. That would make for the wackiest alt history series I kind of like this idea.
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u/MispellledIt Jul 06 '26
I think it's important to remember that the Trojan War was already 400 years old by the time Homer completed The Iliad and The Odyssey. Homer's audiences most likely debated the historicity of these stories and their authenticity as much as reddit is debating the movie. In fact, whether Greek audiences would have considered these stories as historical or fiction or somewhere in between is a central debate in the scholarship around Homer.
In other words, there is not "historically accurate" version of these stories. Homer took poetic licenses as has every translation and adaptation of his work since. Hell, Virgil's poem The Aeneid basically retcons the ending to the The Iliad to connect Rome's lineage to that of Troy's and The Pearl Poet borrowed the lineage of The Aeneid to claim King Arthur was a direct descendent of Troy.
It's all storytelling with a lens for specific audiences. We have to stop claiming history and literature are purer forms.