September 24, 2009

Notes on Helen of Troy (2003 TV, 175 min.)

Helen of Troy (2003 TV, 175 min.)

The face that launched a thousand ships
Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
                  --The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe

Menelaus (king) ( Sparta ), Agamemnon (Mycenae), Achilles
Paris, Cassandra, (Priam + Hecuba), Hector

Judgement of Paris: (a shepherd)
Hera (wealth)
Athena (victory and glory in war)
Aphrodite (the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen)

Agamemnon (King Atreus’ son, Menelaus (king)’ brother) + Clytemnestra (Helen’s sister)

Leda (mythology), Leda and the Swan (Zeus) Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux 

Your beauty and spirit make men weak.
Casting luck (pick the draw)

Persephone (daughter of Demeter/ Ceres (mythology), wife of Hades, pomegranate seeds, queen of the Greek underworld)

King Theseus
Leda was raped by Zeus and therefore had four children delivered as 2 eggs

I will bring back what was ours.
Paris of Mount Ida came to Troy , the richest city in the world that controls the north and south of the Aegean Sea .

FATE!!!

Helmet and armour (Hephaestus) 
No one ever beats Prince Hector.

Trojans:
Priam + Hecuba 
Alexander ( Paris (mythology) ), Hector (Prince of Troy), Cassandra (gifted prophetess by Apollo)

Dagger
Weapon: spears, Swords,  Shield, Helmet,  Armour 

Literary terms: 
1. In medias res
(The Iliad begins with the wrath of Achilles happening in the 9^th year of the Trojan War and ends at the funeral of Hector.)

2.  Invocation: (Homer: The Iliad and The Odyssey (opening lines) 
(evoke, voice, revoke)

3. Epic poetry, Epic hero

4. God’s will (the god has spoken), Moirae, (The Fates, destiny), Catharsis (Hamartia) 

Do you know the difference of being a man and a boy? It's the Value of the prize!!!

Greeks: 
Odysseus (Nausicaa, Circe, Calypso) + Penelope Telemachus (Ithaca, Poseidon) 
Peleus + Thetis [Achilles (River Styx , Achilles' Heel) + Patroclus] 
Menelaus (king) (king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, Prince of Mycanae, son of Atreus, husband of Helen)

Cast the luck with our seals
Close to the jar and claim his bride.

It’s FATE!