TROY: A heroic Tale

Question answered: What is the connection between Joseph Cambells book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and the Movie TROY? Joseph Campbell defined what he believed to be the archetypal hero in world history. It is strikingly similar how the hero in the 2004 film, Troy, meets these standards. In Greek mythology, Achilles was known as a great warrior. He was the son of a mortal named Peleus and of Thetis, a daughter of the sea god. Woven into mythology is the tale of how Thetis attempted to make her son immortal. When Achilles was a young boy, his mother held him by the ankle and dipped him into the sacred waters of the river Styx. Everything that the water touched on the boy became immortal, unable to be harmed. Unfortunately, the ankle that Thetis held him by remained dry, therefore becoming Achilles only weakness.

The story of the epic Greek battle at Troy and the heroes who fought in it is a fantastical tale.

Achilles tending Patroclus wounded by an arrow, id...

English: Triumphant Achilles: Achilles dragging th...

Briseis and Achilles in a 17th-century book illust...

None of the events of mythological stories have been proven factual. The tale of Achilles is legend; it is a story that has been passed on through the course of many years.

The first part of a hero's voyage, as defined by Joseph Campbell, is the "call to adventure" (Campbell, 49). In the film, the call to adventure is represented when Odysseus, King of Ithaca, approaches Achilles, asking him to join the war. Achilles is not sure if he is willing to fight a war for a selfish king. The call to adventure is shown in one of the strongest lines in this scene. Just before exiting, Odysseus leaves Achilles with this quote: "This war will never be forgotten, nor will the heroes who fight in it" (Troy).

"For those who have...