Hector vs. Achilles

In Iliad, Hector was my absolute favorite character. There are countless likable qualities about him. He is very selfless and fights for the honor of his father and to protect the citizens. Achilles on the other hand, turned out to be the complete opposite of Hector. He never bothered about anyone else but himself. Even when his people were dying he stood still. The only reason he wanted to fight was for glory and he actually fought for personal revenge rather than fighting to protect his people. But as I was watching Troy, by the end I actually started perceiving Achilles differently from the book because of his involvement with Briseis. He seemed to have much more emotions than he did in the book, and that actually made me like his character. Although Hector still remained my favorite, I started liking Achilles as well. Did your perception of any of these two characters (or any other ones) change after watching the movie/reading the book? How so? Did you like them better in the book or the movie?

God or No God?

One of the major differences between Troy and Iliad is the involvement of the gods. Gods hardly had any role in the movie. The characters decided things for themselves and did whatever they thought was best to do at that situation. But in Iliad, the gods had complete control of everything and they totally manipulated the whole situation to make the results come out as they pleased. They were always fighting with one another and were very much involved in the business of the mortals. Different gods favored different people and helped them win. Not only that, they also ruined the people they didn’t like. According to me, the involvement of the gods wasn’t fair. They should’ve left the people alone and see what happens. How do you feel about the situation? Do you like it better when the gods interfere, like in Iliad, or prefer the situation that was shown in Troy where the gods aren’t involved? How do you think the situation would be different if the gods didn’t interfere? Who would win/lose and who would still be alive/dead?