Could Troy be our Trojan Horse?

[Eureka]

After the first Lord of the Rings movie came out, the number of people wanting to learn elvish ( ) jumped significantly. Argueably, if The Lord of the Rings were originally written in elvish, that number of people would have been far higher.

If Troy turns out to be a good movie, we should hopefully see a noticeable increase in the number of people learning classical Greek. (Particularly if the movie contains even just one line of Homer's work.)

What does everyone here think?

[benissimus]

I am wondering how Troy is going to be accurate without Achilles' lover Patroclus. I just can't imagine they're going to have Brad Pitt cast as a homosexual lover, even if it is necessary to the genuine storyline.

[Eureka]

I am wondering how Troy is going to be accurate without Achilles' lover Patroclus. I just can't imagine they're going to have Brad Pitt cast as a homosexual lover, even if it is necessary to the genuine storyline.

No, really. I'm shure they're just good friends.

But seriously, they could imply it subtly, like they usually do (for the children, I'm shure ). Or they could have some guts and just come out and say it.

[annis]

After the first Lord of the Rings movie came out, the number of people wanting to learn elvish ( ) jumped significantly. Argueably, if The Lord of the Rings were originally written in elvish, that number of people would have been far higher.

It'd be a more interesting language, too, and we'd be able to recite more than tedious poetry dripping weltschmerz all over the floor.

How deep has this interest been? Both Sindarin and Quenya are tricky languages. I doubt more than a handful will stick with it.

If Troy turns out to be a good movie, we should hopefully see a noticeable increase in the number of people learning classical Greek. (Particularly if the movie contains even just one line of Homer's work.)

Well, it might bring in some people even if it's a bad movie. We already get plenty of "how do I say this spooky thing for my D&D campaign" questions for Latin, and we might see a bit more of that here for Greek after the film, but I'm not sure there will be a serious long-term change.

Now, having said that, interest in the Classical world has been growing in general over the last few years. I'm just not sure that a single movie can produce serious long-term interest. It might make a few more people decide to pick up Homer.

[Geoff]

Out of curiosity, has anyone documented a rise in Aramaic interest since the Passion hit the screens?

How about a direct connection in The Passion and Latin?

[Ulpianus]

It shows how far out of it I am that I hadn't heard about this film. The question, "Could this be our Trojan horse?" is not entirely positive in a forum devoted to both Greek and Latin. As Latinists will not forget, there are two ways of looking at a Trojan horse. And one way is Laocoon's,

et, si fata deum, si mens non laeva fuisset
impulerat ferro Argolicas foedare latebras;
Troiaque nunc staret, Priamique arx alta, maneres.

(And if the Gods' ordained plans and our minds not been warped, he would driven us to spoil the Greek hiding place; and Troy would stand today, and -- Priam's high citadel -- you would endure.)

Whether that is a good or a bad thing depends on one's perspective. Without wishing to be Laocoon, one may wonder whether the Pittification of classics is necessarily beneficial.

[benissimus]

Beautiful quote! Now I have a terrible fear of this horse bursting open and spilling its treachery into the Classics, not exactly what Eureka meant when this thread was made

[cadoro]

I'd be pleased to see any interest develop,short or long-term.If people only get to know Greek as the language from that Troy film,so be it-it's a start. Where would Mahler sales in the music stores be without Visconti's Death in Venice?
Just now you could ask around your local supermarket and would probably find barely a couple of people who would know a Latin or Greek author, let alone the language.
All the same, I'm doubtful whether the interest would convert into learning languages.We'll see more TV documentaries about the Greeks (even now there are more than I've ever seen before) and endless popular history books,but will people be inclined to sit down and learn dead languages? It's difficult enough persuading us Brits to learn even a bit of French for going to the continent
All respect to Tolkien and his academic prowess but there's not much to be gained from learning Elvish apart from the puerile pleasure of an in-language.I suspect these are the same people who learn Klingon!

[Eureka]

I think I should clarify exactly what I meant.

I'm reading the Iliad at the moment. People look at it like it's a textbook. They ask me, "why are you reading that?" as if it requires some great reason. In other words, they don't see it as enertainment.
The movie should certainly change that.

Because of it, many people will read the Iliad who wouldn't have otherwise. Most will read some more Greek literature. A few will move on to learning the language (particularly as the Iliad is a poem of a style not transfurable to modern languages).

Hence, in my analogy, the Acheans represent the language and the city of Troy represents an individual person.

[Eureka]

All respect to Tolkien and his academic prowess but there's not much to be gained from learning Elvish apart from the puerile pleasure of an in-language.I suspect these are the same people who learn Klingon!

Fair enough. That's why I put the " " in the original post.

[richc]

Well. I guess I'd better fess up. My studying greek is due to having watched Gladiator.
After seeing the flick I did a web search on Commodus and came across an excerpt
from Gibbon, who impressed me so much I decided to take a look at the classical
languages. Oddly enough I chose greek to start with, and am very happy with it.

Well, I"ll be curious to see if the movie, Iliad is worthwhile. Hopefully it'll snag a few
unsuspecting people in the audience.

cheers
richc