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SMALLER suppliers have topped an annual customer ranking of energy companies. Octopus Energy took first place for customer satisfaction with a score of 96 per cent. THE epic story of Troy was back on our screens on Saturday night and the series is set to grip BBC1 viewers for the next seven weeks.
The 2004 cinema blockbuster brought Brad Pitt as Achilles.
But do you remember a vintage Doctor Who when the Time Lord gave the Greeks an idea for a wooden horse?
Or the Star Trek episode when Kirk fell for an intergalactic Helen? “It’s no good, Jim,” pleaded Starship Enterprise Scot Bones. “You can’t change history: The Trojans are gonnae lose.”
Troy is the ultimate story of war and passion. The tale comes from the Iliad – a poem by Homer, who lived a little before 700BC – and the Greek’s account has never been surpassed in its depiction of destiny and conflict’s horror. That’s why scriptwriters keep going back to it.
But the story of Troy is not only about war, but also love.
At the heart of the tale, just like Game of Thrones, is a thrilling and irresistible mix of what the Greeks called Eros and Thanatos – sex and death.
On a trip to Greece, young Paris, prince of Troy, falls in love with Helen, the beautiful queen of Sparta.
Consumed by passion they run away together to Troy. The trouble is, she’s married to King Menelaus of Sparta – the brother of Agamemnon, the overlord of Greece.
Agamemnon assembles the Greek tribes, who agree that the breach of honour must be avenged. Troy must surrender Helen – or burn.
The Trojans could give Helen back and crave forgiveness but take the fateful choice to fight. So, Agamemnon assembles 1000 ships and they sail for Troy.
In the 10th year of the war, Trojan hero Hector kills Patroclus, the dearest friend of the Greek hero Achilles who, insane with grief, kills Hector, mutilates his body and drags it round Troy’s walls behind his chariot.
Achilles dies and the two armies slug themselves to a standstill.
Then Odysseus, the most cunning of the Greeks, suggests a ruse.
The Greeks pretend to give up and sail away, leaving an offering – an enormous wooden horse.
Thinking they have won, the Trojans rejoice and drag it into the city.
But Odysseus and a handful of Greek warriors are hidden inside the horse and at night while the Trojans party, slip down and open the gates.
Troy is sacked. Men are killed, women and children raped and enslaved and the city is burned.
But was there a real Troy? Homer’s story is a poem, a piece of entertainment, but