“In any case, this poem is a miracle. Its bitterness is the only justifiable bitterness, for it springs from the subjections of the human spirit to force, that is, in the last analysis, to matter.

When Troy premiered in the summer of 2004, there seemed to be a lot of hype surrounding the blockbuster cast (Brad Pitt as Achilles, Diane Kruger as Helen, Eric Bana as Hector, The Prince of Troy).

In Part I of this essay, Jeremy Purves looked back at critics’ reviews of Troy and argued that the film was a better adaptation of Homer’s epic poem than is generally acknowledged. Now, to reduce ...