Original subtitles

(dramatic, riveting music)

(dramatic, suspenseful music)

(thunder crackles)

(thunder crackles)

- [Narrator] The war of men has become the war of the gods.

(warriors clamoring) (swords clanging)

The chaos that reigns between Greeks

and Trojans now extends to Olympus,

(swords and spears clanging)

with each god pulling on the rope

of this interminable conflict,

and they have wrought a knot that cannot be untied.

Ares was wounded by Athena,

as was Aphrodite.

Zeus cannot tolerate such a situation.

Gods and goddesses have disobeyed him.

From now on, he declares,

anyone who helps out either camp will be struck down.

(thunder crackles)

They will be hurled into the deepest chasms of hell,

the sunless depths of Tartarus

below the dwelling of Hades,

there where those who dared

to defy Zeus's authority now languish.

(dark, subdued music)

Zeus is staring in particular at his wife Hera

and his daughter Athena who has just returned

from the battlefield.

They, too, have no choice but

to accept the sentence of the god of gods.

At this, Hera gives vent to her rage.

To forbid the gods to intervene is to favor the Trojans,

for, without the gods' help and deprived

of their best warrior Achilles,

the Greeks cannot hope to win.

(discordant, dramatic music)

Galvanized by his mother's anger, Ares,

son of Hera, asks Zeus how much longer he

will tolerate his daughter Athena manipulating men

to attack the immortals.

(eerie, dark music)

He accuses Zeus of protecting his favorite daughter

on the pretext that he bore her himself.

(hawk screeches)

Zeus rebuffs Ares sharply.

(thunder booms)

He orders him to leave Olympus and go

and have his wounds treated by Asclepius, the healing god.

(discordant, brooding music)

He threatens the god of war with a stay

in the Underworld if he still dares express himself.

(thunder crackles)

(horses whinnying)

(soft, chiming, ethereal music)

Then, the god of gods climbs into his chariot,

seizes the whip, lashes his horses with feat of bronze,

and sets off twixt heaven and earth.

No one knows where he is going nor what he is plotting.

But by the expression on his face,

it's clear he has no intention of confining himself

to the role of a mere spectator.

(dramatic music) (birds cawing)

(wings fluttering)

(birds chirping)

Ares has joined Asclepius who lives near Troy.

The healing god is the son of Apollo.

Two of his sons took part in the war against the Greeks

and have already fallen under the blows

of the formidable Achilles.

(dark, brooding music)

When he sent Ares to Asclepius,

Zeus suspected that the god of war, barely treated,

would surreptitiously join the Trojan camp.

He wasn't wrong.

Ares intends to take revenge on Athena and her father,

even though his fate would be to be struck

by the lightning of Zeus and to lie with the dead.

(dramatic music)

Ares stands behind Hector and whispers in his ear.

(dramatic, suspenseful music)

Hector, at the head of his horsemen,

goes back on the offensive.

Very soon, the Greeks are retreating.

Even the fearsome Diomedes seems exhausted

by the offensive he so bravely led.

(swords and spears clanging)

And until nightfall,

the Trojans drive back Agamemnon's soldiers

to the shoreline close to their ships.

(crickets chirping)

(bird calling)

A sad wind blows through the Greek camp,

neither victor nor vanquished.

Old Nestor watches a wall being built

between the plain of Troy and the shore.

He encourages his soldiers.

This wall must be finished before dawn.

Evidently, this wall, even more than those he might

have known in the past, is unpredictable.

(warriors yelling) (swords and spears clanging)

Once again, fortune has changed sides.

The previous day, the Trojans were crumbling

under the blows of the young Diomedes.

Now they're dominating the battle.

Their attacks are more and more urgent.

(heavy marching footsteps)

Nestor did well to order this wall to be built

because if the enemy reaches the boats,

nothing will prevent them from being torched,

and then no Greek will ever see his homeland again.

(dramatic, poignant music)

A man has just crossed the threshold of Priam's palace.

He is walking slowly.

His advanced years force him to rely on a cane.

His name is Antenor, brother-in-law to the king.

After bowing to the sovereign,

he casts a quick glance at those present:

Paris,

Priam,

Hector,

Hecuba,

and, in a corner, Cassandra.

(poignant instrumental music)

(discordant, ominous music)

The old man comes once again to ask

that Helen be returned to her husband

and that the Greeks be paid all the tributes they demand.

All he is doing is expressing the views of the people.

After 10 years of resisting the Greeks,

the people of Troy are exhausted.

Widows and orphans;

such is the kingdom over which Priam now rules.

So many glorious heroes have joined the Land of the Dead.

(dark, foreboding music)

But this time, it is Hector who is opposed.

No need to return Helen to Menelaus.

Are the Trojans not winning?

The Greeks have their backs to the sea.

Their ships are within range of archers' arrows.

Victory is not far off. (swords and spears clanging)

Antenor notes that victory

has been not far off for 10 years.

It vacillates according to the mood of the gods,

now with the Greeks, now with the Trojans.

Ground gained at dawn is lost at dusk.

Offended, Paris reiterates his refusal to return Helen.

Antenor again evokes the interest of the people.

Hector demands more cavalrymen to harrass the Greeks.

Priam looks lost.

(dramatic, moving music)

While the men play at war, two women slip away discreetly,

Queen Hecuba and her daughter, Cassandra.

Cassandra possesses the art of predicting the future.

But because she refused the advances of Apollo,

the god of light condemned her never

to be believed by anybody.

Cassandra could see if Paris didn't return Helen

to Menelaus, then Troy would burn,

and her mother knew this better than anyone.

(dark music)

Hecuba couldn't have forgotten the sinister prophecy

that her own daughter once revealed to her.

(screeches in the distance)

Shortly before giving birth to Paris,

she had seen a torch come out of her belly,

which set the whole city ablaze.

Cassandra immediately affirmed

that the child to be born would be the cause of Troy's ruin.

He had to be put to death if Troy was to be preserved.

Nobody believed her.

(people yelling faintly)

Hecuba and Priam, terrified, accused Cassandra

of not loving her new brother.

(dramatic, moving music)

They put her sudden cruelty down to madness.

However, Hecuba was uneasy

during the handsome Paris's teenage years.

When he was old enough to bear arms,

she found excuses to keep him away from Troy

as a precaution.

(eerie, unsettling music)

She didn't, of course, believe Cassandra's prophecies,

but she had seen that torch burn down her city.

Deep down inside, Hecuba knows that Cassandra isn't wrong.

(heels clicking against tiles)

The choice of Paris is the cause of many

of the Trojans' misfortunes.

(thunder crackling)

(discordant, eerie music)

(wind blowing)

A terrible wind suddenly starts to blow

along the wall built by the Greeks.

Both sea and sky, until then so calm, are raging.

They must strike camp and move the tents far

from the tumultuous waves.

(thunder crackling)

Nestor joins Agamemnon and Ulysses.

They have understood.

In their haste to build the wall

to counter the Trojan assaults,

the Greeks forgot to sacrifice to the god who erects walls,

Poseidon.

He, builder of the invincible wall of Troy,

cannot bear the fact that mere mortals build a wall

without honoring his name.

(dark, brooding music)

Poseidon has been offended.

The three kings turn pale.

They know how touchy the god of the seas and ocean can be.

He punishes all those who forget to offer him a sacrifice.

(horses whinnying) (riveting music)

In the Greek camp, it's a route.

There is no possible salvation

from the anger of the god with the trident.

The fiercest soldiers fall to the ground,

pleading for clemency from the sea god.

(men screaming faintly)

(dramatic music)

This is the moment Hector chooses.

At the head of his horsemen, he sweeps into the Greek camps.

(horses neighing) (swords and spears clanging)

The Trojans seem driven by an invincible force.

And whenever their enemies try to resist,

they are blasted by lightning strikes.

The wall that separates the plain

from the ships is not far away.

Soon, the ships will be in firing range of Hector's archers,

and the Greek fleet will be lost.

(men yelling and clanging swords)

(horse neighing)

In the fray, old Nestor falls wounded to the ground.

There is no one to help him.

(horse neighs)

Diomedes, the young king of Argos,

rushes to Nestor and hoists him onto his chariot.

(whip snaps) (horse neighs)

He sets off with such tempestuousness

that he's about to repel the first of the Trojan horsemen.

(thunder crackling)

But a new series of lightning strikes hits his horses,

which rear up, dashing himself and old Nestor to the ground.

(thunder crackling)

Three times, Diomedes gets back on his chariot,

turns around, and faces the son of Priam.

(dark, suspenseful music)

And three times, he is knocked back by a thunderbolt.

(dramatic, moving music)

Sitting atop Mount Ida, Zeus contemplates the scene.

He saw Ares slip behind Hector

and also Poseidon, foaming with rage

and striking the ground with his trident

to summon thunder and a tidal wave.

He says nothing.

But what does it matter if his son

and brother once again defy his authority?

For he holds in his hands a golden scale,

which seems to amuse him greatly.

They are the scales of fate.

On each of the plates is a figure of death.

One represents the Trojans, the other the Greeks.

But it is the Greeks that dips towards the ground

while the Trojan's is rising skywards.

(men yelling) (swords and spears clanging)

And as soon as the Trojans falter, Zeus, with a breath,

redresses the balance, and the Greeks retreat.

(dark, mysterious music)

The reason he forbade the gods

from taking part in the Trojan war

was to better serve those he wants to win.

What matters to Zeus at this stage of the war

is to honor the promise made to Achilles' mother.

The Trojans will beat the Greeks

until Agamemnon apologizes to the humiliated hero.

(soft, discordant music)

(soft, chiming, mysterious music)

(owl hoots)

Night is falling.

The two armies must stop fighting.

(owl hoots)

In his tent surrounded by his companions,

Agamemnon no longer hides his worry.

The dream sent to him by the master of Olympus was a lie.

He promised him that he would conquer Troy.

But now, he covers him with shame

at the head of an army in bits.

Zeus deceived him.

All that remains is to set sail and return to Greece.

Everything is finished. (thunder crackling)

You cannot fight the king of the gods.

(discordant, eerie music)

Ajax, Ulysses, Menelaus,

all three kings stare at the ground in total silence.

Only after a long time is the voice of Diomedes heard.

If Agamemnon is really thinking of returning to Greece,

then he should go, and those who wish should go with him.

Nobody will hold them back, but he, young Diomedes,

will remain, and others will surely rally to him.

(dramatic, moving, suspenseful music)

They will fight until the end, until Troy is taken

or until their own death by divine lightning bolts.

Old Nestor approves.

There is a way to get out of the dead end

into which the Greeks have strayed.

Nestor says the name on everyone's lips

but that no one dares utter:

Achilles.

(dark, brooding music)

The time has come for Agamemnon

to repair the outrage he inflicted on the hero.

By removing Briseis, the young girl he sees

as his reward for bravery in combat,

he caused Achilles to withdraw.

Achilles waits in his tent, irritated by his own side,

for the king of kings to change his decision

and apologize to him.

Agamemnon understands.

In fact, he understood a long time ago.

(dramatic music)

Without Achilles and his army,

the proud Myrmidons, the Greeks have no chance

of reversing the course of the war.

He hates this idea, but he has no choice.

With death in the soul, he announces that he

is not only willing to return Briseis

but also to shower Achilles with presents.

All welcome the decision of the king Mycenae.

(dramatic, riveting music)

To convey it to the son of Peleus,

Agamemnon chooses Ajax and Ulysses.

(fire crackling)

Achilles is there in his tent, lying on cushions,

at his side, his faithful friend Patroclus.

Surprised, Achilles puts down his lyre.

He rises and asks the kings the reason for their visit.

Ulysses speaks.

He knows that if Achilles doesn't decide

to calm the anger within him, in his heart,

he will miss the tumult of battle.

So Ulysses describes to Achilles the tragedy

that the Greeks have undergone

since he retired from the fight.

Hector, who seems invincible,

the fleet at the risk of being torched, the end approaching.

He pauses and, encouraged by the silence of Achilles,

relays Agamemnon's offer, listing all the presents

that the king of kings will lay at his feet

if the hero agrees to return and fight by their sides.

(suspenseful, riveting music)

Will Achilles agree to curb his great anger?

Silence falls once more.

Ulysses stares at Achilles.

On this part of the Earth, hearts beat faster.

Will Achilles

agree?

(suspenseful music)

(dramatic, riveting music)