The miniseries Troy: Fall of a City, which originally aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom in spring 2018 and was thereafter distributed internationally on Netflix, created quite a stir of controversy due to the fact that, in the series, the characters Zeus and Achilles are portrayed by black actors. Many people attacked the series, accusing it of “blackwashing.”
It is true that, in ancient Greece, Achilles and Zeus were both consistently portrayed as what most people today would generally consider “white.” That being said, I think that most of the outrage over the fact that Troy: Fall of a City portrays Achilles and Zeus as black is motivated more by racial prejudice than by actual concern for faithfulness to traditional portrayals.
A little clarification
Just to be clear, before I say anything more about how the show portrayed Zeus and Achilles, I would like to note that, overall, I actually enjoyed the show Troy: Fall of a City. I know it got horrible ratings; I know most of the critics hated it; and I am sure everyone is probably going to lambast me in the comments for saying this, but I am still going to say it right away to make it clear. Honestly, apart from the obvious changes to characters’ appearances, Troy: Fall of a City was actually in many ways more faithful to the original myths than most other modern adaptations of the story of the Trojan War.
For one thing, the show portrayed most of the major events leading up to the Trojan War, including the Judgement of Paris, Paris’s return to Troy and Priam’s recognition of him as his son, Paris’s visit to Sparta and his seduction of Helen, the recruitment of Odysseus for the Greek army, the sacrifice of Iphigenia, and other mythical events from the early years of the war, which is something very few modern adaptations have done.
Troy: Fall of a City even included the Greek gods, which is something almost no adaptations of the story of the Trojan War have dared to do for the past half century, since it seems to be generally accepted among modern writers that having real, supernatural deities actively participating in your story is considered “campy” and “un-serious” and something that modern audiences just do not want. Granted, the show did severely minimize the gods’ involvement in the story and they barely appeared at all in the second half of the series, but they were at least there to start out with.
I do have a few serious complaints about the show. For instance, the dialogue could have been much better and the pacing was rather uneven. Also, there was a point towards the end where the writers seemed like they were desperately trying to convince everyone that Troy wasn’t going to fall. That bit really confused me—not only because Troy falls in literally every other adaptation of the story, but also because the series itself is called Troy: Fall of a City. You can’t give your series a title like that and then try to make the ending in which Troy falls seem like a surprise.
Overall, though, I actually liked it. I suppose it is possible that my enjoyment of it may have had more to do with seeing my favorite stories acted out on screen than with the show itself. Anyways, now that I have that confession off my chest, let us move on to discuss how the show portrayed Zeus and Achilles and how the show’s portrayal does not line with how the ancient Greeks imagined these characters.
ABOVE: Promotional image for the BBC miniseries Troy: Fall of a City
Achilles
In the Iliad, Achilles’s hair is described as ξανθός (xanthós). This is a Greek word that is often translated as “blond,” but, as I discuss in this article from May 2020, it actually refers to more of a reddish-brownish-blond color. It is related to the verb ξανθίζω (xanthízō), which literally means “to make golden brown” and generally refers to the process of cooking something. Thus, the word ξανθός is perhaps better translated as “tawny.”
Further evidence that the ancient Greeks imagined Achilles as fair-haired comes from the fact that, when he was living as a woman on the island of Skyros, he is said to have taken the name Πύρρα (Pýrrha), which is derived from the Greek word πῦρ (pŷr), meaning “fire.” Achilles is supposed to have taken this name because he had fiery red hair. Similarly, Achilles’s son Neoptolemos was also known as Πύρρος (Pýrrhos), which is the masculine form of Πύρρα.
In ancient Greek artistic depictions that attempt to show skin color in an at least vaguely realistic manner, Achilles is not evidently portrayed as having dark skin, nor is he shown with any stereotypically African characteristics. (For instance, see the depiction of Achilles in the polychromatic vase painting shown below, which is dated to c. 300 BC.)
ABOVE: Ancient Greek polychromatic vase painting dating to c. 300 BC depicting Achilles dressed in armor and a plumed helmet slaying Memnon, the king of the Aithiopians
As far as anyone can tell, in ancient Greece, Achilles was never envisioned as what we today would call “black.” Nonetheless, in Troy: Fall of a City, he is portrayed by David Gyasi, a British actor of Ghanaian ancestry. This portrayal has triggered a lot of people, who are angry that Achilles is not portrayed as a white man with blond hair.
ABOVE: David Gyasi as Achilles in the 2018 BBC One miniseries Troy: Fall of a City
In all honesty, if I had been in charge of the show, I probably wouldn’t have chosen to portray Achilles as black, but I am not at all angry that the people who did the casting for Troy: Fall of a City chose to make him black. In fact, I actually thought David Gyasi’s performance was quite good.
It is important to remember that Achilles’s appearance has always been open to a certain degree of interpretation. Even ancient Greek depictions of Achilles have a fair bit of variation. Pretty much the only things that are agreed upon across portrayals are that he is young, clean-shaven, handsome, and muscular. David Gyasi is arguably all of those things.
Furthermore, we must also remember that, because films and television shows offer very few lead roles for black actors, it is extremely difficult for talented black actors to make names for themselves in the industry. In giving the role of Achilles to David Gyasi, the casting executives gave a talented black actor the opportunity to get ahead.
Zeus
I am actually more disappointed in the show’s portrayal of Zeus than its portrayal of Achilles because, unlike Achilles, Zeus’s iconography is pretty much universally agreed upon. Everyone knows what Zeus is “supposed to look like.” The god’s image is instantly iconic. Even if you know nothing about Greek mythology, you probably know that Zeus looks like this:
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of an ancient Greek marble statue of Zeus wielding his thunderbolt from the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor, dating to roughly the third century AD
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of the Otricoli Zeus, a Roman marble head of Zeus on display in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of an ancient Roman marble colossal head of Zeus from the British Museum
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a gold slater of Zeus from Lampsakos dating to c. 360 – c. 340 BC
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a Roman bronze and marble sculpture of Zeus enthroned with an eagle by his side, probably based on the earlier Greek Statue of Zeus at Olympia by Pheidias
ABOVE: Minerva and the Triumph of Jupiter, painted in 1706 by the French Neoclassical painter René-Antoine Houasse
ABOVE: Modern portrayal of Zeus I found on Google Images
Pretty much every depiction of Zeus you can find agrees on the basic details of his appearance:
- He has long, flowy hair and a long, flowy beard.
- He is usually seen holding either a scepter or a thunderbolt.
- He wears a himation draped over his right shoulder and wrapped around his waist.
- He is often accompanied by an eagle.
This, on the other hand, is how they chose to portray Zeus in Troy: Fall of a City:
ABOVE: Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Zeus in the BBC miniseries Troy: Fall of a City
No hair. No beard. No scepter. No thunderbolt. No himation. No eagle. Other than the name, what is there to tell me this guy is supposed to be Zeus?
To be very clear here, I am not mad over this; I was just confused and a little disappointed. I did not even realize this guy was supposed to be Zeus until the second episode. I kept wondering all through the first episode, “Who is the black guy in the cloak with the deep voice?”
I can totally understand them making Zeus black, but, come on guys, you’ve got to keep at least some part of the traditional iconography to make him recognizable as Zeus. Give him long, curly hair and a beard, a himation, a thunderbolt, and maybe an eagle. When he doesn’t even have the hair or the beard, no one can tell he’s supposed to be Zeus!
A bit of hypocrisy
All this being said, I think that there is quite a bit of hypocrisy here when it comes to the people complaining about how the producers of Troy: Fall of City chose to portray mythical figures. Everyone is all upset about Zeus and Achilles being black, but no one is upset about any of the show’s other deviations from traditional iconography. For instance, just to give one example, no one is mad about the fact that this is how they chose to portray Aphrodite:
ABOVE: Lex King as Aphrodite in Troy: Fall of a City
I am not aware of a single ancient Greek or Roman depiction of Aphrodite that portrays her with red hair. All the ancient depictions I am aware of show her with either blond hair or black hair. Sure, there are modern portrayals of Aphrodite with red hair (William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s Birth of Venus comes to mind), but I am not aware of any ancient ones.
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of an early fourth-century BC Attic polychromatic terra-cotta vessel depicting the birth of Aphrodite, showing her with blond hair
ABOVE: Mural depicting the birth of Aphrodite from the Case di Venus in the Roman city of Pompeii, dating to the first century AD, showing her with black hair
To be clear, I am not saying that I have a problem with Aphrodite being a redhead in the show; I don’t really have a problem with it—just like I don’t really have a problem with Achilles being portrayed as black. I am merely pointing out the hypocrisy of the fact that people are getting all upset that Achilles and Zeus are portrayed as black and there are tons of people throwing winy temper tantrums about “black Achilles,” but not a single person that I am aware of has thrown even the slightest temper tantrum over “redhead Aphrodite.”
Granted, Aphrodite was a somewhat less visible character in the show than Zeus and Achilles were, but you have to consider the fact that people only threw huge temper tantrums over changes to the characters’ appearances in cases of traditionally white characters being portrayed as non-white.
This strongly signals to me that all the outrage online over Zeus and Achilles being portrayed as black is not really outrage over the fact that the characters look different from how they are traditionally portrayed, but rather outrage over the fact that traditionally white characters are being portrayed specifically as black.
If the producers of Troy: Fall of a City had portrayed Achilles as a white man with a huge green afro wig, a handlebar mustache, a two-foot-long, bright blue beard, a modern Kevlar vest instead of armor, and an AK-47 instead of a spear, I bet most people would have just shrugged it off and said “You know what, it’s creative license.”
Portraying Achilles as black, though—that sends a message to the closet racists out there that western culture does not just belong to white people. It sends the message that black people are part of the western story. Not only that, but it sends the message that black people have always been part of the western story, even since the very beginning.
And that idea really makes a lot of people angry because there are, unfortunately, lots of people who do not think black people should be part of the western story.
The black characters Troy: Fall of a City left out
The irony here is that black people actually do feature prominently in Greek mythology. In fact, they even feature prominently in the story of the Trojan War itself; there are several highly significant, canonically black characters in the story of the Trojan War that Troy: Fall of a City completely omitted.
The ancient Greeks told plenty of stories about the Aithiopians, or “burnt-faced people,” who lived on the far edge of the world, close to where the sun rises and sets. Because of this, the ancient Greeks said their skin was burnt black by the heat of the sun. The Aithiopians were supposedly beloved by the gods and they were among the few peoples among whom the gods could walk openly.
ABOVE: Map from Wikimedia Commons showing the world as it is described by the fifth-century BC Greek historian Herodotos of Halikarnassos in his Histories. Notice the “Ethiopians” living in the far south of Africa.
The most famous Aithiopian in Greek mythology is Memnon, the king of Aithiopia, who was an ally of the Trojans during the Trojan War and led a massive army of Aithiopians against the Achaians. He was the son of the Trojan prince Tithonos and the goddess Eos and he wore armor that had been forged by the god Hephaistos himself. He was renowned as one of the greatest warriors who ever fought and was on par with Achilles.
Memnon was such an epic warrior that the ancient Greeks actually had an epic poem about him (well, partly about him at least) called the Aithiopis, which was five books in length and part of the so-called “Epic Cycle.” Unfortunately, the poem itself has now been lost, but several summaries of its contents have survived. According to the Aithiopis, the Achaian hero Antilochos, the son of Nestor, killed Memnon’s dear comrade Aisopos on the field of battle, so Memnon killed Antilochos. Nestor, Antilochos’s father, begged Achilles to kill Memnon and avenge Antilochos’s death.
Achilles confronted Memnon of the field of battle. The heroes were evenly matched and they fought for a long time before Achilles finally stabbed Memnon through the heart with his spear, killing him. Memnon’s mother Eos, however, loved Memnon so much that she begged Zeus to bring him back to life and make him an immortal god. Zeus obliged.
ABOVE: A wider view of the polychromatic vase painting I showed earlier of Achilles killing Memnon
Ancient Greek depictions of Memnon as African
Much like other Aithiopians from Greek mythology, such as Kassiopeia, Kepheus, and Andromeda, in many ancient Greek depictions of him, Memnon actually looks like what we would normally call “white,” even though he is supposed to be an Aithiopian. (I suppose this only proves that whitewashing happened even as far back as ancient Greece.)
Nonetheless, some ancient Greek and Roman depictions of Memnon do clearly show him with African features. Unfortunately, in many cases, these features are exaggerated in what we would consider a racist manner. For instance, an ancient Greek black-figure vase painting dated to between c. 550 and c. 525 BC that is currently on display in the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels portrays an Athiopian warrior (probably Memnon) with thick red lips, a short, broad nose, and a projecting lower face—features that have been stereotypically associated with Africans throughout history.
(The Aithiopian warrior in the vase painting is also portrayed with black skin, while the Amazons on either side of him are portrayed with white skin. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything, however, since, in Greek black-figure vase paintings, all men are portrayed with black skin and all women are portrayed with white skin. That’s just part of the artistic style and it has nothing to do with race.)
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of an ancient Greek black-figure vase painting dating to c. 550 – c. 525 BC, showing the Aithiopian warrior Memnon with stereotypically African features
A more realistic Roman marble portrait head of a young man with African features dated to around 170 AD was discovered in the ruined villa of the wealthy Athenian philosopher Herodes Atticus, which is located in the region of Arkadia in the central Peloponnesos. The bust is currently on display in the Antikensammlung Berlin.
The portrait head in the Berlin Antikensammlung does not depict the mythical Aithiopian king Memnon, but it does depict Herodes Atticus’s adoptive son and protégé, who was named “Memnon” after the mythical Aithiopian king. The fact that an actual black man was named after Memnon strongly suggests that at least whoever named him thought of Memnon as what we would consider black.
The Memnon shown in the portrait head from the Berlin Antikensammlung is reported to have been an extraordinarily talented student and orator, whom Herodes Atticus loved greatly. Unfortunately, he died at a relatively young age, which left Herodes Atticus devastated.
ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a Roman marble portrait head of Memnon, the black adoptive son of the Athenian philosopher Herodes Atticus, who was named after the famous Aithiopian king Memnon
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Modern representations of Memnon more consistently show him as a black African. An engraving by the French engraver Bernard Picart (lived 1673 – 1733), for instance, clearly depicts him as such.
Disappointingly, Memnon is totally absent from nearly all modern adaptations of the story of the Trojan War, perhaps because his story is so similar to Hektor’s. I, however, think that Troy: Fall of a City could have perhaps benefited from inclusion of Memnon and his army of Aithiopians.
ABOVE: Engraving of a nude Memnon by the French engraver Bernard Picard (lived 1673 – 1733) depicting him as a black man
Regarding redhead Aphrodite, they probably take her look from Botticelli’s rendition of Venus, which is rather known.
Aphrodite’s hair in Botticelli’s painting has always looked more blond than red to me personally, but, looking at it again, I could definitely see how someone could see it as red. In any case, this still proves my point that myths can change and that the iconography of mythical figures can change as well.
Priam was the brother of Tithonus who was the father of Memnon. So Hector and Paris were just as Black as their African cousin Memnon lol I once had this discussion with a good friend from Greece that is very familiar with their mythology which borrowed their gods and goddesses from black Africans.
As usual, you skillfully separate the concerns of people who genuinely *care* about ancient culture and artistic integrity from the popular misconceptions of those who seek to appropriate every cultural artifact they can in the service of contemporary if regressive political power. Let’s be honestly and deeply appreciative of both past and present truths. Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you so much! I do try my best.
Do you answer the question in the headline? Or have I missed it? Or have I missed your point with writing it?
I did answer the question. The answer is that we currently have no evidence to indicate that the ancient Greeks imagined Achilles or Zeus as black. Nonetheless, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is wrong for a modern television series to portray them as black; myths can change and modern storytellers are not bound to portray characters in the same way that the ancients portrayed them.
Thank you for the answer.
I don’t understand what you mean with “myth can change”. Interpretations can change and in our world it seems to be about sending a political signal which is okay, because that is how it works. I am from Denmark myself and if I saw a portrayal of gods and goddesses from Nordic mythology portrayed by people other than Scandinavians I would it strange and forced to put it mildly. Just as strange and forced as if I saw African or South-East Asian gods portrayed by Scandinavians. Scandinavia 1000 years ago had a more homogenenous population than today and pretending otherwise is to my mind silly. People can portray myths however they like. But it would not have any inherent value by itself.
Rasmus, I agree 💯%. If Genghis Khan was played by a red headed Irishmen or Cleopatra as a blonde haired blue eyed Scandinavian the masses would question the director’s racial thought process. It’s a flip-flop standard. I understand historical movies/series can’t always be 100% accurate, but It’s gotta be somewhat believable to carry any validity. The show had potential, but I didn’t make it past the first couple episodes. It’s the principality of the whole thing. Netflix is becoming a buzzkill like the rest of pandemic 2020. Have a Dixie day!
Strangely enough there is at least one report from the 14th century that claimed Genghis Khan had red hair and green eyes…so maybe an Irishman playing him isn’t that out of the question.
I totally disagree as a greek. Anglo-Saxon are using my culture and the religion of my ancestors for money purpose. You must have at least the decency to respect the original material. Because yes, unfortunately we greeks are totally invisible in those shows when it talk particularly about us.
For Memnon, there are no clear sources if he was considered as “white” or “black”. The term aithiopian had many meanings which changed drastically through the centuries. The aithiopian of Homer and early Greeks weren’t black but Near Eastern while the Aithiopian from Vth century (and later) were seen as subsaharan african. Again don’t speak about things you don’t understand yourself (books exist).
Fairly good article. In my view Brad Pitt as Achilles is as stupid as David Gyasi. Why not just get Greek actors, or at least those with a stereotypical ‘Mediterranean’ physical appearance?
https://hollywood.greekreporter.com/2018/01/19/why-is-achilles-never-greek-in-hollywood/
I agree. When I imagine a stereotypical Greek woman I always think of Maria Callas.
I think that the reason of the depiction of Achilles is controversial and Aphrodite as are did not is not hypocriticasy. Most people “know” that Achillies is white and not black. The visual difference between a white blond Greek and a dark bald African is much more noticeable than the difference between a blond white women and a white woman with red hair, that looks almost blond. (I am going on the picture that you posted, I wouldn’t have noticed that she has red hair unless you said).
I suspect if Achilles was played by a white actor with dark hair it wouldn’t be controversial, partly because people wouldn’t know it. Of course race relations and ideology have to do with it, especially because these online controversies amplify the voices of the extreme. This certainly needs to be viewed in context of the general controversy over the roll of race in casting. The term blackwashing makes this clear. A lot of people have a hard time buying or even understanding the argument why “colorblind casting” is considered good when it benefits black actors than when it benefits white.
I do think it is also important that not to assume to many people care too much about these things. My guess is the majority of people would have preferred a white actor, but don’t see it as important. I also imagine the controversy is good for the movie. It is, I think potentially dangerous to dismiss all who found the criticized the casting as racist. Certainly some people really are just pedantic and even you found the depiction of Zeus a bit confusing. I think even when someone has just a vague idea of what a fictional character looks like, and these characters are then this perception is contradicted, it creates a cognitive dissonance. I think that is something different than thinking that black people shouldn’t be in a story seen as western.
Arguing the skin-color of Greek gods is ridiculous, in my opinion. They would have looked like Greek people. Gods are created in the image of those that construct them. That’s why the Norse gods looked like Scandinavian and had Scandinavian values.
Good article by the way.
I beg to differ, it certainly is “blackwashing.” It’s happening across the board in all of western culture particularly the cinema but only in the west oddly. Woke politics and postmodernist social justice themes have infected every element of media, academia and now our very history; 1619 project et al. Criticism of Obama’s policies Title IX etc-racist, don’t support the Marxist principles behind BLM-racist, bring up statistics about black on white rape-racist and criticize the portrayal of Zeus as black then you’re a racist. The implications are laughably clear; black people are amazing, white people suck and if you disagree well of course you’re racist.
Magnus,
It’s hard to be 100% sure about what you mean when you don’t write in complete sentences. As to “bring up statistics of black on white rape- racist,” I can tell you that since rape crisis work was my profession for many years, rape is most frequently committed by perpetrators of the same race as the victim. This may be in part due to 3 factors that tend to govern rapists’ ability to rape: perceived vulnerability of the victim, accessibility to the victim, victim having less credibility than the perpetrator. Statistically *the only* exception to the rule that perpetrators are most often the same race as the victim is among Native American women, who are more likely to be raped by white men than by Native men. That is the exception statistically.
Black on white rape is not common, although the criminal justice system tends to skew along power lines so it is more often reported to law enforcement, convicted and sentenced. During the era of slavery, white rape of black women was apparently fairly common. Today, most rapists are still white men and if you broaden the category to “sexual assault,” it is 78% white men who perpetrate. So the black-on-white rape anxiety seems like a projection of guilt, popularized in D.W. Griffiths’ *Birth of a Nation* and confronted in *To Kill a Mockingbird* where the true victim of the sexual assault is the black man who is murdered after a white woman perpetrator of sexual harassment against him accuses him. History has multiple real life examples of this fear of black on white rape as a pretext for lynching, carried out most famously against Emmett Till, a teenager who was brutally murdered for whistling at a white woman.
Also, during nearly a decade of working as a sexual assault survivor advocate, when I finally got *one* disclosure of a black man raping a white woman, she reported (it isn’t the majority of women who report and this was a date rape on campus, usually handled in house). Unlike literally *any* other similar case I had seen where a police report was made, the police arrested him immediately. It made our heads spin at the agency where I worked to see the astonishingly faster, harsher treatment of the case.
Given these facts, perhaps you can understand why perpetuating myths about this might cause uninformed people to think you are a racist. I am not uninformed. I think you live in a racist society and have access to information and systems biased along racist lines and that you are probably experiencing things in your personal life that cause you to form this narrative. Just as you believe, as you have outlined above, the contrary about me and the society we live in. Which of us is correct about the prevailing bias of our society? Statistics about punishments for the same crimes for people of different races tend to bear me out. But just out of curiosity, what would be the significance to you, what would you want to prove if allowed to speak about black on white violence without being confronted with the historic context of that claim by racists? What would be your not-racist goal in telling us about black on white rape and those other things you listed?
The thing is, it wasn’t just Zeus and Achilles who were played by Black actors. Add such big names as Athena, Patroclus, and Nestor among team Greece, to say nothing of notable leaders and allies among team Troy. Is there evidence for such multi-racial representation among the major players of the ancient Greek world of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey? Based on your article, it is limited at best.
I found David Gyasi’s portrayal of Achilles powerful, and perfectly suitable for the archetype of legendary-warrior-in-epic-protracted-siege-war, though not specifically the very well-known Achilles of Homer’s Iliad. I agree that the depiction of Zeus is an even further affront to the established imagery (in the first episode, I thought he was Hades). Given the lengths TFOAC’s particular adaptation of The Iliad goes to stay true to the minor threads and subplots of the epic, it is hard to ignore the distractingly forced multiracial casting that was so obviously coerced by modern inclusivity agendas.
And not everyone who takes pause at so many prominent casting deviations is a closet racist (though some may well be). Personally, I would have found all the subject characters just as perplexing had they been played by any actors of non-Caucasian/Mediterranean appearance (i.e., the people who the story is about). The same goes for stories set in other parts of the world. It would be just as strange to see, say, Genghis Khan played by a white actor, or Henry VIII played by an Asian actor, just as it would be bizarre to see Shaka Zulu played by someone who isn’t Black, or Pocahontas played by someone who isn’t at least passingly Native American.
None of this is to say that there is anything wrong per se with cross-racial casting. It is a decision productions are free to make as long as they own the reception, good or bad. But it isn’t accurate, or fair, to reflexively presume that anyone who might simply prefer more true-to-life, or at least true-to-source depictions of iconic characters, is racist.
Besides the fact that when depicting supposedly historically accurate stories the injection of modern multicultural populations is just not correct, and definitely gives a casual viewer a wrong idea that ancient cities were full of folks from all parts of the planet. This was not the case as most people never travelled further than 50-100 miles away from their birthplace In their entire life. Beyond that, what I find most obnoxious about this sort of casting is that it only works in one direction. So it is okay to have an English king portrayed by a black actor, or a Greek god, etc, but it is most definitely NOT okay for a white actor to play Malcolm X or Shaka Zulu or Kublai Khan. It is that hypocrisy that bugs me. And before you say there aren’t enough roles for actors of different ethnicities, I’ll simply point to Bollywood, or the Hong Kong and Chinese film. These are huge industries and employ almost exclusively non-white actors. So it really shouldn’t come as some surprise that in a primarily white country the roles are cast with mostly white actors.
The Iliad is not a work of history; it is a work of fictional literature. Likewise, Troy: Fall of a City is a fictional television series. Neither the Iliad nor Troy: Fall of a City is an accurate representation of the Aegean Bronze Age. Neither work even claims to be an accurate representation of the Aegean Bronze Age either. If the makers of the show were trying to make it an accurate portrayal of the Aegean Bronze Age, Black Achilles would be the least of their historical inaccuracies.
It takes place in what is a historically contemporary setting. It is not for example set in a fictional place or an imagined time but what was considered contemporary time in known locations for much of the story. But that isn’t really my main point. Which is the push for diversity in casting really only seems to work one way. Any attempt to have a white actor play a role of a prominent black historical figure would likely meet with enough backlash that the production would have to change their choice or be shut down. And I don’t see any pressure on Bollywood to increase their use of white or non-Indian actors.
Seems very hypocritical and targeted.
There is, in fact, a very good reason why the push for diversity in casting only goes one way; it’s because people of color have long been oppressed in the English-speaking world, and films and television shows made in the English-speaking world are overwhelmingly reserved for white people. By giving traditionally white roles to Black actors, makers of films and television shows can help give those actors the opportunity for success. By giving traditionally Black roles to white actors, though, they would just be promoting the exclusion of Black people from the entertainment industry and denying Black people representation.
I see you fail to address the fact that there is no push to diversify Bollywood ( which is bigger than Hollywood) or any other film industry. No one is asking for black actors to portray a Japanese emperor in a made in Tokyo film.
Do you think it unusual
That in a predominantly “white” country films produced for primarily “white” audiences will contain mostly “white “ actors? That isn’t oppression, that’s marketing. Given that in the USA blacks represent 13% of the population, they are at present over represented in most media. They make up well over 13% of artists in the music industry, there are entire TV networks dedicated to showing Exclusively black Created content and over the past decade approximately 20% of film roles have been played by black actors. So there is over representation in most major media categories and have been for at least the past ten years. Despite there continues to be a push to be more inclusive. Why? Personally I am of the opinion that artistic talent isn’t native to any particular culture or race and really dislike the forced diversity quotas. But if one side insists on playing that game, then let’s be honest and apply it fAirly in all entertainment outlets. 65% of all NBA players need to be “white”. Any Bollywood movies which are screened in the USA need to have 13% of the cast be black. See how ridiculous that is when you apply that sort of logic globally. I am just tired of the apologists who feel the need to try to diminish or exclude from western culture those who make up the vast majority of the population or vilify those who have made art/media to be consumed by those majorities.
Sean, that is one seriously lazy and poorly-argued post.
Do you notice anything anything about the historical figures you chose? All three of their stories are primarily based around conflict with groups of people who are of other races. Malcolm X against the white American system, Shaka Zulu versus the British Empire, and Kublai Khan’s expansion westward. What I’m getting at is, in all of these examples ( which YOU chose ) the race & nationality is a very important part of the history.
Now I speak as both someone with Greek heritage as well as a huge hobbyist of Ancient Hellenic culture and all things related. Race is almost irrelevant to the telling of the story, especially since the show runners decided to omit Memnon and the Ethiopians, as the author of the article mentions. One could argue that if they did include that part of the story, perhaps it wouldn’t be so narratively clear using black actors in traditionally white roles. Although that doesn’t make much sense either because it’s not hard to tell someone of Ghanian descent from someone with Ethiopian / east-African heritage. I’m rambling now but I hope you understand where I’m coming from.
P.s. No Greek or Cypriot ( who isn’t racist ) cares that Greek heroes are being played by black actors, I think we’re just more upset that they’re NEVER played by Mediterranean actors! At this point I’m just happy to see a change from the white-British portrayal of Mediterranean people.
Exactly
“Cool story, bruh”
I don’t why people have a problem with with Black actors playing the part of Zeus and Achilles. White actors have been playing the part of Jesus for decades.
The Ancient Greeks were of a dark hue. In Modern times, the conqueror has painted the faces in their images to control the perception of dominance. They also had to create a history for themselves because they have none. Any time you look up an ancient person and their date of birth only has AD or BC, but no month or day, means they did not exists.
Any contemporary reference which used BC in its dating system is obviously fabricated of course.
The second I realised Achilles was black, it ruined all believability for me. I had to turn it off. I was just getting in to the show, I had only just managed to get over the poor casting choices of the other characters. For example: Agamemnon was poorly portrayed. Small and weak in demeanor. He did not look at all like the King of Kings he was meant to be. Helen seemed a little too old and menelaus did not feel right. However I forgave these poor choices in favour of the historical accuracy, the ships, the costumes, the props, I was trying my hardest to get on board up until I saw Achilles. Now I saw Zeus too, but had no idea who he was meant to be until I read this article.
So let me explain why Achilles was the last straw. I had just finished reading the great book “Song of Achilles” and built up a mental picture of what Achillies may have looked like. You mention the hair colour could have been misinterpreted but nowhere whas he descibed as African with no hair!! Why would they change a character so completely but try to mimic the rest? Why even bother with any historical accuracy if they will make such huge changes to the very well known characters. Zeus I can forgive. He could change to mimic any form, why he would choose African when approaching Greeks is beyond me but still, it’s plausable. They could have put Memnon in played by a Black actor. That would make complete sense. But not Achilles!
I agree with the others that said they would have prefered Greek actors over “white”. Personally I don’t care what nationality the actors are as long as the can “ACT” Greek. We have costumes for a reason. We try to make the characters believable. We have Actors that change there accent to fit the role. It’s called ACTING. This show is so bad on so many levels. Firstly they should have tanned all the actors / hired darker skin actors to better represent the hot climate, they should have at least tried to speak with less of an English accent. But accent can be forgiven as it would be impossible to know how the Ancient Greeks sounded.
I am a strong believer of casting as close to the character as it was intended as possible. Black Panther worked great. Every other black role I’ve seen in TV and Film I have never thought twice about. Black storm trooper? Why not? no one said they were all white. But Achilles? I’m sorry, I can’t. Why did they bother to try to make Actors look like their character counterparts in the Crown? Because we know what they are meant to look like. What do you think casting a Black woman as Queen Elisabeth would have done to the ratings? It would have tanked so hard. Why? because of racism? Of course not. And should not be assumed! Because it breaks immersion. Your brain tells you this can’t be right and takes you right out. Enough with assuming everything is racist. Assuming everything is racist is in it’s self racist in my eyes as it’s drawing clear lines in the sand where there aught not be. We are all humans. Get over it. Thank you.
You’re mad about Achilles being portrayed as a black man but you people have been doing this since forever. Look at all of the Egyptian based movies they always have a white person playing Cleopatra or one of the ancient Kings or Queens. Look how damn near the whole world thought Jesus was white and many people still do. The scriptures clearly said his skin was like burnt brass, yet Europeans still took it upon themselves to make him look like a white man and confuse the world. Achilles was not a real person so it doesnt matter who plays him in a role, that’s why its called MYTHology, this is the same way I felt when I found out Jesus wasn’t white and his name wasn’t really Jesus.
Cleopatra VII was a hellenized woman of 100% Macedonian ancestry. So yes a “white” lady.
Jesus was created by the Roman Imperial Family, and since they were pretty white it only makes sense that their new god for their new religion looks somewhat like they did.
It is true that most of Cleopatra VII Philopator’s known ancestors were Makedonian Greeks. Nonetheless, your claim that Cleopatra VII was “of 100% Macedonian ancestry” is certainly inaccurate, since, as I discuss in this article I wrote about her in January 2020, we do know for a fact that she had at least one very remote Sogdian ancestor on her father’s side.
Furthermore, Cleopatra VII’s mother’s identity is unknown. The scholar Duane W. Roller presents what I think is a quite plausible argument in his book Cleopatra: A Biography, published by Oxford University Press in 2010, that Cleopatra VII’s mother was a secondary wife of her father Ptolemaios XII Auletes and that she may have been of mixed Makedonian and Egyptian ancestry. This does not necessarily mean that Cleopatra VII was what most Americans today would consider Black, but it does mean that she might have been, since we do know that some ancient Egyptian people were Black.
Now, to address your second claim here, Jesus was certainly not “created by the Roman imperial family.” That’s an easily debunked conspiracy theory that has been promoted in recent years by a popular author named Joseph Atwell, whom even other Mythicists like Richard Carrier regard as a complete crackpot. His theories have about as much water to them as the theory that John F. Kennedy faked his own death and went on to orchestrate the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It’s that level of ridiculous.
The Ptolemy dynasty followed The pharaonic tradition Of sibling marriages. That cleopatra 7 had a distant single relative who was of indigenous stock would barely contribute to her physical appearance. With the separation from the indigenous population the ruling class maintained and their constant incest marriages, it is super disingenuous to suggest she was anything other than ethnically Macedonian.
As for the theories about Jesus, none of them actually hold water depending on what your expectation of evidence is. Every single theory can be discredited relatively easily despite having what seems to be a lot of support. Was he a divine being? Was he some unlucky preacher who ran afoul of his religion’s leaders? Was he a character that was made up 100%. Each have their supporters and each fails certain tests. So what if I find this latest bit of theorizing compelling? It’s very much a follow the money and who benefits theory.
It’s worth noting that, as I discuss in this article I wrote about Jesus’s appearance in March 2020, none of the works that are included in the canonical Bible say anything about what Jesus’s skin color looked like while he was alive on earth, nor do any of the early apocryphal Christian sources that have survived to the present day.
The line about “burnt brass” that AI references here is actually from the Book of Revelation 1:15, which is not a description of Jesus as he looked on earth, but rather a highly symbolic description of a terrifying apparition of the celestial Jesus that appears to John of Patmos in a vision. The same apparition of Jesus has eyes like flame, a face like the sun, and a sharp, double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. Also, the passage only says that Jesus’s feet were like “burnished bronze,” not the rest of his skin; the same passage states that “his head and his hair were white as wool,” which makes it sound like, in this particular vision, different parts of Jesus’s body are different colors.
Historically speaking, Jesus probably was not what most Americans today would consider white, but that passage from the Book of Revelation is not the evidence that supports this conclusion. The best evidence that Jesus was probably not white is the fact that he was born in the Middle East to Middle Eastern parents.
Unimaginative, I’m very confused by your complaint about Agamemnon being portrayed as “small and weak” in Troy: Fall of a City. Agamemnon is portrayed in the show by the English actor Johnny Harris, who is a very tall man at a height of 6’1″ (185.42 centimeters). I don’t see any world in which that counts as “small,” especially when you consider that the average man in the Greek Bronze Age was probably only about 5’5″.
If you’re complaining about the show’s portrayal of Agamemnon’s character, I’m sorry to tell you that his portrayal in the show is very much in line with how he’s portrayed in the Iliad. If anything, the character of Agamemnon in the Iliad is even more of a pathetic jerk than the character in Troy: Fall of a City. In the Iliad, he’s portrayed as petulant, insecure, self-obsessed, and a poor leader. He can’t even stop his own troops from mutinying in Book Two, forcing Odysseus to intervene on his behalf.
I’m also confused by what you say about Helen of Troy being “a little too old.” Helen is portrayed in the show by the German actress Bella Dayne, who, according to her Wikipedia page, was born in either 1987 or 1988. Filming for the show took place in 2017, so Dayne was about twenty-nine or thirty years old at the time. Greek women were usually forced to marry when they were in their mid-to-late teenaged years. In mythology, Helen had already been married to Menelaos for at least several years by the time she went away with Paris, which means she must have most likely been at least in her early twenties at the beginning of the Trojan War.
The Trojan War itself lasted for ten years, which means Helen must have been at least in her early thirties by the end and perhaps significantly older than that, depending on how long she and Menelaos were married before the war. Therefore, as I see it, Dayne is either about the age that Helen must have been at the end of the Trojan War or perhaps actually younger.
Finally, with regard to your claim that casting a Black actor as Achilles “breaks immersion,” I find it interesting that you think that, because it says an awful lot about how you think about the world. Troy: Fall of a City depicts anthropomorphic deities with supernatural powers meddling in human affairs, prophets who can foresee the destruction of cities decades in advance, and all kinds of other wildly implausible things, but, for some reason, those don’t seem to “break immersion” for you. Instead, the one thing you find so implausible in the whole show that it “breaks immersion” is the fact that it portrays a few Black people as being present in Asia Minor in the twelfth century BCE.
And yet you say this has nothing to do with racism.
I must say this, Zeus is black I’ve seen plenty of depictions of Zeus as a black man. We all know most of history has been whitewashed hell everybody think Are white. Sorry they wasn’t. But ppl got the nerve to say this show is being black washed. Y’all only know the bull shit lies that always being told, that white is above all. And searching for this on Google only gives you the white wash version of most things.
Excuse me but how do blacks take away from European culture?????? You just made my day with this, you people are very delusional people. Greek Mythology is a common example. We live in a country that consists of many different races so of course everyone will borrow from each other, but you have the nerve to think we want to steal your culture, what culture??? Caucasians are known culture vultures, they dont want to accept black people or any other culture unless its for their conveniency. Look at damn near every genre of music was created by a black person from Rock, Country to Jazz and hip hop. People like Rosetta Tharpe, Chuck Berry and other performers were robbed of the Rock and Roll sound and title. Do you know how much material was stolen from many of these black artists and given to white artists?
I dont know ANY black people eager to claim white characters and culture, are you kidding me. You must be talking about the entertainment world or Hollywood, because thats the only place I can see black people trying to fit in for roles, acceptance or some type of recognition. You people are obsessed with our culture and its so plain to see everywhere you go, I have yet to see any black people trying to fit into European culture please cut it out. Greek Mythology is not real thats why its called MYTHology, so I dont know why you’re getting worked up over a fictional culture. And there is no such thing as supremacy, that plays along with the delusional ideas Europeans created to be above every other race.
Its ok to love your race and have pride in it, but the whitewashing has gone way too far. When you start seeing articles written by caucasians about the bad effects of whitewashing, thats how you know there’s a problem. I’ve never heard the word blackwashing until i read your comment. Blackwashing does not exist. Black people are not the higher ups on this planet right now so how can we blackwash?????? You people flock to our culture, we dont really have any interest in yours, unless its by default and we have to study for a history test or something. You’re funny…..
On top of all I said, Caucasians are a mutation that descend from Neanderthals (sub humans) go do your research. We were here on this planet before your race existed so not saying your culture’s not important, its just not relevant in the eyes of God to me. Being that you people are running the evil empire that controls the whole world. Are you even aware the same scriptures the Greeks translated from the Torah say that God did not like Edomites, this is where Caucasians descend from. The same scriptures say the antichrist is coming from a European nation. Your culture is only important to your people and the people who are whitewashed, please stop thinking we’re eager for you people when there’s a bunch of other races on this planet.