Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

'Troy: Myth and Reality' at the British Museum


seaJane

Recommended Posts

A heads-up to anyone planning to visit this exhibition - it includes a section on  Troy and the Gallipoli campaign.

 

On till 8 March 2020.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/troy-myth-and-reality

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stand in the trench Achilles

Flame-capped and shout for me

 

Saw the exhibition last Sunday morning not completely blown away by it but preferred it to the Tutankhamen at The Saatchi Gallery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, ilkley remembers said:

Stand in the trench Achilles

Flame-capped and shout for me

Exactly. I'm planning to go - really looking forward to seeing that ms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well worth  the visit : suggest a couple of hours.

 

Sometimes I find fatigue sets in too quickly in these museum visits.  This time my interest didn’t flag.

 

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, phil andrade said:

Well worth  the visit : suggest a couple of hours.

 

Sometimes I find fatigue sets in too quickly in these museum visits.  This time my interest didn’t flag.

 

Phil

 

Phil, did the exhibition make the link between the nearby fighting in 1914 and 1915 and the site of Troy?

 

Pete.

Edited by Fattyowls
Link to comment
Share on other sites

By coincidence I’ve just read the following, from a February 1915 letter from Rupert Brooke to Violet Asquith:

 

”Oh Violet - it’s too wonderful for belief! I had not imagined Fate could be so benign. I almost suspect her ... I’m filled with confidence and glorious hopes. I’ve been looking at the maps. Do you think perhaps the fort on the Asiatic corner will want quelling, and we’ll land and come at it from behind, and they’ll make a sortie and meet us on the plains of Troy? ... Shall we have a Hospital Base (and won’t you manage it?) on Lemnos? Will Hero’s Tower crumble under the15-inch guns? Will the sea be polyphloisbic and wine-dark and unvintageable?”


Quoted in Violet Bonham Carter’s ‘Winston Churchill As I Knew Him’ (1965).

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Uncle George said:

By coincidence I’ve just read the following, from a February 1915 letter from Rupert Brooke to Violet Asquith:

 

Interestingly the two lines of poetry quoted at the top of this thread are from Achilles in the Trench by the Patrick Shaw-Stewart who was coincidentally a friend of Brookes and who commanded the firing party at his burial in Skyros. The poem and analysis are easily found on an internet search

 

A manuscript of the poem is included in the BM Exhibition and is, I suppose, an attempt to show how the myth/reality of the Trojan War and its portrayal in the Homers Illiad etc has influenced western civilization. Certainly, about half the exhibition is about how the story has fascinated thinkers and artists for centuries.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Fattyowls said:

 

Phil, did the exhibition make the link between the nearby fighting in 1914 and 1915 and the site of Troy?

 

Pete.

 

Yes it did, Pete : in one little section near the end of the exhibition there were vignettes of Gallipoli and some poems.

 

Hector being dragged through the dust was a preponderant theme : I will refrain from topical allusions !

 

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to each for the last three comments; they are fascinating. Brooke has always been a rather one dimensional character for me and that adds something to my view. I'm just not sure what it is yet.......

 

Pete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Michael; much appreciated as ever.

 

Pete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...