There are several differences between Homer's Iliad and this movie. The twelve Greek Gods play a major role in the plot; some side with the Greeks and some with the Trojans, even arguing and physically fighting beside their allies. In the poem, neither Menelaus nor Agamemnon dies. Achilles' death is foretold, but does not occur in the Illiad, which leaves the Trojan War unresolved. He does die in the war in many related works by other authors. Ajax Telamon also survives the Iliad, but in related literature he dies by his own hand shortly after Achilles' death. The war lasts 10 years, and the events depicted in the movie take place during the last few months of the war. A Greek named Filoktitis or Philoctetes kills Paris right after he kills Achilles (not part of the Iliad, but part of the Greek mythology). Overall, the Iliad is an account of the feud between Achilles and Agamemnon; not all the romantic elements are as prominent in the poem as they are in the movie.