Book excerpt: The War at Troy breathes vigorous new life into the myths of Homer's Illiad, skillfully rejuvenating Paris and Helen, Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, Achilles, Odysseus and Hector in this startingly contemporary drama of the passions. Here two powerful generations of men and women live out their destinies in the timeless zone where myth and history intersect, and where quarrels among immortal gods mirror the conflicts of the human heart. This imaginative retelling will surely benefit from the renewed interest in this classic tale (the movie "Troy" starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom lands in May 2004).