You don't need a degree in film studies or Classics to enjoy the Hollywood blockbuster: Troy. Or to enjoy Brad Pitt, for that matter! But the question my teacher friend asked me, after two hours and forty minutes of being with Brad in a warm, dark place, was a great one for our curriculum age. It sprang from popular culture. It was important. And to answer it properly would take a whole range of disciplines, only loosely represented in the curriculum subjects we call 'English' and 'History'. So - who was Achilles, and did Brad Pitt do him justice?