Age: 40
male
Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he toured with Shakespeare's Globe company as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, a role he reprised in the West End in 2016. Madden rose to fame by portraying Robb Stark in the fantasy drama series Game of Thrones from 2011 to 2013. Madden subsequently played Prince Kit in the romantic fantasy film Cinderella (2015) and Italian banker Cosimo de' Medici in the first season of the historical fiction series Medici (2016). In 2018, he gained acclaim for his performance as a police officer in the thriller series Bodyguard, for which he won a Golden Globe Award. The following year, Madden was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time. He had supporting roles as music manager John Reid in the biopic Rocketman and Lieutenant Blake in the war film 1917. He has since starred as Ikaris in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Eternals (2021) and as a spy in the action thriller Citadel (2023–present). Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Madden, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
The Iliad, attributed to Homer, is an epic poem set during the Trojan War, though it focuses on just a few weeks near the end of the ten-year conflict. The story centers on the rage of Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, after he feels dishonored by Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, who seizes his war prize, the maiden Briseis. Insulted, Achilles withdraws from battle, leaving the Greeks to struggle without their strongest fighter. Meanwhile, the Trojans, led by Prince Hector, gain the upper hand, pushing the Greeks back toward their ships. The gods, constantly interfering, take sides and influence events, heightening the tension and destruction on the battlefield. As the war intensifies, Achilles’ closest companion, Patroclus, dons his armor to rally the Greeks but is slain by Hector. Overcome with grief and fury, Achilles returns to battle, killing Hector in single combat and desecrating his body. Despite his wrath, the epic concludes not with Troy’s fall but with a moment of compassion: King Priam, Hector’s father, bravely enters Achilles’ camp to beg for his son’s body. Moved by Priam’s plea and reminded of his own father, Achilles relents, returning Hector’s body for proper burial. The poem ends with Hector’s funeral, leaving the larger fate of Troy beyond the scope of the narrative.
