Screening the Golden Ages of the Classical Tradition

Meredith Safran

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2018

Screening the Golden Ages of the Classical Tradition

Meredith Safran

In the series Screening Antiquity

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474440868

Overview
Contents

About this book

A survey of modern cinematic and televisual responses to the concept of the golden age

This collection of fourteen essays explores how the dominant media of our time – film and television – have engaged with the golden age as formulated in the Western classical tradition.

Drawing on ancient Greek and Roman literature and culture, from Hesiod to Suetonius, these essays assess the far-reaching influence of the golden age concept on screen texts ranging from prestige projects like Gladiator and HBO's Rome, to cult classics Xanadu and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, made by auteurs including Jules Dassin and the Coen Brothers. The book also looks at fantasy (Game of Thrones), science fiction (Serenity), horror (The Walking Dead), war/combat (the 300 franchise, Centurion), and the American Western.

Draws on ancient Greek and Roman literature and culture, from Hesiod to Suetonius
Considers prestige projects, cult classics and classical influence on genre productions
Explores how the mythical past is invoked through political rhetoric and popular media

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Index Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Series Editors’ Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Editor’s Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Contributors Publicly Available Download PDF	x
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	xiv
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
Introduction: Searching for Gold in an Age of Iron Meredith E. Safran Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I The Glory That Was Greece
1 Re-(en)gendering Heroism: Reflective Nostalgia for Peplum’s Golden Age of Heroes in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys 2.14 (1996) Vincent Tomasso Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
2 Kissed by the Muse of Roller-Disco: Utopia versus the Golden Ages of America, Hollywood, and Classical Myth in Xanadu (1980) Meredith E. Safran Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
3 Gilding American History through Song Culture in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) Ryan Platte Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
4 A Leonidas for the Golden Age of Superhero Films: The Thermopylae Tradition in 300 (2006) Eric Ross Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
5 The Dueling Greek Golden Ages of 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) Seán Easton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
6 Confronting the Ancient Greek Golden Age in Jules Dassin’s Phaedra (1962) Emma Scioli Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
7 Pericles, Cincinnatus, and Zombies: Classicizing Nostalgia in The Walking Dead (2010–) Laura Gawlinski Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
PART II The Grandeur That Was Rome
8 “All That Glitters . . .”: Problematizing Golden-Age Narratives in Vergil’s Aeneid and the Western Film Genre Kirsten Day Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
9 The Golden Age and Imperial Dominance in the Aeneid and Serenity (2005) Jennifer A Rea Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
10 Turning Gold into Lead: Sexual Pathology and the De-mythologizing of Augustus in HBO’s Rome (2005–2007) Thomas J. West Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
11 The Dux Femina Ends Westeros’ Golden Age: Cersei Lannister as Agrippina the Younger in HBO’s Game of Thrones (2011–) Meredith D. Prince Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
12 The Golden Aspects of Roman Imperialism in Film, 1914–2015 Anise K. Strong Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
13 Broken Eagles: The Iron Age of Imperial Roman Warfare in Post-9/11 Film Alex McAuley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
14 Dreaming of Rome with Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) Matthew Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259
Filmography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	314

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 352
Illustrations
- Other: 28 B/W illustrations
Keywords: Classics & Ancient History

eBook

Published: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 9781474440868