Popular Genres
2CP090
Lars Lilja 109002804
Word count: 3223
1
2
The Greek myths in modern movies
3
4
Content
1. Introduction
2. The Ancient Hero Myths of Greece
a. The origin of myths in Greece
3. The Ancient Myths Reborn
a. First myths on film
b. 1897-1918
c. 1953-1981
d. Modern variants of the old myths
4. The Old and New Ways
a. The evolution of myths
b. The old myths of today
c. Why are they still popular?
5. Conclusion
6. Bibliography
2
3
5
8
11
13
1
1. Introduction
Many of us have heard about the ancient Greek stories of the voyage of Odysseus, the brave deeds
of Heracles and the journey of Jason and the Argonauts after the Golden Fleece. These myths were
written several hundred years ago but we still speak of them today as classic stories worth to be told
time and time again. These ancient myths have even been retold again on the silver screen and live
on in the modern movies we see even to this day.
For this essay I want to take a look at the genre of mythological hero stories in film as a study how
they have evolved from the ancient verbal stories to the modern interpretations they are today. I
also want to take a look at what makes them popular even today and why they still mean so much to
us.
The question I want answered in this essay is:
How have the old myths from ancient Greece evolved with the rise of film as a way of telling stories
and how have they been portrayed? Why are they still popular in today’s modern world?
Do find this out I will take a look at books that describe the original myths from ancient Greece as
well as books about how these myths are portrayed in modern day movies. I will also take a look at
the movies themselves to see for myself how the stories are told. Finally I will also take a look at how
the old stories still have an effect on today’s storytelling with the help of Joseph Campbell and his
book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
2
2. The ancient hero myths of Greece
2.1 The origin of myths in Greece
Moford and Lenardon (2003, p. 6) gives an explanation in their book on the origins of myths. They
say that myths are something we today may associate with something incredible and fantastic,
something that is fiction, made up and scientifically impossible. But for the ancients the myths were
a cultural phenomenon created to provide explanations of the dangerous and unknown world
around them (Morford & Lenardon 2003, p. 4). Myths was also a way of describing the gods of the
world and their relationship with humankind as mythology and religion were entwined, both
describing the creation of the world, the gods and what happens after death. Morford and Lenardon
(2003, p.6) continues with describing the ancient mythmakers as a sort of primitive scientists
because of their use of myths to try to explain facts that could not be explained otherwise.
Morford and Leonardon (2003, p. 7-8) continues with more reasons why the myths were so
important for the people of the ancient world; they not only made them understand the world
around them but also themselves and the people around them. An example of this is the story of
King Oedipus who killed his father and married his mother, something that the later psychoanalyst
Sigmund Freud would explore in his own research in children’s relationships with their parents. This
research that would not come to light until the 20thcentury about how a boy has sexual impulses
towards his mother and see his father as a rival was already explored in this ancient myth. Morford
and Leonardon (2003, p. 8) then continues with the concept of dreams and myths. According to
Freud dreams are wishes that have been repressed and disguised. Our mind converts these wishes
into dreams by changing their appearance using symbols and allusions. Symbols in ancient myths are
many and comes in different forms which led Freud to believe that myths are peoples way of trying
to interpret their own visions and impulses from their dreams.
3
Another psychiatrist named Carl Jung took this concept one step further with the concept that myths
were a projection of the so called “collective unconscious”. The difference between a personal and
collective unconscious being that the personal unconscious are private concerns for the individual
while collective unconscious involve political and social questions involving a group of individuals.
According to Jung myths contain archetypes, something based from Freud’s concept of symbols,
which is a behaviour pattern of a person and a inherited scheme of functioning. Myths give us in that
sense archetypes to live by, for example heroes like Heracles and Perseus as they teach us how to
behave or not to behave in different situations (Morford & Lenardon 2003, p. 9).
4
3. The ancient myths reborn
3.1 First myths on film
Still in the twentieth century the Greek mythology were a source of many stories that could not go
untold by the movie producers. Names like Helen of Troy, Perseus, Heracles and Jason would again
be heard in the new medium called the silver screen and showed to a new audience. Solomon (p.
101) lists the four mayor reasons why the legends of ancient Greece was able to rise again to be told
again as captivating as they were over two thousand years ago. The surreal stories, powerful heroes,
primordial profundity and pervading feeling of fantasy are these elements of the old stories that
make us want to hear them again after all this time. According to Solomon (2001, p. 102) most of the
myth based movies were made between 1897-1918 and 1953-1981.
3.2 1897-1918
The earliest movies about the ancient myths were mainly French and American such as “La Sibylle de
Cumae (The Sibyl of Cumae) from 1898, “Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus” (1905), “In Cupids
Realm” (1908),” and “The Minotaur” (1910). Italians also created their own mythological movies
beginning with “Caduta di Troia” or “The fall of Troy” (1911). The Trojan War was a very popular
choice for the early movie producers to work with. The Italian “Caduta di Troia” or “The fall of Troy”
became a huge success in the United States breaking the attendance records in Chicago and
considered a “spectacular” movie in 1911. The reason for this might be the overemphasizing on the
romance of the myth, making it a beautiful and grandeur love story (Solomon 2001, p. 102-103).
3.3 1953-1981
After another Italian version of the Trojan War “Loves of Three Queens” (1953) Warner Brothers in
the US started producing movies in the genre. In their movie “Helen of Troy” (1956) the director
Robert Wise did as his Italian counterpart in 1911 and overemphasized the romance and the role of
Helen in the old myth instead of looking at the heroes such as Achilles and Hector.
5
In the old story the heroic and martial themes of the story were not overshadowed by the romance
between Helen and Paris. The movie had its highlights though like the wooden horse that was one of
the largest movable props ever built for a film. It also had its share of authentic moments from the
Iliad which were some of the film’s best scenes. It would have been improved if it had followed the
Iliad’s storyline better and had more complex characters like in the original instead of making a love
story where the ancient heroes are overshadowed (Solomon 2001, p. 103-107). Another great epic of
Homer; the Odyssey, was also a popular subject for movies of this time. The finest example of these
is the movie “Ulysses” (1955) that follows very true to the original text and is both strong thanks to
the decor and special effects that keeps the mystic aura around the film as well as a great
performance of Kirk Douglas as Ulysses (Solomon 2001, p. 107-110).
Even though the epics of Homer were the most popular, other Greek myths were also made into
movies; like the story of Jason his quest for the Golden Fleece. The first sound film to feature this
story was “The Giants of Thessaly” (1960) however this version was not true to the original legend as
it introduced things never told in the original story. The most well known movies that depict this
legend is “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963), however romanticized and flawed casting, it is most well
known for its great special effects done by Ray Harryhausen. He created the bronze giant Talos, the
multithreaded monster Hydra, the flying Harpies and a battalion of skeleton warriors with lifelike
movements making Ray Harryhausens contribution to “Jason and the Argonauts” a very important
one (Solomon 2001, p. 113-114).
Also other heroic stories about Perseus and Herakles (called Hercules by the Romans) were retold in
movies. The most well known movie about the adventures of Perseus is the 1981 movie “Clash of the
Titans” who also took help from Ray Harryhausen in creating the mythical creatures such as the
monster Kraken, the flying horse Pegasus and terrifying Medusa (Solomon 2001, p.116). When it
comes to the great hero Herakles it is fitting that the great hero also gets a great movie. In 1959 the
movie “Hercules” was released and it immediately became a huge success; no other film based on a
6
Greek myth had been more influential. From a $120.000 investment it made a profit of $18 million. It
reasonably followed the original story of the demigod Herakles with body builder Steve Reeves
playing the main character. It is a movie focused on heroic action and the romance in the movie is
light and it has evil characters with no redeeming qualities together with a portion of comedy creates
this light-hearted adventure. This was followed by “Hercules Unchained” (1959) that continued the
story of Herakles again only based in part by the original Greek legend (Solomon 2001, p.117-121).
3.4 Modern variants of the old myths
To complete this look at movies with mythological themes I have had a look at two of the more
recent movies; “Troy” (2004) and “Clash of the Titans” (2010).
Troy from 2004 was another adaptation of the popular epic the Iliad by Homer starring Brad Pitt as
the hero Achilles. It was to become one of the most expensive movies of all time and ended up on
the #79 spot of top box office hits (BoxOfficeMojo, 2010). However it suffers from having many
differences from the original story. I agree with the words of Roger Ebert (2004) who puts it in his
review of ”Troy” as a movie that sidesteps the existence of the gods and turns the heroes into
clichés. Roger Ebert (2004) continues with saying that one of the great flaws is that they made the
ancient heroes humans rather than larger-than-life heroes of the ancient myths, something I also
agree with as they take away the magic of the stories and replace it with seen-before action.
This is something Troy also shares with the movie “Clash of the Titans” from 2010 that they both
differentiate from the original story. In this remake of the old “Clash of the Titans” from 1981
Perseus is not trying to save his mother from a forced marriage but helping the people of Argos in
their war against the Greek gods, changing the settings completely from both the original epic and
the 1981 movie. It is more an action movie than playing on any deep morals of the original in my
opinion. In watching these two movies it is clear that the old myths have been viewed more as seeds
for a epic monster fighting movie instead of a deeply spiritual one.
7
4. The old and new ways
4.1 The evolution on of myths
The mythology of ancient Greece have fascinated us since the early beginning of cinema. The myths
and archetypes they portray recur not only to entertain us but also show the cultural traditions of
our society. They provide a source for film producers to reflect on current events and trends as well
as entertaining us and sometimes being accurate to the original and sometimes not (Winkler 2001, p.
3)
We can see a pattern from the early made adaptations of the old myths into cinema that they tend
to romanticize the story, taking away the more gritty and sometimes deep stories that theses
legends once were. In other cases they change elements of the story completely making it only
reminiscent of the original. This can be seen as something done to make it an easier adaptation as it
is difficult to make a movie out of a whole book but maybe also a way to react on the world view of
that time. Taking people away from the sometimes gritty life of the industrial early 20th century to
something else, something mythical and full of wonder. In the end you can also view it as different
new versions, as the old Greeks told the same story in different versions these stories are different
versions told in a new medium for a new audience.
4.2 The old myths of today
In his famous book Joseph Campbell takes a look at the mythological stories of old in his search for
the common things they all share. He says that in all times myths have flourished and given the
people inspiration and dreams of what the world has to offer (Campbell 1949, p. 3). He also looked at
standard paths of the mythological heroes and made them into three key points: separationinitiation-return. These represent the hero leaving his home and the known world to find an
unknown and mythical world where he fights his enemy to a decisive victory and then returns home
with the reward from his journey.
8
For example the hero Jason sailed from his home over the great sea of marvels, defeated the dragon
and returned the Golden Fleece back home so he could take his place as the rightful ruler of the
kingdom. These key points can be seen in other stories from both the past as well as the present,
inspiring stories even today (Campbell 1949, p. 30).
4.3 Why are they still popular?
So why are these ancient stories still popular in today’s society? One explanation may be the need
for people to have heroes to look up to. One evidence of this is the United States of America. In their
history they never had a Herakles, a demigod capable of defeating the monsters of the world, so that
is why they created their own heroes (McDonald, 2010). The American hero Superman can in many
respects be compared to ancient Herakles as they both are strong almost unbeatable that fights the
monsters of the time.
We can clearly see that many of today’s stories have similarities to the ancient stories as Joseph
Campbell (1949, p. 30) explores in his book. That plot points that were used by the ancients have
found their way into our way of telling stories tells us something of the old myths popularity as well
as their importance. Movie genres like westerns, gangster and war movies as well as science fiction
movies all adapts plots or patterns from the ancients myths (Winkler 2001, p. 3).
Another explanation is that the ancient myths are a way of discovering the world around us as well as
ourselves like it did for the ancient Greeks. Morford and Leonardon (2003, p. 7-8) told us about the
findings made by Sigmund Freud in the ancient myths about underlying psychological themes in the
human mind such as the love for the mother and the hate for the father something that would be as
current and important for the ancient people as for us today. Morford and Leonardon (2003, p. 8) did
also talk about how the myths were used to explain complex dreams and understand once
unconscious self which is also something people today seek.
9
As for the world around us there are still things that we cannot explain even with our technological
advancements; questions such as “What happens after death?”, “Do we control our own destiny?”
and “Is there a God?” are still to be explained to us and these ancient myths tells of how the ancient
people got an answer and it can help us find answers as well.
Maybe the reason is as simple as that we like them in the same way that we like other fantasy
stories, it is somewhere magical where we can forget about our daily lives and see wonders never
seen in our life. A place to see true heroes and monsters fighting for good and evil against each
other.
10
5. Conclusion
The world that created these myths may be long gone but their stories live on in our time and why is
that? For me based on what I have read during the creation of this essay I think it is because that
even if the world around us have changed with the advent of new technology and discoveries we are
still the same human beings that lived over three thousand years ago, the same hopes, the same
fears and the same want to explore ourselves and the world around us, something that these myths
help us look into and give an explanation to. They are filled with the archetypes of grand heroes
battling monsters but at the same time they are still humans with their own flaws. That is why I think
I and others like the Greek mythology, for making their gods and heroes have human flaws and
making them more able to connect with.
With the introduction of cinema and retelling the ancient stories through this new medium there
have been changes; to fit our society better? I don’t like when they divert from the story to far, it is
one thing to leave some things out but to change the story completely like with Clash of the Titans
from 2010. I really don’t like it but I think of them as variants of one original story made by the
ancient Greeks not so fun seeing the same story over and over again. Actually Ray Harryhausen said
during an interview about the movie Clash of the Titans (1981) when asked about changing elements
of the original story that everyone change the myths to the requirements of the message. He pointed
out that the ancient myths were not the same everywhere but flexible and adjusted for every
storyteller to tell in his own way (Solomon 2001, p.117). This is something that is true and I can agree
with the statement that these stories have been changed to fit our world today but does this mean
that they have lost their depth to become just pure action or romance movies? Even if many of the
recent movies have had a base at pure action and romance I still feel that some of the original core is
still there and often has a moral in the end that fits to our place in history.
11
Not so many mythological movies are made today and I think that is because most of the mythical
elements are being removed and substituted for pure action, something that the movie producers
need to realize that what made these stories so great and giving back the depth of the heroes of old
and just not making them into clichés.
Finally I think we simply love to be a part of something bigger, a world of larger-than-life heroes that
defeat the hideous monsters and mighty gods who guide our way through life, sometime helping us
and sometime causing trouble for us. I believe that these stories will continue to live on for
generations to come.
12
6. Bibliography
Books
Solomon, Jon (2001) The Ancient World in the Cinema Chelsea: Sheridan Books
Kerényi, C (1959) The Heroes of the Greeks Norwich: Jarrold and sons Ltd
Morford, Mark P.O. & Lenardon, Robert J. (2003) Classical Mythology: Seventh Edition New York:
Oxford University Press Inc.
Winkler, Martin M. (2001) Classical Myth & Culture in the Cinema New York: Oxford University Press
Inc.
Websites
BoxOfficeMojo (2010) Troy 2009 [Internet] Box Office Mojo. Available from:
<http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=troy.htm> [Accessed: 2010-11-18]
Ebert, Roger (2004)Troy [Internet] rogerebert.com. Available from:
<http://www.webcitation.org/5liAiTcdl> [Accessed: 2010-11-18]
Images on first page
1
2
3
4
Hercules [Photograph] Available at: <http://messierpro.blogspot.com/2010/06/hercules-orthere-no-next-to-it-there.html> [Accessed 19 November 2010]
Jason and the Argonauts [Photograph] Available at:
<http://www.famousmonstersoffilmland.com/tag/fantasy/> [Accessed 19 November 2010]
Troy [Photograph] Available at:
<http://www.theancientweb.com/community/articledetail.aspx?article_id=28> [Accessed 19
November 2010]
Clash of the Titans (2010) [Photograph] Available at:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/apr/05/clash-of-the-titans-box-office>
[Accessed 19 November 2010]
Lectures
McDonald, Keith (2010) Comic Book Adaptation as Post 9/11 Reactionary Narratives 2CP090 Popular
Genres. York St John University, unpublished.
13