Classics on Screen: Ancient Greece and Rome on Film - Softcover

Blanshard, Alastair J. L.; Shahabudin, Kim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 071563724X ISBN 13: 9780715637241

Publisher: Bristol Classical Press, 2011

Synopsis

Cinema loves Greece and Rome. Hollywood epics, animated movies, avant-garde features - all have turned to classical antiquity for inspiration. On the silver screen, we see a world of virtuous Christians, depraved pagans, gladiators, charioteers, Spartan warriors, and muscle-bound demigods - a potent mix of sex, violence and art. So pervasive are these images that this cinematic output dominates the public understanding of the ancient world. Through analysis of ten influential films, this book examines the representation of Greece and Rome in both popular and art-house cinema, arranged by cinematic genre. Key scenes are discussed and each film is located in its historical context.

About this title

About the Authors

Alastair Blanshard is the Paul Eliadis Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland. He is a Greek cultural historian with a strong research interest in the legacy of Greco-Roman culture. He is the author of Sex: Vice and love from antiquity to modernity. Among his recent work is an edited collection on Oscar Wilde and his interest in classical antiquity.

Kim Shahabudin gives guest lectures in the Department of Classics, University of Reading, UK, on classical reception in popular culture. She is the co-editor of Classics for All: Reworking Antiquity in Mass Culture (2009).

Edition details

• Publisher: Bristol Classical Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 071563724X
• ISBN 13: 9780715637241
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224