Classical Myth and Culture in the Cinema

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Martin M. Winkler Professor of Classics George Mason University
Oxford University Press, USA, May 29, 2001 - Social Science - 360 pages
Classical Myth and Culture in the Cinema is a collection of essays presenting a variety of approaches to films set in ancient Greece and Rome and to films that reflect archetypal features of classical literature. The diversity of content and theoretical stances found in this volume will make it required reading for scholars and students interested in interdisciplinary approaches to text and image.

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Contents

Z 73 80 84 86
1
Introduction 3
3
Zinnemann Fred 8 n 7 122 279 n 17
17
Narrative Strategy in the Odyssey
2
Michael Cacoyannis and Irene Papas on Greek Tragedy 72
Iphigenia
A Visual Essay 102
Tragic Features in John Fords The Searchers 118
9 to 5 as Aristophanic Comedy 172
Ancient Poetics and Eisensteins Films 193
Peter Greenaways The Cook The Thief His Wife
The Social Ambience of Petronius Satyricon
Star Wars and the Roman Empire 272
Teaching Classical Myth and Confronting Contemporary
The Sounds of Cinematic Antiquity 319
Index 339

Chinatown 148

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Page 19 - One might generalize by saying: the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence.
Page 6 - Talibus orabat dictis, arasque tenebat, cum sic orsa loqui vates : ' Sate sanguine divom, 125 Tros Anchisiade, facilis descensus Averno ; noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis ; sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras, hoc opus, hie labor est.
Page 19 - Eisenstein — while asseverating the fundamentally intellectual nature of viewing: ". . .our cinema is not altogether without parents and without pedigree, without a past, without the traditions and rich cultural heritage of the past epochs.
Page 7 - ... crops in season, and there are meadow lands near the shores of the gray sea, well watered and soft; there could be grapes grown there endlessly, and there is smooth land for plowing, men could reap a full harvest always in season, since there is very rich subsoil. Also there is an easy harbor, with no need for a hawser nor anchor stones to be thrown ashore nor cables to make fast; one could just run ashore and wait for the time when the sailors' desire stirred them to go and the right winds were...
Page 16 - ... feels as if in exile - exiled not only from the stage but also from himself. With a vague sense of discomfort he feels inexplicable emptiness: his body loses its corporeality, it evaporates, it is deprived of reality, life, voice, and the noises caused by his moving about, in order to be changed into a mute image, flickering an instant on the screen, then vanishing into silence. . . . The projector will play with his shadow before the public, and he himself must be content to play before the...

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