A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen

Arthur J. Pomeroy

John Wiley & Sons, Aug 7, 2017 - Literary Criticism - 568 pages

A comprehensive treatment of the Classical World in film and television, A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen closely examines the films and TV shows centered on Greek and Roman cultures and explores the tension between pagan and Christian worlds.

Written by a team of experts in their fields, this work considers productions that discuss social settings as reflections of their times and as indicative of the technical advances in production and the economics of film and television. Productions included are a mix of Hollywood and European spanning from the silent film era though modern day television series, and topics discussed include Hollywood politics in film, soundtrack and sound design, high art and low art, European art cinemas, and the ancient world as comedy.

Written for students of film and television as well as those interested in studies of ancient Rome and Greece, A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen provides comprehensive, current thinking on how the depiction of Ancient Greece and Rome on screen has developed over the past century. It reviews how films of the ancient world mirrored shifting attitudes towards Christianity, the impact of changing techniques in film production, and fascinating explorations of science fiction and technical fantasy in the ancient world on popular TV shows like Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, and Dr. Who.

Contents

• Notes on Contributors: 9
• On the Possibilities: 17
• Italian Silent Film to 1915: 37
• The Systematization: 61
• Classical Antiquity: 91
• BenHur and Spartacus: 119
• The Peplum Era: 145
• Comedy Drama and Adaptation: 161
• Greek Tragedy as Theater in ScreenMedia: 187
• Greece and Rome on the Comic Screen: 209
• The Return of a Genre: 233
• Franco Rossis Adaptations of the Classics: 253
• Premium Cable Television: 293
• Late Antique: 307
• India: 329
• Film Production and Ancient World Cinema: 349
• Sets and Costumes for Ancient Greek: 385
• Have Film Historians: 403
• The Ancient World as an Idea: 427
• The Ancient: 449
• Classical Tragedy: 467
• Ancient World Documentaries: 491
• Mythology for the Young at Heart: 515
• Index: 535

About the author

Arthur J. Pomeroy is Professor of Classics and Head of School at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is author of several books on classical studies including Then It Was Destroyed by the Volcano: the Ancient World in Film and Television and is a recipient of the VUW Teaching Award for sustained excellence in teaching.

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen; Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World
• Editor: Arthur J. Pomeroy
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2017
• ISBN: 1118741358, 9781118741351
• Length: 568 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Classics; History / General; Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical