CINXE.COM
Film and the Classical Epic Tradition - Joanna Paul - Google Books
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Film and the Classical Epic Tradition - Joanna Paul - Google Books</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/books/css/_c5f9cd9e241b1329c3ee374578edd3c4/kl_about_this_book_kennedy_full_bundle.css" type="text/css" /><link rel="stylesheet"href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Product+Sans:wght@400"><script src="/books/javascript/atb_c5f9cd9e241b1329c3ee374578edd3c4__en.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Film_and_the_Classical_Epic_Tradition.html?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC"/><meta property="og:url" content="https://books.google.com/books/about/Film_and_the_Classical_Epic_Tradition.html?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC"/><meta name="title" content="Film and the Classical Epic Tradition"/><meta name="description" content="Why is it that some films are called epics? Audiences know that such films will be large-scale, spectacular productions, but does the term have deeper cultural significance? In antiquity, epic was a prestigious genre whose stories ranged from the Trojan War to the founding of Rome, and dealt with important themes including heroism, the gods, military prowess, and spectacle. In Film and the Classical Epic Tradition, Joanna Paul explores the relationship between films set in the ancient world and the classical epic tradition, arguing that there is a meaningful connection between the literary and cinematic genres. This relationship is particularly apparent in films which adapt classical epic texts for the screen, such as Ulysses, Troy, O Brother Where Art Thou, and Jason and the Argonauts. Beginning with an assessment of the films, Paul discusses a variety of themes, such as heroism and kleos, the depiction of the gods, and narrative structure. She then considers a series of case-studies of Hollywood historical epics which further demonstrate the ways in which cinema engages with the themes of classical epic. The relationship between Gladiator and The Fall of the Roman Empire demonstrates the importance of tradition, while the archetypal epic themes of heroism and spectacle are explored through, respectively, Spartacus and Ben-Hur. The concluding chapters look at common tropes surrounding epic, especially focusing on the performance of epic in the ancient and modern worlds, its perceived social role, and the widespread parody of epic in both literature and cinema. Through this careful consideration of how epic can manifest itself in different periods and cultures, we learn how cinema makes a powerful claim to be a modern vehicle for a very ancient tradition."/><meta property="og:title" content="Film and the Classical Epic Tradition"/><meta property="og:type" content="book"/><meta property="og:site_name" content="Google Books"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://books.google.com.sg/books/content?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE71jjgDmJlmfyVBMrQmzGlk6swqw6SFuy0kIxB9mziIi2WJ1NETQ6C5cD5AxVc7nfWcla2JnnldImNJercs-8-U80YBnPhxYdMghLSutj_br-amZ_yH4LzGmJNDlLK41gA8Fp7M2"/><link rel="image_src" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books/content?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE71jjgDmJlmfyVBMrQmzGlk6swqw6SFuy0kIxB9mziIi2WJ1NETQ6C5cD5AxVc7nfWcla2JnnldImNJercs-8-U80YBnPhxYdMghLSutj_br-amZ_yH4LzGmJNDlLK41gA8Fp7M2"/><script></script><style>#gbar,#guser{font-size:13px;padding-top:1px !important;}#gbar{height:22px}#guser{padding-bottom:7px !important;text-align:right}.gbh,.gbd{border-top:1px solid #c9d7f1;font-size:1px}.gbh{height:0;position:absolute;top:24px;width:100%}@media all{.gb1{height:22px;margin-right:.5em;vertical-align:top}#gbar{float:left}}a.gb1,a.gb4{text-decoration:underline !important}a.gb1,a.gb4{color:#00c !important}.gbi .gb4{color:#dd8e27 !important}.gbf .gb4{color:#900 !important} #gbar { padding:.3em .6em !important;}</style></head><body class=""><div id=gbar><nobr><a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tab=pw">Search</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.google.com.sg/imghp?hl=en&tab=pi">Images</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://maps.google.com.sg/maps?hl=en&tab=pl">Maps</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://play.google.com/?hl=en&tab=p8">Play</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.youtube.com/?tab=p1">YouTube</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://news.google.com/?tab=pn">News</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?tab=pm">Gmail</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://drive.google.com/?tab=po">Drive</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 style="text-decoration:none" href="https://www.google.com.sg/intl/en/about/products?tab=ph"><u>More</u> »</a></nobr></div><div id=guser width=100%><nobr><span id=gbn class=gbi></span><span id=gbf class=gbf></span><span id=gbe></span><a target=_top id=gb_70 href="https://www.google.com/accounts/Login?service=print&continue=https://books.google.com.sg/books%3Fid%3DF8DQ5GcRHlsC%26sitesec%3Dbuy%26source%3Dgbs_buy_r%26hl%3Den&hl=en&ec=GAZACg" class=gb4>Sign in</a></nobr></div><div class=gbh style=left:0></div><div class=gbh style=right:0></div><div role="alert" style="position: absolute; left: 0; right: 0;"><a href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&sitesec=buy&source=gbs_buy_r&hl=en&output=html_text" title="Screen reader users: click this link for accessible mode. Accessible mode has the same essential features but works better with your reader."><img border="0" src="//www.google.com/images/cleardot.gif"alt="Screen reader users: click this link for accessible mode. Accessible mode has the same essential features but works better with your reader."></a></div><div class="kd-appbar"><h2 class="kd-appname"><a href="/books">Books</a></h2><div class="kd-buttonbar left" id="left-toolbar-buttons"><a id="appbar-view-print-sample-link" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_vpt_buy"></a><a id="appbar-view-ebook-sample-link" href=""></a><a id="appbar-patents-prior-art-finder-link" href=""></a><a id="appbar-patents-discuss-this-link" href="" data-is-grant=""></a><a id="appbar-read-patent-link" href=""></a><a id="appbar-download-pdf-link" href=""></a></div><div class="kd-buttonbar right" id="right-toolbar-buttons"></div></div><div style="display: none"><ol id="ofe-gear-menu-contents" class="gbmcc"><li class="gbe gbmtc"><a class="gbmt goog-menuitem-content" id="" href="https://www.google.com/accounts/Login?service=print&continue=https://books.google.com.sg/books%3Fop%3Dlibrary&hl=en">My library</a></li><li class="gbe gbmtc"><a class="gbmt goog-menuitem-content" id="" href="http://books.google.com.sg/support/topic/4359341?hl=en-SG">Help</a></li><li class="gbe gbmtc"><a class="gbmt goog-menuitem-content" id="" href="https://books.google.com.sg/advanced_book_search">Advanced Book Search</a></li></ol></div><div id="volume-main"><div id="volume-left"><div id=menu_container ><div id="menu_scroll_wrapper"><div id="menu_scroll" role="navigation"><div id="gb-get-book-container"><a id="gb-get-book-content" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&sitesec=buy&source=gbs_vpt_buy">Get print book</a></div><p id="gb-get-book-not-available">No eBook available<p><h3 class=about_title><a name="buy_anchor"></a></h3><div id=buy class=about_content><div id=buy_v><ul style="list-style-type: none; padding-left: 0; margin: 0;"><li><a style="white-space:normal" href="http://www.oup.com/localecatalogue/google/?i=9780199542925" dir=ltr onMouseOver="this.href='http://www.oup.com/localecatalogue/google/?i\x3d9780199542925';return false" onMouseDown="this.href='/url?client\x3dca-print-oxford_us\x26format\x3dgoogleprint\x26num\x3d0\x26id\x3dF8DQ5GcRHlsC\x26q\x3dhttp://www.oup.com/localecatalogue/google/%3Fi%3D9780199542925\x26usg\x3dAOvVaw0RIXHtWj7fdpMR_9rWAvlI\x26source\x3dgbs_buy_r';return true"><span dir=ltr>Oxford University Press</span></a></li><li><a style="white-space:normal" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=9780199542925" dir=ltr onMouseOver="this.href='http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index\x3dbooks\x26linkCode\x3dqs\x26keywords\x3d9780199542925';return false" onMouseDown="this.href='/url?client\x3dca-print-oxford_us\x26format\x3dgoogleprint\x26num\x3d0\x26id\x3dF8DQ5GcRHlsC\x26q\x3dhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/search%3Findex%3Dbooks%26linkCode%3Dqs%26keywords%3D9780199542925\x26usg\x3dAOvVaw1GS06N-2dEWFp9CpP2VqQJ\x26source\x3dgbs_buy_r';return true"><span dir=ltr>Amazon.com</span></a></li><li><a style="white-space:normal" href="http://www.mphonline.com/books/nsearch.aspx?do=detail&pcode=9780199542925" dir=ltr onMouseOver="this.href='http://www.mphonline.com/books/nsearch.aspx?do\x3ddetail\x26pcode\x3d9780199542925';return false" onMouseDown="this.href='/url?client\x3dca-print-oxford_us\x26format\x3dgoogleprint\x26num\x3d0\x26id\x3dF8DQ5GcRHlsC\x26q\x3dhttp://www.mphonline.com/books/nsearch.aspx%3Fdo%3Ddetail%26pcode%3D9780199542925\x26usg\x3dAOvVaw2g9yg1TpPLNBhlaa0du-QY\x26source\x3dgbs_buy_r';return true"><span dir=ltr>MPH</span></a></li><li><a style="white-space:normal" href="https://www.popular.com.sg/catalogsearch/result/?q=9780199542925" dir=ltr onMouseOver="this.href='https://www.popular.com.sg/catalogsearch/result/?q\x3d9780199542925';return false" onMouseDown="this.href='/url?client\x3dca-print-oxford_us\x26format\x3dgoogleprint\x26num\x3d0\x26id\x3dF8DQ5GcRHlsC\x26q\x3dhttps://www.popular.com.sg/catalogsearch/result/%3Fq%3D9780199542925\x26usg\x3dAOvVaw0zLITpYJB-NV_omIbT5hDD\x26source\x3dgbs_buy_r';return true"><span dir=ltr>Popular</span></a></li><li><hr style="margin-right: 20%; color: #666;"></li><li><a style="white-space:normal" href="https://books.google.com.sg/url?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&q=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1080924348&clientid=librarylink&usg=AOvVaw1ZkV8t5Y7zH49286PVIsh9&source=gbs_buy_r"><span dir=ltr>Find in a library</span></a></li><li><a class="secondary" style="white-space:normal" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&sitesec=buy&source=gbs_buy_r" id="get-all-sellers-link"><span dir=ltr>All sellers</span> »</a></li></ul></div></div><div class=menu id=menu><div class="menu_content" style="margin-bottom:6px"><div style="margin-bottom:4px"><div class="sidebarnav"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div class="sidebarcover"><a href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&printsec=frontcover" ><img src="https://books.google.com.sg/books/content?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=5&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE72nda2zABti7QnBz_ujgMRNo-Eym0A0HyuVOb1lBWViySOye5R0Zap-n_D74PR8Lr_Nex8Mwh4DXeKIoGAc2wjHyBl1fwRCmHseSyFWWkbf-JReUPEtDMQS4fnbhwKquE-zGewM" alt="Front Cover" title="Front Cover" height=80 border=1 id=summary-frontcover ></a></div></td><td></td></tr></table></div><div style="clear:both"></div></div><div id="volume-info-sidebar"><h1 class="gb-volume-title" dir=ltr>Film and the Classical Epic Tradition</h1><span class="addmd">By Joanna Paul</span></div><div style="margin-bottom:3px"></div><div><p><a id="sidebar-atb-link" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&source=gbs_navlinks_s"><span dir=ltr>About this book</span></a></p></div></div></div><div class="sidebar-hr"></div><div class="ebook-promo"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/books"><img border="0" src="/googlebooks/images/ebook_promo.png" /><h3 class="section">Shop for Books on Google Play</h3><p class="ebook-promo-description">Browse the world's largest eBookstore and start reading today on the web, tablet, phone, or ereader.</p><p class="ebook-promo-clickme">Go to Google Play Now »</p></a></div><div class="sidebar-hr"></div><div><div id="navbarContainer" class="gb-navbar"></div><script>_OC_InitNavbar({"child_node":[{"title":"My library","url":"https://books.google.com.sg/books?uid=114584440181414684107\u0026source=gbs_lp_bookshelf_list","id":"my_library","collapsed":true},{"title":"My History","url":"","id":"my_history","collapsed":true}],"highlighted_node_id":""});</script><h3 class=about_title><a name="pub_info_anchor"></a></h3><div id=pub_info class=about_content><div id=pub_info_v><table cellspacing=0><tr><td><img width=79 height=35 border=0 src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imgad?id=CICAgMDO7dK3VRByGDIyCPh5EfiARrGy" alt="OUP Oxford"><tr><td style="font-size:84.6%;color:#666666">Published by OUP Oxford. <a style="color:#7777cc;white-space:normal" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&printsec=copyright&source=gbs_pub_info_r">Copyright</a>. </table></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="volume-center"><div id="scroll_atb" role="main"><div class="vertical_module_list_row"><div id="v2_summary" class="about_content"><h1 class="summary_header">Buy this book</h1><div id="summary_content"><br> <span><a style="white-space:normal" href="https://books.google.com.sg/url?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&q=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1080924348&clientid=librarylink&usg=AOvVaw1ZkV8t5Y7zH49286PVIsh9&source=gbs_buy_section">Find in a library</a></span><br><br><table cellspacing=0><tr><th class=column>Seller</th><th class=column>Price</th><th class=column>Seller rating</th></tr><tr class="seller-row-alt"><td class=column><a href="/url?client=ca-print-oxford_us&format=googleprint&num=0&id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&q=http://www.oup.com/localecatalogue/google/%3Fi%3D9780199542925&usg=AOvVaw0RIXHtWj7fdpMR_9rWAvlI" dir=ltr>Oxford University Press</a></td><td class=column style="text-align:right;"><span class=noprice>No price</span></td><td class=column><span class=norating>No rating</span></td></tr><tr><td class=column><a href="/url?client=ca-print-oxford_us&format=googleprint&num=0&id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&q=http://www.amazon.com/gp/search%3Findex%3Dbooks%26linkCode%3Dqs%26keywords%3D9780199542925&usg=AOvVaw1GS06N-2dEWFp9CpP2VqQJ" dir=ltr>Amazon.com</a></td><td class=column style="text-align:right;"><span class=noprice>No price</span></td><td class=column><span class=norating>No rating</span></td></tr><tr class="seller-row-alt"><td class=column><a href="/url?client=ca-print-oxford_us&format=googleprint&num=0&id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&q=http://www.mphonline.com/books/nsearch.aspx%3Fdo%3Ddetail%26pcode%3D9780199542925&usg=AOvVaw2g9yg1TpPLNBhlaa0du-QY" dir=ltr>MPH</a></td><td class=column style="text-align:right;"><span class=noprice>No price</span></td><td class=column><span class=norating>No rating</span></td></tr><tr><td class=column><a href="/url?client=ca-print-oxford_us&format=googleprint&num=0&id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&q=https://www.popular.com.sg/catalogsearch/result/%3Fq%3D9780199542925&usg=AOvVaw0zLITpYJB-NV_omIbT5hDD" dir=ltr>Popular</a></td><td class=column style="text-align:right;"><span class=noprice>No price</span></td><td class=column><span class=norating>No rating</span></td></tr></table></div></div></div><script>_OC_addFlags({Host:"https://books.google.com.sg/", IsBrowsingHistoryEnabled:1, IsBooksRentalEnabled:1, IsBooksUnifiedLeftNavEnabled:1, IsZipitFolderCollectionEnabled:1});_OC_Run({"is_cobrand":false,"sign_in_url":"https://www.google.com/accounts/Login?service=print\u0026continue=https://books.google.com.sg/books%3Fid%3DF8DQ5GcRHlsC%26sitesec%3Dbuy%26source%3Dgbs_buy_r%26hl%3Den\u0026hl=en"}, {"volume_id":"F8DQ5GcRHlsC","is_ebook":false,"volumeresult":{"has_flowing_text":false,"has_scanned_text":true,"can_download_pdf":false,"can_download_epub":false,"is_pdf_drm_enabled":false,"is_epub_drm_enabled":false},"sample_url":"https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC\u0026source=gbs_atb_hover","is_browsable":true,"is_public_domain":false}, {});</script><div id="footer_table" style="font-size:83%;text-align:center;position:relative;top:20px;height:4.5em;margin-top:2em"><div style="margin-bottom:8px"><a href="/intl/en/googlebooks/about.html"><nobr><nobr>About Google Books</nobr></nobr></a> - <a href="/intl/en/googlebooks/privacy.html"><nobr><nobr>Privacy Policy</nobr></nobr></a> - <a href="/intl/en/googlebooks/tos.html"><nobr><nobr>Terms of Service</nobr></nobr></a> - <a href="http://books.google.com.sg/support/partner/?hl=en-SG"><nobr><nobr>Information for Publishers</nobr></nobr></a> - <a href="http://books.google.com.sg/support/answer/180577?hl=en-SG&url=https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&sitesec=buy&source=gbs_buy_r&hl=en&v=F8DQ5GcRHlsC&is=atb"><nobr><nobr>Report an issue</nobr></nobr></a> - <a href="http://books.google.com.sg/support/topic/4359341?hl=en-SG"><nobr><nobr>Help</nobr></nobr></a> - <a href="https://www.google.com.sg/"><nobr><nobr>Google Home</nobr></nobr></a></div></div></div></div></div><script>(function() {var href = window.location.href;if (href.indexOf('?') !== -1) {var parameters = href.split('?')[1].split('&');for (var i = 0; i < parameters.length; i++) {var param = parameters[i].split('=');if (param[0] == 'focus') {var elem = document.getElementById(param[1]);if (elem) {elem.focus();}}}}})();</script>