Trouble in the Tehran Multiplex: Xerxes, 300, and 300: Rise of an Empire in Iran

This chapter studies how audiences in a particular location received the movie 300. The author examines how antiheroic constructions of the Persian King Xerxes in 300 and its sequel Rise of an Empire elicited strong negative reactions in Iran. Hollywood reinvented Xerxes as a force of evil, creating a corrupt representation of an Iranian national hero. The chapter shows how Iranian audiences received this plundered and corrupted version of their ancestral past.

Heroes and Companions in Hercules (2014)

This chapter shows how Brett Ratner, working from Steve Moore’s 2009 graphic novel as a foundation for the 2014 film Hercules, utilized the role of companions in this innovative framing of the Hercules myth. It focuses on an overlooked aspect of the narrative. Instead of Hercules performing his labors alone, Ratner’s version of the myth uses an ensemble cast to support the legendary warrior, creating a group identity rather than just an individual heroic identity. The companions all come from mythological bases of their own, but contribute here to a composite identity of heroism. The result is a more effective hero, as well as a resulting focus on storytelling.

The Reinvention of the Ancient Hero

The movie Troy (2004) opens with a voiceover by the wily warrior Odysseus in which he asks if the names and deeds of Homeric heroes will endure for centuries to come: “Will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we’re gone and wonder who we were?”...

Xena: Warrior, Heroine, Tramp

This chapter examines the oldest of the ancient heroes in this section of the book, the mythical warrior woman Xena in the eponymous Xena: Warrior Princess. The show first aired at the end of the twentieth century (1995) and continued through the early twenty- first century (2001). The depiction of Xena is significant not only because of her gender, but also because of the onscreen precedents she set for future characters. The chapter shows that Xena set the trend for women on screen who could be sexually active and polyamorous and not be coded as immoral or deviant. By following a model that more typically applied to male characters of the ancient world, Xena represented a more complicated image of heroism for female characters. Such a representation laid the foundations for a number of later characters, such as Saxa in STARZ Spartacus (2010–13) and Starbuck in Battlestar Gallactica (2005–9).

Hercules: The Mythopoetics of New Heroism

This chapter and the next two focus on the most recent manifestations of Hercules on screen. It puts the recent output of Hercules-themed films into dialogue with earlier cinematic and television projects to demonstrate how these most recent versions both embody a tradition and represent a new critical departure. It shows a turn, starting from Disney’s Hercules (1997), in which the hero became a more flexible figure. The new flexibility of the Hercules character is further attributed to audience reception of cinematic texts. The author describes a new type of audience familiar with the “mega-text,” texts with storylines across genres. Audiences familiar with comics, fan fiction, and other artistic genres are capable of thinking about the hero in terms of tradition and adaptation.

Ancient (Anti)Heroes on Screen and Ancient Greece Post-9/11

This chapter looks at how 9/11 has altered our engagement with classical antiquity. The author examines how the heroes of ancient Greece became antiheroes on screen in a post 9/11 world and how at this time period engagement with figures such as Alexander, Leonidas, and Perseus moved away from the behaviors seen in their earlier onscreen counterparts, and how films such as 300, Clash of the Titans, and Alexander, while set in antiquity, provide the distance for audiences to explore issues raised by 9/11. At the same time, the depiction of these new antiheroes reflect a revised approach on screen to the representation of mythical thinking (elements of magic, religion, myth-aspects of ancient Greece that were central to pop culture depictions) that came into question along with the destabilization of American identity.

Divergent Heroism in Centurion (2010)

This chapter offers an analysis of heroic identity in the movie Centurion, focusing on the heroism of the Roman soldiers Virilus and Quintus Dias of the legendary Ninth Legion, traditionally considered to have disappeared in Roman Britain. Through an examination of their differing models of heroism, the film questions the epic tropes of heroic identity. As the chapter shows, Quintus’ character diverges from traditional representations of military virtue. The depiction of Rome’s imperialism allows viewers a commentary on modern imperialist undertakings.

The Changing Faces of Heroism in Atlantis (2013–15)

This chapter examines the BBC series Atlantis, a fantasy-adventure series set in ancient Greece. In addition to the male heroes Jason, Hercules, and Pythagoras, the series creates female models of heroism in its presentation of the mythological figures Medea, Ariadne, and Medusa. The series shows the complexities of heroism by letting its heroes change and grow over time. Through such a non-static depiction of heroism, viewers are able to relate to the characters in the series, something they have grown accustomed to do with other television stories. The series also shows the effect on heroes in a sustained narrative.

The Immortality of Theseus and His Myth

This chapter examines the reinvention of the mythological figure Theseus. It analyzes two films from different genres: one is the popular action film, Immortals, and the other is a philosophical art film Ship of Theseus (2013). It shows how neither work provides a retelling of the Theseus myths. Rather, they use the figure of Theseus to ask questions about the desire for immortality and the complexities of personal identity.

Russell Crowe and Maximal Projections in Noah (2014)

This chapter examines the biblical patriarch Noah as played by Russell Crowe in Darren Aronofsky’s Noah (2014). Starting from the foundation of Richard Dyer’s idea of a “star text” in which actors bring echoes of their old roles to new performances and thereby engage viewers on multiple levels, this chapter frames Crowe’s performance in Noah as what the author terms a “maximal projection.” Crowe brings his role as Maximus Decimus Meridius, the soldier who becomes a gladiator during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, to his later role as Noah. Through the repetition of things such as physical gestures, bodily movements, interactions with characters, and even sometimes dialogue, Crowe performs what the author terms “star-peats.”