Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

306 Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks
If this were all I could say about the current state of classical learning,
there probably would be little point in reading this book. But
while only a few—albeit a very dedicated few—submit themselves to
the rigors of mastering the ancient languages, interest in the ancient
world shows no signs of abating. Hollywood in particular has gone
back to the Greeks repeatedly for inspiration over the last decade or
so. Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite (1995) incorporates the device of
a Greek chorus, which gives advice to the neurotic character played
by Allen himself. The Histories of Herodotos became a bestseller,
thanks to the retelling of a famous anecdote about woman’s vengefulness
in Anthony Minghella’s award- winning film The English
Patient (1996). Homer’s The Odyssey sold like hotcakes at the newsstands
in John F. Kennedy Airport and elsewhere in response to a
blockbuster television miniseries directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
(1997). An acclaimed Disney animated cartoon called Hercules was
based on the exploits of the Greek hero Herakles (1997). The Coen
brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) was loosely based on The
Odysse y. Its central character is a fast- talking convict named Ulysses
(the Latin name for Odysseus), who has escaped from prison in order
to prevent another man from taking his wife and children from him.
Troy (2004), directed by Wolfgang Petersen, which attempts to tell
the whole story of the Trojan War from Helen’s abduction to Troy’s
destruction (rather than just 10 days in the war, as Homer does in
The Iliad ), cost $180 million and was one of the most expensive films
ever made. Another hugely costly Hollywood venture was Oliver
Stone’s Alexander (2004), which was panned by the critics. However,
The 300 (2007), Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic
novel loosely based on the Battle of Thermopylae, broke box office
records when it was released in 2007. And Hollywood is just one
of the ways whereby the ancient Greeks invade and continue to
colonize modern culture.
Greek myths are also a major source of inspiration for modern literature.
The structure of one of the greatest twentieth-century novels,
James Joyce’s Ulysses, is based on Homer’s epic poem, while
one of the most significant verse plays of recent years is Nobel
prize winner Derek Walcott’s The Odyssey: A Stage Version (1993).
And while we are talking of the survival of Greek myth, we should
reflect upon the fact that Greek tragedy, which is wholly inspired
by myth, is now performed with extraordinary frequency in almost
every country that has a theatrical tradition, not least because the
plots are capable of almost endless adaptation to a multiplicity
of political agendas. To cite just a handful of examples, Michael’s