Greek Mythology Identification a Heroic Greek Myths in a Modern Movie

Greek and Roman

Greek Mythology: Identification of Heroic Greek Myths in Modern Movies

There are many effective and functional parallels in modern movies to ancient myths. They make us feel and think about many things. Modern movies that have been successful at the box office are inspired by Greek myths. We see common themes, characters and motifs of myth in the modern movies. The goal here is to identify the mythic elements and heroic myths in some of the successful modern movies.

Myth is a system that recurred themes and patterns that were used by people to make some sense out of world. "The Homeric legend of Heracles rescuing Hesione by slaying the Monster of Troy, for example, may have a paleontological origin" (Wilford). Movies such as "The Godfather" and "Godfather II" were praised for excellence; they showed a lust for crimes and violence and explained the details of obsession for an organized crime. Deeper inside these movies lie some archaic reasons of vogue of the Mafia saga. These reasons are related with the mythic content of the film. "The Godfather" carries the Succession Myth. In this movie, the Succession Myth covered 3 generations. The successions can be a series of either male or female. The movies showed passage of power transferred from generation to generation.

Another example of a heroic myth is in the modern movie "Jason and the Argonauts." This movie was released in the year 1963 and it was made again in the year 2000. It was based on a Greek tale of the Jason and Golden Fleece. This tale is 3000 years old and a very classic and famous quest tale of a hero. The hero had to fulfill a great task of achieving fleece of magical ram in order to reclaim the kingdom of his father. The Jason tale founds myths for so many towns that are located along the shores of the Black Sea. This myth arose when the Greek sailors became able to negotiate their way to enter Black Sea. The sea was called as Axeinos Pontus, meaning "the hostile sea" and later it was transformed into Euxeinos Pontus, meaning "the welcoming sea." It is shown in the movie that Argonauts reached Colchis; first part of the quest was successfully achieved. They walked up to city of Aia. Aia is spoken by the ancient Greeks as real city on River Phasis (it is now called modern River Rhion). The mythic hero, Jason, was shown performing many superman tasks in order to achieve the Golden Fleece. The Greek goddess of love (Aphrodite) fells in love with him; she was the daughter of the King Aietes. The mythic hero agrees to marry her as she could help him in completing the tasks. "Thus the classic triangle of hero, dark power and female helper is formed, to be repeated in stories all the way down to Hollywood. And it seems possible that this theme was based on an even earlier myth" (Wood).

Some of the other examples of modern movies based on myths include "Hercules" and "Scarface." The movie Hercules has been made two times, once in 1983 and then in 1993. It is about a Greek mythic hero "Heracles" (son of Zeus), who was known for his strength and adventuress; also he used to wear a lion's skin.

The mythic hero in movie Scarface is "Tony Camonte." "Though Scarface (1983) had its fair share of admirers, it has had its fair share of detractors as well…the fact that every character profiled in this scum-producing potboiler deserves to die and does cannot mitigate the film existence" (Kirby). He was a gangster, who was obsessed for fine jewelry and cars. Tony Camonte was shown on the top of the organized crime world. This movie relates to the Greek Mythology in a way that the character of Tony has some parallels with the Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus (a craftsman). Icarus and his father were imprisoned by King minos. Icarus's father created a labyrinth and was imprisoned in it. He crafted 2 pairs of wings; one from feathers and other from wax. He warned Icarus for not flying close to the Sun as the wax wings will melt. Icarus did not listen to his father and died once the wings melted. Similarly Tony was also warned by his mom, he created a labyrinth around himself. He thought that he could escape using money and power but he was killed by his own and very close gang members.

Part B: Greek Mythology -- Theoretical Approach for Understanding Myth

Greek mythologies can be better explained using a theoretical approach. Part B of this essay is based on a discussion of strengths and weaknesses of the mythic heroes of the modern movies discussed in Part A.

"Not only do films provide great illustrations of concepts and methods, but they also convey a more profound representation of the major type of modern hero shared by companies and the dominant producers of myth in our societies" (Fournout). In the modern society there is no believer of Odin or Zeus and also there is nothing that constantly reminds us of the mythologies. Movies like "Atlantis" and "Hercules" were produced as a direct effect of mythology. Mythology is a form of literature present in ancient civilizations. We have no historical background of myths; also there is no ecological function. All the fantasies of genre have their roots in the mythology. We cherish the tales of Perseus and Hercules as we view them as heroes. They were the ones, who overcome many odds and accomplished impossible tasks. Researches show that western mythologies have greatly created superman heroes as compared to the Eastern mythologies.

The movie "Jason and the Argonauts" represents tale of a hero, who was a loyal son and to get back the kingdom of his father he strives to get the Golden Fleece. His effort and heroism was supported by the goddess lo love, who wishes o marry him. Jason when came back, gets to know that his father has been killed and his loving mother died of this grief. He then fights to get back the thrown. Jason had the qualities of hard work and determination. He could go any extent to prove himself as a loyal son. The character did not depict any weaknesses to the viewers.