Greek And Roman Mythology Classical Mythology In Modern Culture Feb 15
Greek and Roman Mythology
Classic Mythology in Modern Culture
Brandon Stevenson – February 15, 2015
The topical example of classical mythology being used in modern culture that I chose was the Hunger games film. After a bit a vacillating back and forth I decided that Katniss in the Hunger games is a fairly accurate retelling of the mythical story of the goddess Diana, also known as Artemis in the Greek. She is known as the goddess of nature, the hunt, and protection. Her attributes are the bow and arrow. Her animals include but are not limited to lion’s, birds, and deer. On several occasions throughout the film connections and correlations are illustrated allotting for such a comparison in the physical as well as fundamental commonalities between the two characters. An early scene in The Hunger Games illustrates Katniss sneaking into the forest to hunt for food. She retrieves her bow and arrows from a tree, and spotting a deer, attempts to shoot it. The imagery of Katniss with her bow and arrow which becomes a staple to The Hunger Games suggests the imagery of Diana, the Roman Goddess of the Hunt, who was frequently associated with deer hunting. In one famous story from Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the hunter Actaeon accidentally sees Diana bathing nude in a lake in the forest, she turns him into a horse or deer and sets his own hounds to chase him down and tear him apart. One can see allusions to these hounds in The Hunger Games when the gamemakers send evil dogs into the forest to hunt down Katniss and Peeta. In addition, Diana was a pure goddess, and Katniss's reluctance to engage in a romance with Peeta reflects this warrior woman persona with independence from men. Early in the film, Katniss even tells Gale that she will never have children. Peeta himself, being a bit passive in relation to Katniss, resembles male acolytes of the Goddess Diana, from Hyppolytus to the Priest-Kings of Nemi—who themselves participated in a famous ritual of fighting to the death,
Classic Mythology in Modern Culture
Brandon Stevenson – February 15, 2015
The topical example of classical mythology being used in modern culture that I chose was the Hunger games film. After a bit a vacillating back and forth I decided that Katniss in the Hunger games is a fairly accurate retelling of the mythical story of the goddess Diana, also known as Artemis in the Greek. She is known as the goddess of nature, the hunt, and protection. Her attributes are the bow and arrow. Her animals include but are not limited to lion’s, birds, and deer. On several occasions throughout the film connections and correlations are illustrated allotting for such a comparison in the physical as well as fundamental commonalities between the two characters. An early scene in The Hunger Games illustrates Katniss sneaking into the forest to hunt for food. She retrieves her bow and arrows from a tree, and spotting a deer, attempts to shoot it. The imagery of Katniss with her bow and arrow which becomes a staple to The Hunger Games suggests the imagery of Diana, the Roman Goddess of the Hunt, who was frequently associated with deer hunting. In one famous story from Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the hunter Actaeon accidentally sees Diana bathing nude in a lake in the forest, she turns him into a horse or deer and sets his own hounds to chase him down and tear him apart. One can see allusions to these hounds in The Hunger Games when the gamemakers send evil dogs into the forest to hunt down Katniss and Peeta. In addition, Diana was a pure goddess, and Katniss's reluctance to engage in a romance with Peeta reflects this warrior woman persona with independence from men. Early in the film, Katniss even tells Gale that she will never have children. Peeta himself, being a bit passive in relation to Katniss, resembles male acolytes of the Goddess Diana, from Hyppolytus to the Priest-Kings of Nemi—who themselves participated in a famous ritual of fighting to the death,