Description
Book SynopsisThe Modern Hercules explores the reception of the ancient Greek hero Herakles – the Roman Hercules – in western culture from the nineteenth century to the present day. Each chapter considers a particular work or theme in detail, exploring this complex hero’s transformations of identity and significance in a wide range of modern media, including literature, visual arts and film. The volume is one of four to be published in the Metaforms series examining the extraordinarily persistent figuring of Herakles-Hercules in western culture, drawing together scholars from a range of disciplines to offer a unique insight into the hero’s perennial appeal.
Trade Review"The Modern Hercules est un ouvrage fort agréable, présentant de nombreuses illustrations et un index. Il constitue un véritable outil à destination d’un public déjà connaisseur du héros, désireux d’ouvrir son horizon de compréhension sur la réception d’Hercule" - Mathieu Scapin, in: Anabases 10.04.2022 "As an edited volume, this book offers an amazing breadth of work covering a wide selection of media and varying portrayals of Hercules. ... [It] offers incisive commentary, showcasing lesser-known case studies and parallels, and most importantly of all it exposes areas in need of further study and exploration." - Owen Rees, in: BMCR 2022.06.06
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Hercules, the Modern Man: an Introduction Alastair Blanshard and Emma Stafford Part 1: The Hero in Literature, Art and Politics Part 1.1: Nineteenth- to Twenty-first-century Literature 1 Hercules among the Germans Will Desmond 2 Hercules among the Tractarians: Typological Reading in Isaac Williams’ The Christian Scholar Clemence Schultze 3 ‘And maybe in your case there wouldn’t be a Herakles…’: Herakles in C.P. Cavafy and Yiannis Ritsos Charilaos N. Michalopoulos 4 ‘The mirror of Greek myth’: James McAuley’s The Hero and the Hydra Rachael White 5 Agatha Christie’s Twelve Labours of Hercules Hugo Koning 6 Hercules as Romantic Hero in Twenty-first-century Historical Fiction Eleanor OKell Part 1.2: A Hero for Children? 7 Hercules in Children’s Literature: a ‘warts and all’ Model of Masculinity? Owen Hodkinson 8 Demigod, God or Monster? Rick Riordan’s Hercules Frances Foster 9 The Incredible Hercules Hugo Koning Part 1.3: Political Discourse 10 Whose Hero? Hercules and His Avatars in Political Discourse Paula James 11 Reimagining Herakles: a Supporter of Greek Revolution and a Defender of the Greek Crown Maria Xanthou and Kleoniki Kyrkopoulou 12 ‘Ο Ηρακλής πήρε το ρόπαλό του’ [‘Herakles got his club’]: the Reception of Herakles in the Modern Greek Press Andreas N. Michalopoulos 13 A Coruña, Cidade Herculina: Hercules as Founder of Cities Maria Seijo-Richart 14 Exhibiting Maguire’s Herakles: a Dialogue between Old and New Worlds Emma Stafford Part 2: From Image to Screen Part 2.1: Modes of Reception 15 Herakles on Chesil Bank: the Archers’ Disavowable Classicism and The Small Back Room (1949) Stephe Harrop 16 ‘The muscles of Hercules beneath the skin of Antinous’: Mapping Herculean Stardom in Film Fan-magazine Discourse Michael Williams 17 Hercules ‘Down Under’: Antipodean Experiences of the Hero’s Machismo Matthew Dillon Part 2.2: For the Younger Viewer 18 The Mighty Hercules Cartoon Series in Conversation with Steve Reeve’s Hercules, Super-hero Comics and 1960s Societal Concerns Arlene Allan 19 Asterix as the New Hercules: The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976) Eran Almagor 20 Disney’s Hercules in Context: Mouse-morality for Mini-heroes Lisa Maurice 21 A Real American Hero: the Superhero-ification of Disney’s Hercules Sam Summers 22 The Convergence of Family Values, Computer-Generated Monsters, and Cleavage in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Jon Solomon Part 2.3: Millenial Concerns 23 The Labours of Hercules-Sama Ayelet Peer 24 Hercules’ Self-fashioning on Screenː Millennial Concerns and Political Dimensions Jean Alvares and Patricia Salzman-Mitchell 25 ‘Through a glass, partly’ Reflections of Hercules in Video Games: the Mythodiegesis of Depictions of Hercules in Video Games, and Their Groundings in Medium and Textual Requirements and Contexts †Alix Beaumont Part 2.4: From Graphic Novel to Blockbuster Film 26 ‘I am Hercules!’: Rebooting, Rationalization and Heroism in 2014 Joel Gordon 27 Warriors, Murderers, Savages: Violence in Steve Moore’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars Katherine Lu Hsu 28 Sex and Gender, Race and Orientalism in Steve Moore’s Hercules Comics T. H. M. Gellar-Goad 29 How the Rock became Rockules: Dwayne Johnson’s Star Text in Hercules(2014) Monica Cyrino Index
