Homer And Hollywood: The Iliad From Homer To Hollywood

From Homer to Hollywood

Introduction

The Iliad by the infamous poet Homer is a good example of how the Greek’s have helped mould todays version of cinematic storytelling and heroic figures going on an adventure. Written circa 8th century BC it is based in the Bronze age around 1200 BC nine years after the start of the Trojan war. The eighth century BC was a time where Greece started to prosper once more and writers such as Homer transformed the oral tales and myths into poetry which created standard versions of these stories. Homer was arguably the most important of these poets as the Iliad and the sequel the Odyssey, properly established a world of the Olympian Gods and the Trojan war(1) which reinforced the beliefs of the Greeks that the Gods often were often involved with mortal life and in some cases walked the earth like man did.***********************

A timeless and infamous text that has been influenced is the New Testament story of Jesus Christ. His teachings were written as early as 50 AD but the story was only put into text from oral tradition as early 63 AD, but it wasn’t until 80 AD when all recognised accounts were finished. This gives an idea of how powerful and large the story had spread and how the cinematic storytelling techniques originally employed by the likes of Homer to immerse specific audiences and achieve its goal of spreading the word of Christ. Set from just before the start of the common era to circa 30 ACE, it was a time where the Jews were heavily oppressed and occupied by the Romans. Jews were forced to worship the Roman emperor like a God(2), pay heavy taxes to Rome and one was severely beaten by Roman soldiers if one did not comply. Also there was a strict social order in which if you broke, you...

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...ically what the audience expects and finds acceptable from Jesus and Superman.

Bibliography

1. Marion Findlay, Classical Mythology, New Zealand edition, Chapter 1

2.http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/biblicalhistory/a/How-the-Jews-Lived-in-Jesus-Time.htm

Sources for article:

The Oxford Bible Commentary, editors John Barton and John Muddiman (Oxford University Press).

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version (Oxford University Press).

The First Christmas: What the Gospel Accounts Really Teach About Jesus's Birth, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan (HarperOne).

"Inner-biblical Interpretation," by Benjamin D. Sommer, The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford University Press).

3. Catherine Elsworth, The Telegraph “The Tragic story behind Superman’s birth” acessed 30/04/2014

4. www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/pankration.htm accessed 1/05/14