Ancient Greece in cinema

Ancient Greece in Cinema

There are not many cinematic recreations of Greek antiquity. Hollywood has more of a penchant for Ancient Rome – Ben Hur and Spartacus come to mind – because it is more associated with action whilst Greece is more associated with thought. Another reason why Hollywood might have shied away from Ancient Greece is its fetishisation of young men, which might potentially prove to be sensitive. Socrates was, after all, suspected of ‘corrupting the youth of Athens.’ One of the few exception is 500, however it is a war film that is far more action-oriented.

But why hasn’t arthouse cinema tackled the topic more often? . Arthouse cinema has tackled morally taboo subjects, so it would not shy away from depicting paedophilic courtship. Greece’s main arthouse export, Angelous Thelopolous, mainly focused on modern Greek history.

All this is very surprising Ancient Greece does lend itself to cinematic adaptations. They had Dionysian rituals, which were devoted to the God of wine. Such rituals involved sacrifice and drunken debauchery, which would lead to rich carnivalesque imagery. A film about a Pythagorean cult would be sinister and creepy. It would follow them praying to mathematical symbols, avoiding beans and Pythagoras murdering anyone who questioned the accuracy of his mathematical equations.

Additionally, several Greek philosophers led very interesting and unusual lives. This would not simply involve dry intellectualising, it would lead to exciting drama. It is very surprising that there is no major film about the trial of Socrates. It would be a film about a martyr sacrificing himself in the name of his beliefs and his virtue. There are many films about other inspiring martyrs such as Joan of Arc and Jesus Christ, but there is no major film about the trial of Socrates. It was chronicled in the writings of Plato and Anaxamides, so a screenplay writer would have a solid foundation.

Alternatively, turning a Socratic dialogue like Meno into a film would be an interesting experiment. An accomplished director would simply use Plato’s text as his script and select the most appropriate camera angles to make it uniquely cinematic and bring the dialogue to life. Close ups are said to reveal the underlying personality of a person, so it would be fascinating to reveal underlying psychology of Socrates as he grapples with the definition of ‘virtue.’

Other eccentric philosophers who led ‘interesting and unusual lives’ include Empedocles, Diogenes and Heraclitus. A film about Empedocles jumping into a volcano would be cathartic whilst a film about Diogenes would be oddball and fun. It would follow him surrounded by dogs, carrying a lantern in broad daylight, calling for an honest man, sleeping in a barrel and telling Alexander the Great to move away from the sun. A film about Heraclitus would be artful and contemplative; it would be comprised of long artful shots of him stepping into rivers.

There is a wealth of cinematic potential here, as there are plenty of arresting and symbolic imagery in Greek cults and movements. Like all other societies, there is power politics. However, Greece is the foundation for all of our knowledge whilst cinema is the archetypal modern medium, as it always exploits the latest technological advancements. It would be interesting for this modern medium to grapple with the knowledge that shaped who we are.