Ancient Greek literature and tragic drama are among the greatest written works in history and are central to the development of western civilization. Many of these works have been adapted into popular modern movies and TV mini-series using Greek mythology themes, superhero action, adventure, and serious drama. Some are exceptional works of art based on classic Greek Tragedies with excellent acting by famous actors. Classic era mythological movies used stop action photography special effects which were state of the art back in the 1950’s, ‘60s, and ‘70s but seem ‘primitive’ compared to today’s CGI. AI, and FX.
The mythological movies often involve the Greek theme of Hubris. Hubris is defined as excessive pride and overconfidence which results in a character’s unrealistic belief in their own capabilities beyond normal human traits. Often this pride is in defiance of God(s), Divine Order, fate, natural law, or authority; resulting in punishment, downfall, or ruin to themselves and those around them. In some cases, hubristic characters lose contact with reality and form a delusion that they are invincible or equal to the gods.
Helen of Troy
An epic war movie based on Homer’s Iliad about the Trojan War in 1100 BC. Paris of Troy on a peace mission to Sparta meets and falls in love with Helen wife to the Spartan king Menelaus. Paris takes Helen away to Troy. In response all of Greece uses the event as an excuse to loot Troy in a war that lasts for 10 years. The Greeks are victorious and destroy Troy. Menelaus kills Paris and takes Helen back to Sparta.
Details: Helen of Troy, 1956, U.S., Warner Bros., director Robert Wise. Cast: Rosana Podesta, Jacques Sernas, Cedric Hardwicke, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Brigitte Bardot, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher.
Hercules
An iconic classic and one of the most popular ‘Super Hero’ films of the 1950s. Steve Reeves is an action star in many movies. Hercules, the Roman version of the Greek Herakles, is an action-adventure tale loosely based on Greek mythology. It mixes the 12 Labors of Herakles and Jason’s search for the Golden Fleece. In the movie Hercules, the son of Zeus, battles with monsters and armies and helps establish Jason as king.
Details: Hercules, 1958, Italy, director Pietro Francisci. Cast: Steve Reeves, Sylvia Koscina, Gianna Canale, Fabrizio Mioni, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominica, Mimma Palmora.
Antigone
Antigone, based on the Greek tragedy by Sophocles (497- 405 BC) written in 441 BC. After King Oedipus of Thebes is dethroned, the new king Creon condemns the children of Oedipus. Creon decreed that no one bury the executed Polynices, son of Oedipus. The daughter of Oedipus Antigone buries him, claiming that burial is a Divine right. For punishment she is sealed in a tomb to die, where she commits suicide. The king’s son, betrothed to Antigone, in grief kills himself; then his mother the queen also kills herself for her son’s death. The king’s defiance of Divine law causes the death of all those he loved, leaving him alone to suffer.
Details: Antigone, 1961, Greece, director Yorgos Javellas Cast: Irene Papas, Manos Katrakis, Maro Kontou, Nikos Kazis, Ilia Livykou. Awards: Golden Globe and Berlin nominations.
Electra
Electra is based on the Greek tragedy written in 413 BC by Euripides.
Agamemnon, the King of Argos, brings a blood curse on his family by defying the gods’ warnings, he believes he is invincible and above Divine law. He sacrifices his own daughter to the gods for the sake of glory in war, where he helps to destroy Troy and slaughter the city’s population. Then he brings a priestess of Troy home as a concubine paraded before his wife. He kills off most males of the city Argos in the war and lets the city collapse into economic and social chaos. His wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murder Agamemnon to avenge the death of her daughter. Agamemnon’s children Orestes and Electra are banned from the city but they plot to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.
Details: Electra, 1962, Greece, United Artists, director Michael Cacoyannis Cast: Irene Papas, Giannis Fertis, Manos Katrakis, Aleka Katselti, Fivos Razi. Awards: won Cannes, Oscar nomination.
Jason and the Argonauts
A highly acclaimed adventure film based on the Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece with award winning special effects. As the rightful heir to the thrown of Thessaly, Jason must pass a test. So Jason and his crew the Argonauts travel by sea from Greece to Colchis on the Black Sea on a quest to obtain the magical Golden Fleece of Ares, the god of war. They encounter many adventures and battle many monsters and giants on their way. The high priestess Medea of Colchis falls in love with Jason and helps him steal the Golden Fleece which is guarded by the multi-headed Hydra dragon.
Details: Jason and the Argonauts, 1963, US, Columbia, director Don Chaffey. Cast:
Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, Gary Raymond, Patricia Troughton, Nigel Green. Awards: American Film Institute, Oscar nomination.
Oedipus the King
A superstar cast in a faithful adaptation of the classic Greek Tragedy Oedipus Rex written in 429 BC by Sophocles (497- 405 BC). An Oracle tells Oedipus that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus believes his power is so great that no one could accuse him of anything and he refuses to accept the prophecies of his fate. He travels to avoid the prophecy, he kills a man on the road, then in Thebes he becomes king and marries the widowed Queen. He ends up doing exactly what he feared: he had killed his father on the road and then marries his mother the Queen. He blinds himself in his dishonor.
Details: Oedipus the King, 1968, British, Universal, director Philip Saville. Cast: Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles, Lili Palmer, Richard Johnson, Donald Sutherland.
Medea
The film stars opera superstar Maria Callas in her only film role and is largely a faithful portrayal of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and the events of Euripides‘ play The Medea written in 431 BC.
Jason and the Argonauts travel by sea from Greece to Colchis on the Black Sea on a quest to obtain the magical Golden Fleece of Ares, god of war. The Queen Medea of Colchis is the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. She is a priestess and divine messenger of death for Hecate, the goddess of magic and witchcraft in the underworld. Medea falls in love with Jason and helps him steal the Golden Fleece. Jason marries Medea and they have children but he tires of her and pursues the Princess Glauce. In revenge, Medea kills their children and the princess.
Details: Medea, 1969, Italy, director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Cast: Maria Callas, Massimo Girotti, Guiseppe Gentile, Laurent Terzioff, Paul Jabarra.
The Trojan Women
A superstar cast in the Greek tragedy based on The Trojan Women by Euripides, 415 BC.
The surviving women of the Royal House of Troy try to cope after the destruction of Troy by the Greeks. Then the Greeks demand death of any remaining male members of the Royal House of Troy. The women fear that they may be killed or be pressed into prostitution.
Details: The Trojan Women, 1971, U.S., director Michael Cacoyanni. Cast: Katherine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave, Irene Papas, Genevieve Bujold, Patrick Magee, Brian Blessed.
Iphigenia
Based on the Greek tragedy by Euripides written in 408 BC.
Agamemnon, the King of Argos, brings a blood curse on his family by defying the gods, he believes he is invincible and above Divine law. He offends the goddess Artemis who in turn prevents the Greeks to sail to invade Troy. An Oracle says that Agamemnon must sacrifice his own daughter Iphigenia to appease the goddess.
Details: Iphigenia, 1977, Greece, director Michael Cacoyannis. Cast: Irene Papas, Tatiana Papamoschou, Kostas Kasakis, Costas Carras, Christas Tsagas. Nominated for Cannes and Oscar awards.
Clash of the Titans
A superstar cast in an epic adventure loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus, son of Zeus.
Queen Cassiopeia of Joppa boasts that her daughter, Andromeda, is more beautiful than the sea goddess Thetis. In punishment, Poseidon threatens to send the Krakon sea monster to destroy the city unless Andromeda is offered as a sacrifice. To save her Perseus needs to capture the winged horse Pegasus and find the gorgon Medusa who can turn living beings into stone. With the head of Medusa he turns the Krakon into stone.
Details: Clash of the Titans, 1981, US, MGM, director Desmond Davis. Cast: Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom, Ursula Andress.
Ulysses
A wonderful epic adventure movie based on Homer’s Odyssey. The story is about Ulysses, the Roman name for Odysseus King of Ithaca. He is gone from home for ten years with the Trojan War. For his arrogance in defiance of the gods he is forced to wander and be tested for another ten years before he can return to his family. While he is gone his wife Penelope is courted by greedy suitors. Ulysses and his crew are tormented by monsters, cyclops, and magical witches. His crew are all killed and he is finally able to return home. Back in his kingdom he must fight the suitors to regain his throne.
Details: Ulysses, 1954, Italy, Paramount, director Mario Camerini. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Silvano Mangano, Anthony Quinn, Tossana Podesta, Daniel Ivernal.
Orpheus
A surreal and complex arthouse film set in modern times based of the classical Greek tale of Orpheus. The film is highly acclaimed and considered a masterpiece. It tells the story about Orpheus who is put under a spell by Death. Death takes the life of Orpheus’s wife Eurydice. The gods judge that Eurydice is unjustly taken by Death. With the help of an angel Orpheus is allowed to travel into the Underworld to save his wife, but he can never look at her or she must return.
Details: Orpheus, 1950, France, director Jean Cocteau. Cast: Jean Marais, Francois Perrier, Maria Casares, Marie Dea.
Contemporary Greek Mythology Movies
- The Odyssey, 1997, Homer
- Troy, 2004, Homer
- Minotaur, 2005, Theseus
- Clash of the Titans, 2010, Perseus
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief, 2010
- Immortals, 2011, Theseus
- Wrath of the Titans, 2012, Perseus
- Odysseus, 2013, Homer
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea Monsters, 2013
- The Legend or Hercules, 2014
- Hercules, 2014
- Wonder Woman, 2017, Amazons
- The Return, 2024, Odysseus, Homer
Primary Sources
- Aeschylus plays, 525-455 BC, Agamemnon, Eumenides, Persians, Seven Against Thebes
- Argonautica, Apollonius, 3rd Century BC
- Bibliotheca, Apollodorus, 2nd Century AD
- Bibliotheca Historica, Diodorus Siculus, 30 BC
- Euripides plays, 480-406 BC, Bacchae, Electra, Hippolytus Iphigenia, Medea, Trojan Women
- Histories, Herodotus, 430 BC
- Iliad, Homer, 8th Century BC
- Metamorphoses, Ovid, 8 AD
- Odyssey, Homer, 8th Century BC
- Sophocles plays, 497-405 BC, Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus Colonus
- Theogony, Hesiod, 730 BC
Secondary Sources
Bullfinch’s Mythology, Thomas Bullfinch, Lea & Shepard, Boston, 1867
The Greek Myths, Robert Graves, Penguin, London, 1955.
Mythology, Edith Hamilton, Little Brown, Boston, 1942.
