This is the first volume to investigate how Classic Rock music engaged with the ancient world from lyrics to performance to the curation of the personalities of the singers and bands themselves. Though Classic Rock is treated simultaneously as the leading edge of modern music and already a thing of the past, the contributors to this volume break this dichotomy. They consider how artists such as Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, the Doors, Bruce Springsteen, Marc Bolan, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rush, Meat Loaf, and Stevie Nicks looked to the ancient world for direction and inspiration: for example, Freddie Mercury to Zoroastrianism, Stevie Nicks to Celtic myth, and Jim Morrison to Nietzsche’s reading of the Greek god Dionysus.The contributors come from across musicology and classical studies, and from across the globe. Their sixteen chapters are organized around examples of musicians who employed elements of ancient history and myth, performative features, and philosophy and religion. Ultimately, as a study of reception, this volume demonstrates how this overlooked aspect of Classic Rock can contribute to the classical tradition and its continued significance for our world.
Nicholas D. Cross is Assistant Professor of Ancient Mediterranean History at United States Naval Academy, USA.Nicholas R. Wagner is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics at Grinnell College, USA.
Introduction Nicholas D. Cross and Nicholas R. WagnerREFLECTING ANTIQUITY IN SONG1 Rock’s Discovery of the Ancient World Nicholas D. Cross2 Layers of Allusions: Black Sabbath’s, Led Zeppelin’s, and Queen’s Oblique References to Ancient Religions Grace Odell 3 Breathing Fire before the Apocalypse: “Changing of the Guards” and Bob Dylan’s Pre-Christian Phase Nicholas R. Wagner4 Icarus and Kansas Elizabeth Romero 5 Don’t Look Back: Orpheus in Rock Music Around the World Nicholas D. CrossEMBODYING ANTIQUITY ON STAGE6 Reimagining Greek Tragedy: the Doors and Mythic Storytelling Megan Michele Stypinski7 Ancient mahasiddhas and the Grateful Dead: the Esoteric Art of Transformation Casey Rae8 Magic, Mythology, and Nostalgia in Marc Bolan’s Carnivalesque World Alison Blair9 The Second Coming: Genesis’ Mystical Climax with God in “Supper’s Ready” Jeff Zittrain 10 Sisters of the Moon: Rhiannon, Fan Culture, and the Mystical Birth of Stevie Nicks McKenzie L. IsomBibliographyIndex