Modern Hercules

Alastair J.L. Blanshard (PhD Cambridge 1999) is the Paul Eliadis Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland. He is the author of Hercules: A heroic life (Granta 2005), Sex: Vice and Love from Antiquity to Modernity (Blackwells 2010), Classics on Screen: Ancient Greece and Rome on film (with K. Shahabudin, Bristol Classical Press 2011), The Classical World: All that matters (Hodder and Stoughton 2015) and is one of the collaborative authors of Postclassicisms (Chicago University Press 2019).Emma Stafford (PhD London 1999) is Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Leeds. She is author of Worshipping Virtues (Classical Press of Wales/Duckworth 2000) and Herakles (Routledge 2012), and coordinator of the Leeds Hercules Project (https://herculesproject.leeds.ac.uk/).Contributors are: Arlene Allan, Eran Almagor, Jean Alvares, Alix Beaumont, Monica S. Cyrino, Will Desmond, Matthew Dillon, Frances Foster, T.H.M. Gellar-Goad, Joel Gordon, Stephe Harrop, Owen Hodkinson, Katherine Lu Hsu, Paula James, Hugo Koning, Kleoniki Kyrkopoulou, Lisa Maurice, Andreas Michalopoulos, Charilaos Michalopoulos, Eleanor OKell, Ayelet Peer, Patricia Saltzman-Mitchell, Clemence Schultze, Maria Seijo-Richart, Jon Solomon, Emma Stafford, Sam Summers, Rachel White, Michael Williams, Maria Xanthou.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsNotes on ContributorsHercules, the Modern Man: an IntroductionAlastair Blanshard and Emma StaffordPart 1: The Hero in Literature, Art and PoliticsPart 1.1: Nineteenth- to Twenty-first-century Literature1 Hercules among the GermansWill Desmond2 Hercules among the Tractarians: Typological Reading in Isaac Williams’ The Christian ScholarClemence Schultze3 ‘And maybe in your case there wouldn’t be a Herakles…’: Herakles in C.P. Cavafy and Yiannis RitsosCharilaos N. Michalopoulos4 ‘The mirror of Greek myth’: James McAuley’s The Hero and the HydraRachael White5 Agatha Christie’s Twelve Labours of HerculesHugo Koning6 Hercules as Romantic Hero in Twenty-first-century Historical FictionEleanor OKellPart 1.2: A Hero for Children?7 Hercules in Children’s Literature: a ‘warts and all’ Model of Masculinity?Owen Hodkinson8 Demigod, God or Monster? Rick Riordan’s HerculesFrances Foster9 The Incredible HerculesHugo KoningPart 1.3: Political Discourse10 Whose Hero? Hercules and His Avatars in Political DiscoursePaula James11 Reimagining Herakles: a Supporter of Greek Revolution and a Defender of the Greek CrownMaria Xanthou and Kleoniki Kyrkopoulou12 ‘Ο Ηρακλής πήρε το ρόπαλό του’ [‘Herakles got his club’]: the Reception of Herakles in the Modern Greek PressAndreas N. Michalopoulos13 A Coruña, Cidade Herculina: Hercules as Founder of CitiesMaria Seijo-Richart14 Exhibiting Maguire’s Herakles: a Dialogue between Old and New WorldsEmma StaffordPart 2: From Image to ScreenPart 2.1: Modes of Reception15 Herakles on Chesil Bank: the Archers’ Disavowable Classicism and The Small Back Room (1949)Stephe Harrop16 ‘The muscles of Hercules beneath the skin of Antinous’: Mapping Herculean Stardom in Film Fan-magazine DiscourseMichael Williams17 Hercules ‘Down Under’: Antipodean Experiences of the Hero’s MachismoMatthew DillonPart 2.2: For the Younger Viewer18 The Mighty Hercules Cartoon Series in Conversation with Steve Reeve’s Hercules, Super-hero Comics and 1960s Societal ConcernsArlene Allan19 Asterix as the New Hercules: The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976)Eran Almagor20 Disney’s Hercules in Context: Mouse-morality for Mini-heroesLisa Maurice21 A Real American Hero: the Superhero-ification of Disney’s HerculesSam Summers22 The Convergence of Family Values, Computer-Generated Monsters, and Cleavage in Hercules: The Legendary JourneysJon SolomonPart 2.3: Millenial Concerns23 The Labours of Hercules-SamaAyelet Peer24 Hercules’ Self-fashioning on Screenː Millennial Concerns and Political DimensionsJean Alvares and Patricia Salzman-Mitchell25 ‘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 BeaumontPart 2.4: From Graphic Novel to Blockbuster Film26 ‘I am Hercules!’: Rebooting, Rationalization and Heroism in 2014Joel Gordon27 Warriors, Murderers, Savages: Violence in Steve Moore’s Hercules: The Thracian WarsKatherine Lu Hsu28 Sex and Gender, Race and Orientalism in Steve Moore’s Hercules ComicsT. H. M. Gellar-Goad29 How the Rock became Rockules: Dwayne Johnson’s Star Text in Hercules(2014)Monica CyrinoIndex

"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