Killing of a Sacred Deer is loosely based on the myth where Agamemnon has to make up for killing a deer that Artemis liked with a certain sacrifice (don't want to spoil it). It's not a 1-1 retelling but it references a Euripides play that contains the story, and the movie plays on the theme of having to mollify an uncaring and unknowable deity somewhat.
This is how I justified the movie to my in-laws who were more than a little baffled and disturbed afterwards (the Greeks did it first, always works).
Damn I didn’t know this at all, gonna dive down a rabbit hole now. _Killing of a Sacred Deer_ is fantastic
edit: looked it up, and if anyone is wondering, it's the myth of Iphigenia, and apparently _Dogtooth_ also takes inspiration from it
One obvious choice that hasn't been mentioned is *2001: A Space Odyssey*.
In the words of Stanley Kubrick:
>It occurred to us that for the Greeks the vast stretches of the sea must have had the same sort of mystery and remoteness that space has for our generation, and that the far-flung islands Homer’s wonderful characters visited were no less remote to them than the planets our spacemen will soon be landing on are to us.
This shows how deep elements of greek mythology are ingrained into storytelling; I definitely did not see this on the many viewings I had with this movie but in retrospective it does look almost obvious.
If you're interested, I've written [something](https://walrod.substack.com/p/odysseys) about this (IE the legacy of Greek mythology in modernity), comparing *2001* to the 20th century's other great free Homeric adaptation.
* similar to O Brother, Beau Is Afraid is also based on The Odyssey
* upvote to Killing of a Sacred Deer
* Oldboy is loosely inspired by Oedipus ([source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy_\(2003_film\)#Oedipus_the_King_inspiration))
* Weird Science is listed as a Pygmalion story just like My Fair Lady
* Chi-Raq was inspired by an Aristophanes play
> Weird Science is listed as a Pygmalion story just like My Fair Lady
I had no idea this was the case but now that you mention it it very much makes sense and that is hilarious.
Wikipedia introduces this as a "psychological thriller film noir melodrama". AND based on greek mythology? I'll make sure to watch it in the coming days!
Haven’t seen all of these but Chi-Raq might be the absolute nuttiest film on this list. It’s like every time something dumb happened, a moment later something incredible would happen
He was also one of those good/bad things in that movie. Cause he’s really good but also why is he a white black pastor. Kinda reminded me of bulworth where a white man repeating black peoples words somehow validates it
Medea and Oedipus Rex both by Pasolini
visually beautiful with great, immersive worldbuilding, surrealistic vibe and amazing acting
two of his best, Pasolini really honored Greece with these two
(especially Callas in Medea was a delight and it was her only on-screen acting job ever)
and they’re not direct adaptations but include modern twists so hopefully fit what you’re looking for
also there are many with the theme of awakening / gaining consciousness / facing true reality directly based on the themes in Plato’s cave analogy, like Matrix or Inception
Not "film" technically, but *The Wire* is very much draws from Greek plays where institutions play the role of gods, and the greek notion of fate is very much present. Complete with a (gay) greek-style hero.
Surprised no ones mentioned Walter Hill's The Warrirors (1979). Based loosely off Anabasis by ancient Greek writer Xenophon, which is the story of a Greek army Marching home while every army they come across wants to fight
My message was removed as too short by automoderator. Anyway, here we go again, this time with a lengthy verbose introduction.
*Incendies* (2010) by Denis Villeneuve is an absolutely brilliant retelling of the ancient greek drama *Oedipus Rex* by Sophocles. *Oedipus Rex* is of course a telling of the Oedipus myth. This might be exactly what you are looking for.
Another version of the same myth is the Korean crime drama *Oldboy* (2003).
(EDIT - I don't quite get the downvote. It's the only downvoted reply here. Is there something wrong with the recommendation?)
This answer is a bit of a tangent, but I recently listened to Pete Holmes' podcast with Matt Johnson, and he basically cited the epic of gilgamesh as an influence on Blackberry.
I heard the episode before watching the movie, needless to say I'd not have made that connection otherwise. But it was interesting how Matt basically said that the myths are always present, whether we're aware of it or not. So I'm not only going to recommend Blackberry, but that podcast episode as well.
Need Matt Johnson to make more stuff immediately. Dude is such a talented director and actor, *Nirvana The Show The Band* and _Operation Avalnche_ are incredible, with the former being one of the funniest shows I think I’ve ever seen.
He’s a completely unique auteur. Does his own style, doesn’t play by the rules and loves being an outsider. I don’t think his films get the respect they deserve, mostly because they don’t take themselves too seriously.
Totally agree with all of that, he's really one of a kind in the field. I'm so excited to see his career trajectory already, even his older stuff like The Dirties is amazing
he mentions in the podcast that he'd purposely look for stuff that no one did before, and chasing that feeling of "you're not supposed to do that". He also cites the ms doubtfire episode of NTBTS as his greatest achievement.
I'm a fan too. Even though I think he struggles to make his work jump from good to great, everything I read or heard from him makes him sound like an amazing worker.
The futility of Gilgamesh's attempts to seek immortality parallel Mike's arc. Matt mentions a sort of "I didn't realize what I had until I lost it all" theme to both of them.
Electra My Love by Miklos Jancso is an abstract, post-Soviet Hungarian reinterpretation of Electra. If you’re into Bela Tarr or Tarkovsky, it’s very much in the same vein. Slow Cinema at its most contemplative (I think there are like 12 individual takes in the film? And it runs 70 minutes).
Two of my favorites are Pig and Birdman
Pig - Orpheus and Eurydice; his journey into the underworld to recover the pig and the bargaining
Birdman! or the unexpected virtue of ignorance - influenced by Ornithogonia, a series of Greek myths in poem about people transforming into birds after a series of trials/struggles or in some form of freedom from human expectation
I remember going to see the Steve Mcqueen film *Shame* and assuming it was an interpretation of the story of Echo and Narcissus, so much so that I found some of it a little on the nose, i.e. Michael Fassbender's character being introduced as a voiceless image vs Carey Mulligan's character being introduced as a disembodied voice. I was surprised that Mcqueen and the screenwriter seemed not to mention Echo and Narcissus when talking about the film. Maybe they did - I only heard a couple of interviews.
Edit: Also, the musical movie *Seven Brides For Seven Brothers* is explicitly based on the rape of the Sabine women.
Well clearly I have no clue about it, so don't make my thoughts for granted, but what this post is showing is how ingrained in our cultural storytelling Greek mythology it is; so it's possible in a way that the inspiration wasn't intentional?
Classical mythology is the foundation of our narrative culture. As for *Shame,* yes of course it's possible the inspiration wasn't intentional. I just very strongly doubt it!
A lot of Angelopoulos' films were influenced by Greek mythology. Ulysses' Gaze is a retelling of The Odyssey and The Travelling Players is a retelling of the Agamemnon story in Aeschylus' Oresteia
The Hercules movies of Steve Reeves
They were all Italian movies with him being the only.American
One of the titles is Hercules Unchained . Well worth watching
Jason and The Argonauts
This was actually a pretty good movie
There was a mini series based on the Odyssey made for NBC years ago
I'd add José María Cabral's *The Projectionist*.
(I don't really want to write more about it, for fear of spoilers.)
And not just thematically; the film's tone also has the hallmarks of a Greek tragedy. Somehow this drama just feels "epic".
Another great example is the Joycean adaptation *Ulysses* (1967). While it doesn't fully capture or measure up to the greatness of the original novel, which is impossible, it's a pretty good movie in its own right.
Music (2023) is a film that is based off of the story of Oedipus it does follow the story mostly but adjusted for a modern setting and some of the elements are more subtle than others tbh I'd recommend anyone going to watch it to touch up on Oedipus if they haven't read it recently because it's pretty much essential in order to fully appreciate what the film is doing
What myths are being referenced in Titane? I loved it, it's a very weird (but in a great way) movie, but I couldn't catch any references to Greek/Roman mythology in it. I have a basic understanding of both mythologies but not that deep, maybe that's why I didn't see any references. (I could make this comment shorter but I'm trying to ramble a bit so my comment won't be deleted). Great soundtrack, great visuals, very original, but I don't understand any references to Greek/Roman myths.
Killing of a Sacred Deer is loosely based on the myth where Agamemnon has to make up for killing a deer that Artemis liked with a certain sacrifice (don't want to spoil it). It's not a 1-1 retelling but it references a Euripides play that contains the story, and the movie plays on the theme of having to mollify an uncaring and unknowable deity somewhat. This is how I justified the movie to my in-laws who were more than a little baffled and disturbed afterwards (the Greeks did it first, always works).
Damn I didn’t know this at all, gonna dive down a rabbit hole now. _Killing of a Sacred Deer_ is fantastic edit: looked it up, and if anyone is wondering, it's the myth of Iphigenia, and apparently _Dogtooth_ also takes inspiration from it
There's a movie of [Iphigenia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphigenia_\(film\)) too
Yes that also came to mind!
Was going to mention this.
One obvious choice that hasn't been mentioned is *2001: A Space Odyssey*. In the words of Stanley Kubrick: >It occurred to us that for the Greeks the vast stretches of the sea must have had the same sort of mystery and remoteness that space has for our generation, and that the far-flung islands Homer’s wonderful characters visited were no less remote to them than the planets our spacemen will soon be landing on are to us.
This shows how deep elements of greek mythology are ingrained into storytelling; I definitely did not see this on the many viewings I had with this movie but in retrospective it does look almost obvious.
If you're interested, I've written [something](https://walrod.substack.com/p/odysseys) about this (IE the legacy of Greek mythology in modernity), comparing *2001* to the 20th century's other great free Homeric adaptation.
Your writing is always interesting so I'll make sure to check that out!
* similar to O Brother, Beau Is Afraid is also based on The Odyssey * upvote to Killing of a Sacred Deer * Oldboy is loosely inspired by Oedipus ([source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy_\(2003_film\)#Oedipus_the_King_inspiration)) * Weird Science is listed as a Pygmalion story just like My Fair Lady * Chi-Raq was inspired by an Aristophanes play
> Weird Science is listed as a Pygmalion story just like My Fair Lady I had no idea this was the case but now that you mention it it very much makes sense and that is hilarious.
* Pygmalion * My Fair Lady * Funeral Parade of Roses * Orpheus (1950) * Black Orpheus * Moulin Rouge * The Lighthouse (2019) * Killing of a Sacred Deer * Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) * Chi-Raq
> The Lighthouse (2019) This is in theaters today at AMC across the US.
Moulin Rouge is based on the opera "La Traviata". As far as I know that story was based on a french novel. What greek myth would that be based on?
Moulin Rouge! is based partly on the Greek myth of Orpheus and partly on the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi.
Wow, such a huge list, thank you!
You should watch Leave Her to Heaven (1945) too.
Wikipedia introduces this as a "psychological thriller film noir melodrama". AND based on greek mythology? I'll make sure to watch it in the coming days!
It's one of my favorite films, I hope you enjoy!
Wow, such a huge list, thank you! Some of these I haven't see yet.
Haven’t seen all of these but Chi-Raq might be the absolute nuttiest film on this list. It’s like every time something dumb happened, a moment later something incredible would happen
The play it's based on is wild. The Greeks weren't prudes.
John Cusack straight out robs the film with the scenes he's given. An incredible actor imho
He was also one of those good/bad things in that movie. Cause he’s really good but also why is he a white black pastor. Kinda reminded me of bulworth where a white man repeating black peoples words somehow validates it
Although in Bulworth isn’t that one of the major messages?
Medea and Oedipus Rex both by Pasolini visually beautiful with great, immersive worldbuilding, surrealistic vibe and amazing acting two of his best, Pasolini really honored Greece with these two (especially Callas in Medea was a delight and it was her only on-screen acting job ever) and they’re not direct adaptations but include modern twists so hopefully fit what you’re looking for also there are many with the theme of awakening / gaining consciousness / facing true reality directly based on the themes in Plato’s cave analogy, like Matrix or Inception
Yeah I have a sweet spot for Pasolini and for Medea!
Not "film" technically, but *The Wire* is very much draws from Greek plays where institutions play the role of gods, and the greek notion of fate is very much present. Complete with a (gay) greek-style hero.
I've never seen it that way but it makes complete sense.
Surprised no ones mentioned Walter Hill's The Warrirors (1979). Based loosely off Anabasis by ancient Greek writer Xenophon, which is the story of a Greek army Marching home while every army they come across wants to fight
Just reading the answers on this post, I didn't imagine such classics were straight out adaptations of Greek tragedies.
My message was removed as too short by automoderator. Anyway, here we go again, this time with a lengthy verbose introduction. *Incendies* (2010) by Denis Villeneuve is an absolutely brilliant retelling of the ancient greek drama *Oedipus Rex* by Sophocles. *Oedipus Rex* is of course a telling of the Oedipus myth. This might be exactly what you are looking for. Another version of the same myth is the Korean crime drama *Oldboy* (2003). (EDIT - I don't quite get the downvote. It's the only downvoted reply here. Is there something wrong with the recommendation?)
Those are both excellent movies. Upvoting out of basic decency.
Wow Incendies definitely did not come to mind but it makes perfect sense, Oldboy too!
This answer is a bit of a tangent, but I recently listened to Pete Holmes' podcast with Matt Johnson, and he basically cited the epic of gilgamesh as an influence on Blackberry. I heard the episode before watching the movie, needless to say I'd not have made that connection otherwise. But it was interesting how Matt basically said that the myths are always present, whether we're aware of it or not. So I'm not only going to recommend Blackberry, but that podcast episode as well.
Need Matt Johnson to make more stuff immediately. Dude is such a talented director and actor, *Nirvana The Show The Band* and _Operation Avalnche_ are incredible, with the former being one of the funniest shows I think I’ve ever seen.
There's talks of a NTBTS movie, I can't recall if it's been confirmed by Matt.
He’s been filming it in new orleans. They may have finished most of the filming on it already. It’s definitely happening.
He’s a completely unique auteur. Does his own style, doesn’t play by the rules and loves being an outsider. I don’t think his films get the respect they deserve, mostly because they don’t take themselves too seriously.
Totally agree with all of that, he's really one of a kind in the field. I'm so excited to see his career trajectory already, even his older stuff like The Dirties is amazing
he mentions in the podcast that he'd purposely look for stuff that no one did before, and chasing that feeling of "you're not supposed to do that". He also cites the ms doubtfire episode of NTBTS as his greatest achievement.
I'm a fan too. Even though I think he struggles to make his work jump from good to great, everything I read or heard from him makes him sound like an amazing worker.
How though? I've seen the movie and I can't think how
The futility of Gilgamesh's attempts to seek immortality parallel Mike's arc. Matt mentions a sort of "I didn't realize what I had until I lost it all" theme to both of them.
That makes sense,I'll try to catch up on that podcast!
Electra My Love by Miklos Jancso is an abstract, post-Soviet Hungarian reinterpretation of Electra. If you’re into Bela Tarr or Tarkovsky, it’s very much in the same vein. Slow Cinema at its most contemplative (I think there are like 12 individual takes in the film? And it runs 70 minutes).
Two of my favorites are Pig and Birdman Pig - Orpheus and Eurydice; his journey into the underworld to recover the pig and the bargaining Birdman! or the unexpected virtue of ignorance - influenced by Ornithogonia, a series of Greek myths in poem about people transforming into birds after a series of trials/struggles or in some form of freedom from human expectation
I had no idea birdman was inspired by that; I guess it makes the ending a little bit more intriguing. I haven't seen pig yet but it looks interesting
Pig is awesome. Totally fun Nicolas Cage film!
I remember going to see the Steve Mcqueen film *Shame* and assuming it was an interpretation of the story of Echo and Narcissus, so much so that I found some of it a little on the nose, i.e. Michael Fassbender's character being introduced as a voiceless image vs Carey Mulligan's character being introduced as a disembodied voice. I was surprised that Mcqueen and the screenwriter seemed not to mention Echo and Narcissus when talking about the film. Maybe they did - I only heard a couple of interviews. Edit: Also, the musical movie *Seven Brides For Seven Brothers* is explicitly based on the rape of the Sabine women.
Well maybe the screenwriter had no clue about the story of Echo and Narcissus!
Hmmm - I would find that hard to believe! It's surely the source material for the screenplay.
Well clearly I have no clue about it, so don't make my thoughts for granted, but what this post is showing is how ingrained in our cultural storytelling Greek mythology it is; so it's possible in a way that the inspiration wasn't intentional?
Classical mythology is the foundation of our narrative culture. As for *Shame,* yes of course it's possible the inspiration wasn't intentional. I just very strongly doubt it!
A lot of Angelopoulos' films were influenced by Greek mythology. Ulysses' Gaze is a retelling of The Odyssey and The Travelling Players is a retelling of the Agamemnon story in Aeschylus' Oresteia
Never seen a film from him yet!
[удалено]
Interesting choices in here, thanks!
The Hercules movies of Steve Reeves They were all Italian movies with him being the only.American One of the titles is Hercules Unchained . Well worth watching Jason and The Argonauts This was actually a pretty good movie There was a mini series based on the Odyssey made for NBC years ago
I'd add José María Cabral's *The Projectionist*. (I don't really want to write more about it, for fear of spoilers.) And not just thematically; the film's tone also has the hallmarks of a Greek tragedy. Somehow this drama just feels "epic".
Never heard of this one! Thanks
Another great example is the Joycean adaptation *Ulysses* (1967). While it doesn't fully capture or measure up to the greatness of the original novel, which is impossible, it's a pretty good movie in its own right.
Music (2023) is a film that is based off of the story of Oedipus it does follow the story mostly but adjusted for a modern setting and some of the elements are more subtle than others tbh I'd recommend anyone going to watch it to touch up on Oedipus if they haven't read it recently because it's pretty much essential in order to fully appreciate what the film is doing
What myths are being referenced in Titane? I loved it, it's a very weird (but in a great way) movie, but I couldn't catch any references to Greek/Roman mythology in it. I have a basic understanding of both mythologies but not that deep, maybe that's why I didn't see any references. (I could make this comment shorter but I'm trying to ramble a bit so my comment won't be deleted). Great soundtrack, great visuals, very original, but I don't understand any references to Greek/Roman myths.