DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Heroes Masked and Mythic

Echoes of Ancient Archetypes in Comic Book Characters

Christopher Wood author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc

Published:18th Jan '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Heroes Masked and Mythic cover

Epic battles, hideous monsters and a host of petty gods--the world of Classical mythology continues to fascinate and inspire. Heroes like Herakles, Achilles and Perseus have influenced Western art and literature for centuries, and today are reinvented in the modern superhero.

What does Iron Man have to do with the Homeric hero Odysseus? How does the African warrior Memnon compare with Marvel's Black Panther? Do DC's Wonder Woman and Xena the Warrior Princess reflect the tradition of Amazon women such as Penthesileia? How does the modern superhero's journey echo that of the epic warrior?

With fresh insight into ancient Greek texts and historical art, this book examines modern superhero archetypes and iconography in comics and film as the crystallization of the hero's journey in the modern imagination.

“Comic-book lovers, film fans, and classicists will all enjoy this entertaining and erudite work.”—Booklist
“A detailed analysis of the parallels between the heroes of Ancient Greece and comic book superheroes of the modern era…[an] in-depth study…Wood delivers some striking insights…persuasive and intriguing…useful for scholars and students of classicism looking for ways to trace historical developments and archetypes.”—SFRA Review

ISBN: 9781476683157

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 13mm

Weight: 354g

264 pages