This thesis takes Ariadne's abandonment as a case study in order to examine the literary processes of reception that underlie the transmission of classical myth in different eras and cultural contexts - from Classical Antiquity through the Italian Renaissance. Rather than focusing on the ways in which visual representations of Ariadne relate to literary treatments, it draws attention to the literary reliance on a cultural framework, shared by writer and reader, that enables dynamic storytelling. It argues that literary variation of the myth is central to its successful transmission, not least because it allows for appropriations and adaptations that can be made to fit new social and religious parameters, such as Christian conventions in the Middle Ages. In focusing on the important role played by the visual arts in the classical tradition, this research further challenges the still prevalent misconception that the visual arts are secondary to literature, and refutes the common assumption that the relationship between image and text is unidirectional. It highlights the visual impulses leading to paradigm shifts in the literary treatment of the abandonment narrative, and examines the ways in which writers engage with the visual tradition in order to re-shape the ancient narrative. Throughout, attention is drawn to the visual and cultural framework shared by ancient writers and readers, and to the lack of engagement with this framework in traditional classical scholarship. Through its focus on the literary narratives' visuality and mutability, this thesis offers a new paradigm for studying classical myth and its reception.

Thesis (MA)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Linda Karell. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-104).

This thesis will look at the adaptation and transformation of classic mythology in modern movies through the lens of Joseph Campbells’s monomyth or “The Hero’s Journey.” The study delves into how contemporary films, like “Gods of Egypt,” “Clash of the Titans,” “Man of Steel,” and “The Wolverine,” utilize this archetypal narrative structure to craft the modern myths that resonate with the modern audiences. This thesis argues that the monomyth remains a fundamental narrative framwork within the contemporary film culture, adeptly adapted and reimagined to fit the modern storytelling sensibilities. By using qualitative methods, the study conducts a detailed analysis of selected film, identifying the stages of the Hero’s Journey and their alignment with classic mythology. The work of Hafçı and Erbay Aslıtürk in “Superheroes: Myth of Modern Age” and James J. Clauss’s “A Course on Classic Mythology in Film” is employed to contextualize the discussion within the broader scope of mythological influence in movies. These sources provide the necessary insight into how mythological heroes, often characterized by supernatural powers, reflect their cultural context, including social, sociological, and emotional states. Not only that but this thesis also considers Campbell’s book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” using its outlined 17 steps of the Hero’s Journey as a key analytical tool.  The thesis aims to demonstrate the enduring relevance of mythology in the modern era, by showing how classical mythologies are not merely historical artifacts but continue to evolve and integrate into contemporary popular culture. So, I there for seek to reveal the mythological storytelling, while rooted in ancient traditions, remains a vibrant and influential force in shaping modern movies narrative.

From the viewpoint of classical reception studies, I am asking what contemporary British art (by, for example, Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst, and Mark Wallinger) has to do with the classical tradition – both the art and literature of Greco-Roman antiquity. I have conducted face-to-face interviews with some of the leading artists working in Britain today, including Lucas, Hirst, Wallinger, Marc Quinn, and Gilbert & George. In addition to contemporary art, the thesis focuses on Greco-Roman art and on myths and modes of looking that have come to shape the western art historical tradition – seeking to offer a different perspective on them from that of the Renaissance and neoclassicism. The thesis concentrates on the generation of artists known as the YBAs, or Young British Artists, who came to prominence in the 1990s. These artists are not renowned for their deference to the classical tradition, and are widely regarded as having turned their backs on classical art and its legacies. The introduction asks whether their work, which has received little scholarly attention, might be productively reassessed from the perspective of classical reception studies. It argues that while their work no longer subscribes to a traditional understanding of classical ‘influence’, it continues to depend – for its power and provocativeness – on classical concepts of figuration, realism, and the basic nature of art. Without claiming that the work of the YBAs is classical or classicizing, the thesis sets out to challenge the assumption that their work has nothing to do with ancient art, or that it fails to conform to ancient understandings of what art is. In order to do this, the thesis analyses contemporary works of art through three classical ‘lenses’. Each lens allows contemporary art to be examined in the context of a longer history. The first lens is the concept of realism, as seen in artistic and literary explorations of the relationship between art and life. This chapter uses the myth of Pygmalion’s statue as a way of thinking about contemporary art’s continued engagement with ideas of mimesis and the ‘real’ which were theorised and debated in antiquity. The second lens is corporeal fragmentation, as evidenced by the broken condition of ancient statues, the popular theme of dismemberment in western art, and the fragmentary body in contemporary art. The final chapter focuses on the figurative plaster cast, arguing that contemporary art continues to invoke and reinvent the long tradition of plaster reproductions of ancient statues and bodies. Through each of these ‘lenses’, I argue that contemporary art remains linked, both in form and meaning, to the classical past – often in ways which go beyond the stated intentions of an artist. Contemporary art continues to be informed by ideas and processes that were theorised and practised in the classical world; indeed, it is these ideas and processes that make it deserving of the art label.