Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and Calliope

American Gods (Starz 2017–2021) and The Sandman (Netflix 2022– ), two highly watchable audiovisual series are adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s popular novel (2001) and of his earlier comic book series (1989–1996). They are both inspired by classical and Norse mythologies and reflect the evolution of cu...

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Autori principali: Elżbieta Olechowska, Marta Pszczolińska
Natura: Articolo
Lingua:English
Pubblicazione: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2023-12-01
Serie:Clotho
Soggetti:
Accesso online:https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/17166
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author Elżbieta Olechowska
Marta Pszczolińska
author_facet Elżbieta Olechowska
Marta Pszczolińska
author_sort Elżbieta Olechowska
collection DOAJ
description American Gods (Starz 2017–2021) and The Sandman (Netflix 2022– ), two highly watchable audiovisual series are adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s popular novel (2001) and of his earlier comic book series (1989–1996). They are both inspired by classical and Norse mythologies and reflect the evolution of culturally and socially important themes that occurred between the publication of their literary models and the airing of the television series. Curiously, the adaptation of the novel includes more Olympic gods but glosses over the influence of Herodotus. The Sand­man, on the other hand, in its television version, and specifically, in its first season finale episode Calliope, under discussion here, is much less graphic in the scenes of sexual abuse leaving the more drastic images to the imagination of the viewers but at the same time achieving an even more expressive empathy toward the suffering victim and a severe condemnation of the committed outrage.
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spelling doaj.art-901b53c08f97452d9337f8f4bdb414ad2025-01-07T09:05:54ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Clotho2670-62102670-62292023-12-015210.4312/clotho.5.2.131-147Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and CalliopeElżbieta Olechowska0Marta Pszczolińska1University of Warsaw, PolandUniversity of Warsaw, Poland American Gods (Starz 2017–2021) and The Sandman (Netflix 2022– ), two highly watchable audiovisual series are adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s popular novel (2001) and of his earlier comic book series (1989–1996). They are both inspired by classical and Norse mythologies and reflect the evolution of culturally and socially important themes that occurred between the publication of their literary models and the airing of the television series. Curiously, the adaptation of the novel includes more Olympic gods but glosses over the influence of Herodotus. The Sand­man, on the other hand, in its television version, and specifically, in its first season finale episode Calliope, under discussion here, is much less graphic in the scenes of sexual abuse leaving the more drastic images to the imagination of the viewers but at the same time achieving an even more expressive empathy toward the suffering victim and a severe condemnation of the committed outrage. https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/17166American GodsNeil GaimanGreek mythologyNorse mythologyreception of mythsThe Sandman
spellingShingle Elżbieta Olechowska
Marta Pszczolińska
Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and Calliope
Clotho
American Gods
Neil Gaiman
Greek mythology
Norse mythology
reception of myths
The Sandman
title Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and Calliope
title_full Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and Calliope
title_fullStr Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and Calliope
title_full_unstemmed Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and Calliope
title_short Neil Gaiman’s Use of Antiquity in Television Series: American Gods and Calliope
title_sort neil gaiman s use of antiquity in television series american gods and calliope
topic American Gods
Neil Gaiman
Greek mythology
Norse mythology
reception of myths
The Sandman
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/17166
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