Classical Mythology

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

756 THE SURVIVAL OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY


That (1999) presents a teenage version about a high school student who bets that
he can transform a nonentity into a prom queen.
Finally, on video is The Mythology of Star Wars, an interview with director
George Lucas by Bill Moyers, which explores such universal themes as the Jour-
ney and the Quest and the symbolism of light and darkness in the movie (1977).
The fantasy and excitement of folktale and legend have been transported to outer
space with familiar structures and motifs. Another good comparative example
from the genre of science fiction is Dune (1984), although the novel is better than
the movie. And so it goes.
This highly selective review is intended only as a mere sampling of the rich-
ness and variety in the treatment of Greek and Roman themes readily to be found
in works by artists of every sort. Nevertheless, even the briefest account cannot
help but forcefully remind us once again of the potent inspiration that classical
mythology has provided and continues to provide for all facets of creative artis-
tic expression.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY


MUSIC
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G. K. Hall, 1976.
Bordman, Gerald. American Musical Theatre, A Chronicle. 2d ed. New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1992. An invaluable record, season by season.
Burbank, Richard. Twentieth Century Music: Orchestral, Chamber, Operatic, & Dance Music
1900-1980. New York: Facts on File, 1984. An invaluable year-by-year chronicle un-
der the headings "Opera," "Dance," "Instrumental and Vocal Music," "Births, Deaths
and Debuts," and "Related Events."
Chase, Gilbert. America's Music. 2d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1966.
Constantine, James S. "Vergil in Opera." Classical Outlook 46 (1969), pp. 49, 63-65, 77-78,
87-89.
Dickinson, A. E. F. "Music for the Aeneid." Greece & Rome 6 (1959), pp. 129-147.
Ewen, David. American Composers, A Biographical Dictionary. New York: G. P. Putnam's
Sons, 1982.

. The New Encyclopedia of the Opera. New York: Hill & Wang, 1971.
Gilmore, Bob. Harry Partch, A Biography. New Haven & London: Yale University Press,
1998.
Grout, Donald Jay. A Short History of Opera. 2 vols. New York: Columbia University Press,
1947.
Gummere, Richard M. The American Colonial Mind and the Classical Tradition, Essays in
Comparative Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963.
Hitchcock, H. Wiley. Music in the United States. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
, and Stanley Sadie, eds. The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. London:
Macmillan; New York: Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1993.

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