{"id":3895,"date":"2015-09-10T15:18:52","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T15:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/?p=3895"},"modified":"2015-10-07T15:36:13","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T15:36:13","slug":"pop-culture-anitquity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/pop-culture-anitquity\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop Culture + Antiquity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Salvette Omnes!<\/p>\n<p>This week we will be discussing pop culture and antiquity.\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The everlasting influence of antiquity can be still be felt in our modern culture, particularly, popular culture. Television shows, movies, and other mediums of entertainment have included ancient mythology and culture for generations. What are most interesting, however, are the examples of references made to ancient times and that are served without exposition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even without explaining the references story writers continue to incorporate ancient ideas quietly into pop culture, even into movies or shows that have very little to do with antiquity. Here are some examples you might have missed:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Simpsons<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Simpsons\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DX1iplQQJTo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Simpsons might have had a few classically themed episodes, including the episode featuring Homer as Ulysses in their own version of The Odyssey. But, one of the most fleeting yet deep classical references on the show would be Mr. Burns\u2019 address. The local, \u00a0billionaire Mr. Burns happens to live on the corner of Mammon Lane and Croesus St.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s the reference? You may ask.<\/p>\n<p>Mammon,\u00a0in the New Testament of the Bible, is greed or material wealth, and in the Middle Ages was often personified as a deity, and sometimes included in the\u00a0seven princes of Hell.\u00a0Scholars do not agree about its etymology,\u00a0but it is theorized that Mammon derives from<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> Late Latin <i>mammon<\/i><\/span>, from Greek&#8221;\u03bc\u03b1\u03bc\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd\u03ac\u03c2 <i>mammonas<\/i>&#8220;, Syriac <i>m\u00e1m\u00f3na<\/i> (&#8220;riches&#8221;),\u00a0Aramaic <i>mamon<\/i> (&#8220;riches, money&#8221;),\u00a0a loanword from Mishnaic Hebrew \u05de\u05de\u05d5\u05df (mam\u00f4n) meaning money,\u00a0wealth,<span style=\"font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 20px;\">\u00a0<\/span>or possessions.<\/p>\n<p>In Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. Croesus&#8217; wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as &#8220;rich as Croesus&#8221; or &#8220;richer than Croesus&#8221; are used to indicate great wealth to this day. Croesus is credited with issuing the first true gold coins with a standardized purity for general circulation.<\/p>\n<p>2. Futurama<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4EsvEgPZ84\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/r4EsvEgPZ84<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seen in the episode \u201cCrimes of the Hot\u201d is the indulgent automaton Hedonismbot. The name alone could remind one of certain circles in Antiquity but the overall design of the robot is certainly, yet never blatantly explained, to remind the viewer of a certain god of wine and pleasure- Bacchus. In the clip above, Hedonism bot sponsors an opera, which is reminiscent of the delegations of theater the Roman god Bacchus has.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Hedonism is a school of thought that argues that pleasure is the primary or most important intrinsic good.\u00a0In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus pain). This school of thought was practiced as a type of philopsphy one should live their life around not only during Greek times, but Ancient Roman times as well.<\/p>\n<p>3. SHAZAM!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At one point or another you might have heard kids yell the word &#8220;Shazam!&#8221; with the same enthusiasm as other comic book sound effects like \u201cKapow!\u201d To anyone without extensive knowledge of graphic novels it seems like a simple, fun, and made-up word. Although it is made-up its also an acronym using the names of a few entities you might recognize.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The comic hero Billy Batson (also known as Shazam or Captain Marvel) \u00a0would yell the word \u201cShazam!\u201d to invoke powers, specifically, the genius of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the unbreakable will of Atlas, the lightning of Zeus, the power of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. While the clip is a bit silly and retro, it gets the point across!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shazam Intro TV Show 1974\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p7TR4ixOkhM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>*Hercules is Roman version of the name while Herakles is the Greek. Zeus is known as Jupiter in Roman mythology, and Mercury is known as Apollo in Greek mythology. So, SHAZAM actually invokes both Greek and Roman deities alike.<\/p>\n<p>4. Disney Pixar&#8217;s <em>The Incredibles\u00a0<\/em>(<strong>Spoilers Below<\/strong>)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eZbzbC9285I\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eZbzbC9285I<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>The Incredibles<\/em> was an interesting and completely unexplained reference to the myth of Saturn. After some intense investigation one of the main characters discover the name of the main villain\u2019s master plan: \u201cKronos\u201d or (Greek god: Saturn, Roman god: Saturn).<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3897\" style=\"width: 152px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2015\/09\/320px-Rubens_saturn.jpg\" aria-label=\"320px Rubens Saturn 142x300\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3897\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3897\"  alt=\"Painting by Peter Paul Rubens of Cronus \/ Saturn devouring one of his children\" width=\"142\" height=\"300\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2015\/09\/320px-Rubens_saturn-142x300.jpg\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3897\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Painting by Peter Paul Rubens of Cronus \/ Saturn devouring one of his children<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mad with jealousy and a desire &#8220;to even&#8221; the playing ground (or to be the strongest himself!) \u00a0for those of the population without superpowers, the villain created a killing machine to defeat all superheroes. Unexplained to the children in the audience is how this alludes to Saturn\u2019s madness for power that drove him to devour his children to prevent any one of them from growing stronger than himself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it was a cool name, the villain should\u2019ve remembered how it ended for Saturn.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>5. MUSIC!-\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arcade Fire &#8211; Reflektor<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve even seen allusions to ancient times in our modern music, such as with Arcade Fire\u2019s album named Reflektor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"It&#039;s never over (Oh Orpheus) - Arcade Fire (HD + Lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5fENVQJGc18?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The album cover art is a photograph of Auguste Rodin\u2019s 1893 sculpture \u201cOrpheus and Eurydice\u201d. Two songs in particular, \u201cAwful Sound (Oh Eurydice)\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)\u201d, reference the Orpheus myth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Orpheus Myth is retold my the Roman poet Ovid in the Metamorphoses. I have written other post on Ovid such as <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/5-dating-tips-in-latin-from-the-roman-poet-ovid\/\">Dating Tips<\/a> by Ovid and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/ovids-heroides-the-original-fan-fiction\/\">The Original Fan Fiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This myth, perhaps not famously remembered by general audiences, is not explained in the lyrics themselves but the story\u2019s romantic and tragic tones can be felt in the songs. The only direct reference is in \u201cIts Never Over (Oh Orpheus)\u201d which starts with the lyrics <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u201cHey, Orpheus! \/ I\u2019m behind you \/ Don\u2019t turn around \/ I can find you.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you are interested in more classical reference in pop culture- check out my post about <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/disney-mythology-vs-greco-roman-mythology-part-i\/\">Disney Mythology vs. Greco-Roman Mythology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"166\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2015\/09\/320px-Rubens_saturn-166x350.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2015\/09\/320px-Rubens_saturn-166x350.jpg 166w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2015\/09\/320px-Rubens_saturn.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 166px) 100vw, 166px\" \/><p>Salvette Omnes! This week we will be discussing pop culture and antiquity.\u00a0The everlasting influence of antiquity can be still be felt in our modern culture, particularly, popular culture. Television shows, movies, and other mediums of entertainment have included ancient mythology and culture for generations. What are most interesting, however, are the examples of references made&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/pop-culture-anitquity\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":3897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[60854],"tags":[235614,60850,3754,60893],"class_list":["post-3895","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-roman-culture","tag-ancient-rome","tag-classic-culture","tag-latin-vocabulary","tag-roman-mythology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3895"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3915,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895\/revisions\/3915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}