Essays On Air: Journeys to the underworld – Greek myth, film and American anxiety

Essays On Air: Journeys to the underworld – Greek myth, film and American anxiety

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A central convention of Greek mythological narratives called katabasis, the hero’s journey to the underworld or land of the dead. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation NY-BD-CC

A central convention of Greek mythological narratives is katabasis, the hero’s journey to the underworld or land of the dead – and it’s a theme modern directors return to again and again.

That’s what we’re exploring today on our first episode of Essays On Air, a new podcast from The Conversation. It’s the audio version of our Friday essays, where we bring you the best and most beautiful writing from Australian researchers.

In this episode, Paul Salmond, Honorary Associate in Classics and Ancient History at La Trobe University, reads his essay Journeys to the underworld – Greek myth, film and American anxiety.

Here, he explains how films like Chinatown, The Silence of the Lambs and Apocalypse Now evoke narratives played out in Homer’s Iliad, the story of Theseus and the minotaur and other classic Greek tales.

Join us as we read to you here at Essays On Air, a new podcast from The Conversation.

Find us and subscribe in Apple Podcasts, in Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.