War as Spectacle: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Display of Armed Conflict

Description

War as Spectacle examines the display of armed conflict in classical antiquity and its impact in the modern world. The contributors address the following questions: how and why was war conceptualized as a spectacle in our surviving ancient Greek and Latin sources? How has this view of war been adapted in post-classical contexts and to what purpose? This collection of essays engages with the motif of war as spectacle through a variety of theoretical and methodological pathways and frameworks. They include the investigation of the portrayal of armed conflict in ancient Greek and Latin Literature, History and Material Culture, as well as the reception of these ancient narratives and models in later periods in a variety of media. The collection also investigates how classical models contribute to contemporary debates about modern wars, including the interrogation of propaganda and news coverage. Embracing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of ancient warfare and its impact, the volume looks at a variety of angles and perspectives, including visual display and its exploitation for political capital, the function of internal and external audiences, ideology and propaganda and the commentary on war made possible by modern media. The reception of the theme in other cultures and eras demonstrates its continued relevance and the way antiquity is used to justify as well as to critique later conflicts. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction War as Spectacle, a Multi-sensory Event Worth Watching?1 Spectacles of war across ancient and modern genres and media Spectacles of war in material culture Spectacles of war on stage and in modern media Part One Ancient and Modern Literary Spectacles of War A. Epic Spectacles 2 ‘ What if We Had a War and Everybody Came? ’War as Spectacle and the Duel of Iliad 31 The duel The transition from duel to warfare The warfare begins: the role of the audience 3 From Our Own Correspondent Authorial Commentary on the ‘Spectacles of War’ in Homer and in the Tale of the Heike Authorial comments in Homer Authorial comments in the Tale of the Heike 4 ‘The Clash of Weapons and the Sight of War’ Spectatorship and Identification in Roman Epic The spectacle of war and the problem of spectator identification Homeric origins Economies of lives: the champions’ duel and spectator identification While the men fight below: the female teichoscopy Death from above: the male commander’s survey of the battlefield Indistinguishable corpses and fameless ends: surveying the aftermath of battle Conclusion: reading in peace, viewing like the gods 5 Death on the Margins Statius and the Spectacle of the Dying Epic Hero Canonical deaths: spectacle and space Statius’ marginal boys Other marginal boys: Atys and Crenaeus The crumbling edges: Hippomedon, Amphiaraus, Capaneus Too close for comfort: Tydeus Conclusion B. Poetical, Historiographical and Philosophical Spectacles 6 Lyric Visions of Epic Combat The Spectacle of War in Archaic Personal Song Beautiful battlescapes and the drama of war Anti-epicizing spectacles of war Conclusion 7 ‘The Greatest Runway Show in History ’Paul Violi’s ‘House of Xerxes’ and the Herodotean Spectacle of War Cataloguing Xerxes’ army: the Herodotean archetype Manipulating the model(s): Violi’s fashion parade War as televisual spectacle 8 Plato’s Cinematic Vision War as Spectacle in Four Dialogues (Laches, Republic , Timaeus and Critias) The Laches The Republic The Timaeus-Critias 9 Shadow-Boxing in the East The Spectacle of Romano-Parthian Conflict in Tacitus Another world? Shadow-boxing in the east: Part One (Annals 15.1-6) Shadow-boxing in the east: Part Two (Annals 15.7-17) Shadow-boxing in the east: Part Three (Annals 15.24-31) Conclusion: intersecting worlds Abbreviations 10 Bodies on the Battlefield The Spectacle of Rome’s Fallen Soldiers The dead in action and aftermath The visible dead The anonymous dead Viewing the dead: commanders Viewing the dead: fellow soldiers Viewing the dead: women and elders Conclusion Part Two Spectacles of War in Material Culture 11 The Monument and Altar to Liberty A Memory Site for the United States’ Own Thermopylae1 The Battle of Long Island Charles M. Higgins, classics and the Battle of Long Island The Monument and Altar to Liberty Preservation and the creation of memory landscapes in New York City America’s Thermopylae Conclusion 12 Triumphal Washington New York City’s First ‘Roman’ Arch1 Roman arches European predecessors of the Washington Arch The temporary Washington arches The permanent arch Conclusions 13 An Unwinding Story The Influence of Trajan’s Column on the Depiction of Warfare Trajan’s Column: the emperor’s spectacle The reception of Trajan’s Colum in antiquity Post-classical receptions: from high status commander to the common soldier The modern era: the shift towards the commemoration of the collective Part Three Spectacles of War on Stage and in Modern Media 14 Epic Parodies Martial Extravaganzas on the Nineteenth-Century Stage 15 Parading War and Victory under the Greek Military Dictatorship Th Hist(o)rionics of 1967–74 1 Spectacle is power: displays of order,2 or performing tyranny What happens in the arena? Sporting uniforms and uniformity Teaching patriotic self-sacrifice for the ‘Revolution of 21 April 1967’ Reflecting on Greek history in rapid motion 16 The Anti-War Spectacle Denouncing War in Michael Cacoyannis’ Euripidean Trilogy1 The performance of grief as an act of resistance Dying for Hellas and the denunciation of war The violent legacy of war Conclusions 17 Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line and Homeric Epic Spectacle, Simile, Scene and Situation ‘All things shining’: Heidegger, Homer and the Pre-Socratics The seductions of spectacle The ‘world outside’ Scenic and situational resonances with Homer Conclusion 18 Animating Ancient Warfare The Spectacle of War in the Panoply Vase Animations Hoplites Ideology Amazons Notes Bibliography Index