Posts tagged the hunger games
Posts tagged the hunger games
In creating the Capitol I drew heavily on ancient Rome. You see the influence in everything from the Capitol’s names - Cinna, Claudius, Octavia - to the horse-drawn chariot procession through the streets, to the gladiator games.
(Source: capitolsecrets)
If you weren’t one of the millions who waited in line for the midnight premier of The Hunger Games, then I strongly encourage you to see this movie in the upcoming weeks.
That is, after you have read the book of course!
The Hunger Games (THG), based on the bestselling young adult book series by Suzanne Collins, follows Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl who enters a battle to the death, volunteering in place of her younger sister. This movie is of particular interest to the Classically minded in light of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Just as Minos forced 7 boys and 7 girls chosen by lot to wander the infamous labyrinth, home of the Minotaur, in annual recompense for the death of his son, so are Katniss and her fellow tribute Peeta Mellark the unfortunate victims of the annual Panem “Reaping”. As tributes, they enter an arena, where the world then watches as the tributes fight to be the sole victor.
Furthermore, Suzanne Collins revealed that she culled the name for her futuristic North America, Panem, from Juvenal’s famous line about “bread and circuses” panem et circenses, which refers to the superficial means of appeasing the people. In the series, these people all live in the Capitol, and the circuses, of course, are the Hunger Games.
If that doesn’t get you excited, how about the fact that all the folks from the Capitol have fantastic Classical names, including Seneca Crane, Caesar Flickerman, Cinna, Plutarch, and the main antagonist President Coriolanus Snow!
What other Classical themes did you find in The Hunger Games?
