In the Footsteps of Ancient Monsters. Otherness, Fear and Taboo in Contemporary Mass Culture

Ancient monsters did not disappear along with the ancient world. Medusa, the Minotaur, sirens, satyrs, and harpies reappear time and again in movies, series, fantasy novels, and video games, constantly acquiring new meanings. Elizabeth Gloyn, a philologist, linguist, and lecturer in Latin language and literature at Royal Holloway College (UK), analyzes the images of ancient beings in mass culture over the past 70 years in detail to answer fundamental questions: what drives each new generation to turn again to ancient monsters and how have our perceptions of fear, otherness, power, and humanity changed? Monsters are never "just monsters": they reflect the anxieties, doubts, forbidden desires, and cultural conflicts of the time.