The Disenchantment Of Greek Mythology: From Shrine To Screen

This thesis takes the movie Clash of the Titans, which was adapted from Greekmythology, as an example and illustrates the way of disenchantment of the Greekmythology from shrine to screen and the change of relations between audience andart. From the process of secularization and popularization of cultural resources, thisthesis explains how the art works remove its aura and blend into public life.Adopting the methodology of text analysis and cultural studies, withBenjamin’s theory of aura and Marx Weber’s theory of disenchantment, this thesisanalyses the converting process of Greek mythology from the classical art work tothe popular art work, and explores the creation practice of mythical movies.This thesis first traces back to people’s attitude and concept on Greekmythology in the ancient Homer Age, analyzing the aura of Greek mythology fromthe theoretical perspective; then expounds the decline of the aura in Greekmythology in the age of mechanical reproduction. Through the explanation on howpeople re-create mythology by technology and market power, how to reshape it inmodern narrative structure and narrative style, how to convert the myth into mythicalmovie, this thesis analyses the attitude shift of the audience and the process ofcommercialization and secularization of mythical works. Finally, through theanalysis of the change of relationship between art and the audience, this thesis pointsout that art works, such as Greek mythology, gets rid of its mysterious color and holyposition; its display value replaces the worship value, and the way of popularizationof art and democratization of culture is paved.Finally this thesis arrives at the conclusion: as a modern art work, mythicalfilm takes Greek mythology as prototype, and combine it with modern rational spiritand modern consciousness; the audiences’ attitude towards the classical art workchanges from admiration to appreciation and evaluation. The copies in the age ofmechanical reproduction replace the original version, and the mythology finally gets out of the shrine and integrates into public.