Many writers hope their work will live beyond them. But when Greek poets and playwrights began recording their country’s myths and legends more than 2,700 years ago, they couldn’t have known quite how long a shelf life these stories would have. Greek mythology is a dominant theme in pop culture in 2023, with publishing houses churning out modern retellings, TV bosses racing to release shows about Zeus and Persephone, and Gen Z’ers debating plot points on TikTok like they’re analysing an episode of Euphoria. How did we get here — and will this obsession with ancient Greece ever peak?
Felix Barrett MBE, artistic director of immersive theatre company Punchdrunk, says Greek myths are appealing because they’re “blissfully open to interpretation”. The Burnt City, Punchdrunk’s Greek myth-inspired production set in a post-Trojan War fantasy world, is currently winning rave reviews in Woolwich. “[Greek myths have] gods and monsters, political dramas and familial sagas — look at Succession, you can see the origins of that in the Greek [myths about] warring families,” says Barrett. “These stories resonate today as they would have done then.”
