Spartacus in the Television Arena : Essays on the Starz Series

"The image of Spartacus as a noble if doomed avenger is familiar and his story has been retold through history as a cautionary tale about social injustice. The series Spartacus takes a different view, with a graphically violent depiction of the man. This collection of new essays studies the series as an exploration of masculinity"--;Introduction: blood, sand and men / Michael G. Cornelius -- Arenas of memory: Spartacus and the remediation of historical narratives / Drago Manea -- "It is for history to decide": the story space of the Spartacus series / James Klima -- The sound world of Spartacus: representations of ancient musical instruments in the series / Lorenzo Sorbo -- Single combat, the semiotics of the arena and martial intimacy / Larry T. Shillock -- Spartacus' entrapment in the underworld in blood and sand / Rachel S. McCoppin -- Blood, sex, sand and mills: the sociological imagination between gladiators / Jason Smith -- Spartacus and the shifting sands of sacred space / Michael G. Cornelius -- The predators of Capua: Spartacus and the limits of the human / Ariel Gómez Ponce -- (Re)presenting the phallus: gladiators and their "swords" / Robert K. Dickson and Michael G. Cornelius -- Queer heroes and action heroines: gender and sexuality in Spartacus / Anna Foka. Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator turned rebel leader, endures as a near-mythic hero who fought for the oppressed against a Roman oligarchy built on the backs of slave labor. The image of Spartacus as a noble if doomed avenger is familiar and his story has been retold through history as a cautionary tale about social injustice. The television series Spartacus takes a different view, with a violent depiction of the man and his times and a focus on the archetype of the gladiator—powerful, courageous and righteous. This collection of new essays studies the series as an exploration of masculinity. In the world of Spartacus , men jockey for social position, question the nature of their lives, examine their relationships with women and with each other, and explore their roles in society and the universe. The series also offers a compelling study of the composite nature of historical narrative in television and film, where key facts from original sources are interwoven with period embellishments, presenting audiences with a history and a fiction whose lines remain blurred by a distant yet all-too-familiar past. Cover 1 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction: Blood, Sand and Men (Michael G. Cornelius) 10 Arenas of Memory: Spartacus and the Remediation of Historical Narratives (Dragos Manea) 36 “It is for history to decide”: The Story Space of the Spartacus Series (James Klima) 55 The Sound World of Spartacus: Representations of Ancient Musical Instruments in the Series (Lorenzo Sorbo) 72 Single Combat, the Semiotics of the Arena and Martial Intimacy (Larry T. Shillock) 86 Spartacus’ Entrapment in the Underworld in Blood and Sand (Rachel S. McCoppin) 106 Blood, Sex, Sand and Mills: The Sociological Imagination Between Gladiators (Jason Smith) 127 Spartacus and the Shifting Sands of Sacred Space (Michael G. Cornelius) 139 The Predators of Capua: Spartacus and the Limits of the Human (Ariel Gómez Ponce) 161 (Re)Presenting the Phallus: Gladiators and Their “Swords” (Robert K. Dickson and Michael G. Cornelius) 179 Queer Heroes and Action Heroines: Gender and Sexuality in Spartacus (Anna Foka) 195 About the Contributors 216 Index 218 The image of Spartacus as a noble if doomed avenger is familiar and his story has been retold through history as a cautionary tale about social injustice. The series Spartacus takes a different view, with a graphically violent depiction of the man and his times and a focus on the archetype of the gladiator. This collection of new essays studies the series as an exploration of masculinity.