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Ben-Hur – 1959 film, Sheik Ilderim is played by a white actor in blackface.
Spartacus: was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third servile war, led a major slave uprising against the Roman republic.
Julius Caesar: He became the dictator of the Roman Empire. He was a renowned general, politician and scholar in ancient Rome . He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire
Cleopatra: Ruler of Ancient Egypt for 3 decades, became the last in a dynasty of Macedonian rulers founded by Ptolemy. She has romantic relations and military alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony
Athena: Goddess of wisdom, handicraft and warfare. Protectress of cities in Greece (Athens).
Orestes: son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, subject of many Ancient Greek plays and myths. In the Homeric version, he is a member of the ‘doomed house of Atreus’.
Orpheus: considered the best poet and musician of all time and he perfected the lyre after being taught by Apollo. Married to Eurydice, she died and Orpheus sang mournful songs and the Gods advised him to go to the underworld and bring her back without looking back at her. He looked back and she was sentenced to the underworld forever.
Ovid: Roman poet that wrote Metamorphoses
Aristophanes: greatest representative of ancient greek comedy known for satire.
Lysistrata: ancient greek comedy written by aristophanes that encourages women from warring cities to withhold sex from husbands to force them to come to negotiate peace.
Odyssey: One of the two major epic poems by Homer. Sequel to the Iliad which follows war hero Odysseus on his journey home.
Teiresias: blind prophet of Apollo famous for being transformed into a woman for seven years.
Oedipus Rex: known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus, or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. A tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta
Zeus: god of the sky, lightning and thunder. Sixth child of the queen and king of the Titans
Hercules: Roman hero and god, son of Zeus and mortal Alcmene. Known for his strength and adventures.
Vitruvius: roman author, architect and engineer. He wrote “De architectura,” about buildings in rome. Inspired Lenardo Divinci with Vetruvian man drawing.
Troy: city in the far northwest region classically known as Asia Minor, now known as Anatolia in modern Turkey. Described in Homer’s Iliad. Trojan War was fought here.
Achilles: Hero of the Trojan war. Greatest of all Greek Warriors. Central character in Homer’s Iliad.
Chiron: One of the Centaurs in Greek Mythology. Famous for his wisdom and knowledge of medicine.
Derek Walcott – St Lucian poet who wrote Omeros.
Martin Bernal- classics scholar; wrote the controversial book Black Athena; it was published by volume in 1987, 1991, and 2006
Mary Lefkowitz- is an American classical scholar and Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at Wellesley College. best known to non-Classicists for her book, Not Out of Africa, where she criticizes the Afrocentric theory that Greek civilization was “stolen” from Ancient Egypt.
Michael Eric Dyson- an academic, author, preacher, and radio host. He has authored or edited vmore than twenty books dealing with subjects such as Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr., Marvin Gaye, Barack Obama, Nas’s debut album Illmatic, Bill Cosby, Tupac Shakur and Hurricane Katrina.
Oedipus complex- term used by Sigmund Freud in his theory of psychosexual stages of development to describe a child’s feeling of desire for his or her opposite-sex parent and jealousy and anger toward his or her same-sex parent
Colorblind casting- the process that describes the casting of actors regardless of race
Magical Negro- A black character that’s sole purpose is to aid and guide the white protagonists by providing wisdom and sometimes with mystical powers.
Cultural appropriation: Adoption of elements of one culture by members of another culture. Controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority cultures.
Melvin van Peebles – Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassssss Song
Spike Lee—Malcolm X, Chi-Raq, Blackkklansman
Quentin Tarantino— Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained
Ernest R. Dickerson—Never Die Alone
John Singleton—Baby Boy
Jorge Gutierrez—The Book of Life
Barry Jenkins—Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk
Ryan Coogler —Black Panther
Rashid Johnson—Native Son
Demetrius and the Gladiators- In this sequel to “The Robe,” the corrupt emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson) believes that the sacred robe of Christ has magical powers, and will stop at nothing to obtain it. When Demetrius (Victor Mature) refuses to help Caligula find the holy object, Caligula has him arrested and forces him to fight in the arena in battles to the death.
Black Caesar –Black Caesar was a former African slave that fell victim to the Australian slave trade. Unlike other english slaves, he was twice the size and did twice the work needing twice the amount of food but was denied. His bushranger ways were all motivated by finding more food!
–there is also a 1973 film called Black Caesar – no sure which were referring to here:Drawing on his anger at the racism he faces on a daily basis, Tommy grows up to become the crime kingpin of Harlem. Now that he has the power, he aims to take down New York’s Mafia bosses — and also get bloody revenge on his nemesis, McKinney, no matter what the cost.
Cleopatra Jones -1973 film featuring Tamara Dobson – deals effectively with the ravages of drugs in inner-city black communities. Cleopatra Jones is a female James Bond, a special drug agent for the United States government. -showed progression of women, especially african american women, being portrayed as strong & powerful in media
Omeros characters
Plunkett -major plunkett & Maud plunkett? (characters within Omeros) – interwoven story of Major Plunkett and his wife Maud, who live on the island and must reconcile themselves to the history of Britishcolonization of St. Lucia.
Achille (character from Omeros, different from ‘Achilles’ from Greek Mythology)- he is a fisherman who was helen’s original lover. Helen got together with Hector. Achille then sets out on his boat where he meets the ghost of his father at sea. Helen later goes back to him
Hector –Hector, in Omeros, was a fisherman along with Achille. Hector stole Helen from Achille, but Helen later on goes back to Achille. Hector dies in the end when he crashes the van that he was driving when swerved to avoid hitting a piglet on the road.
Phioloctete –was a former fisherman but can no longer fish with his friends because of his rotten leg wound. He goes to Ma Kilman for medicinal treatment of the wound but soon finds himself going through a spiritual healing along with his physical healing
Helen of troy -was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world
–She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta but was abducted by Prince Paris of Troy
-started the trojan war
Afolabe
-Walcott creates a character who exists primarily to highlight issues of language and naming
–Afolabe is enslaved and attached to a British regiment on St. Lucia, valiantly leading the effort to position a cannon in the harbor to fire at French ships. His successful leadership results in something unexpected and probably unwelcome: It earns him the name Achilles.
-example of how personal identities are destroyed and recreated at the whim of colonialist captors