Greek mythology has been one of the most popular sources of material for film and television since the very beginning of cinema. The earliest surviving feature-length films, made in the early 20th century, were Italian retellings of the Odyssey and other myths, and the medium has been drawn to these stories ever since. From the silent era to the present day, Greek myths have inspired some of the most spectacular, most moving, and most enduring films ever made. The most successful modern blockbusters, including Troy (2004), Clash of the Titans (2010), and the Percy Jackson franchise, all draw on the same ancient sources.
The treatment of Greek myth in film and television is one of the great case studies in the modern reception of the ancient world. The earliest surviving films of Greek myth date to the silent era (the Italian Pastrone school, with Cabiria in 1914 as the central work), and the major cycles of the twentieth century — the Italian peplum films of the 1950s and 1960s, the Hollywood epics of the 2000s, the British TV adaptations of the 2010s — have given the medium a continuous engagement with the Greek myths. The standard scholarly reference is the Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Film (2015).
The Early Cinema: Italian Epics
The earliest film adaptations of Greek myth were made in Italy in the early 20th century. The Italian epic film, called the peplum (after the Greek word for the tunic worn by the actors), became one of the dominant genres of early cinema.
The first major Greek myth film was L’Odissea (1911), a silent version of the Odyssey directed by Francesco Bertolini and Adolfo Padovan. It was followed by many others, including Gli Argonauti (1910) and Ercole e la Regina di Lidia (1959), the latter featuring Steve Reeves as Heracles. The Italian peplum films were enormously popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and they established many of the conventions of the mythological film.
The Ray Harryhausen Era
The most famous stop-motion animator in the history of film, Ray Harryhausen, brought the Greek myths to life in a string of spectacular films in the 1950s and 1960s. Harryhausen’s films, which combined live action with stop-motion animation, were groundbreaking in their visual effects, and they brought a generation of viewers into contact with the Greek myths.
Harryhausen’s Greek myth films include:
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), featuring a Cyclops, a dragon, and a serpent-woman
- Jason and the Argonauts (1963), with its famous skeleton fight, one of the most celebrated scenes in fantasy film
- The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), based on Swift, but with Greek-mythic monsters
- Clash of the Titans (1981), with Medusa, the Kraken, and other monsters
Harryhausen’s work influenced a generation of filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, all of whom have cited him as a major influence. His legacy continues to be felt in modern fantasy cinema.
The 2000s: Troy, 300, and the Rise of the Mythological Blockbuster
The early 2000s saw a new wave of Greek myth films, with bigger budgets, more spectacular effects, and a more sophisticated approach to the source material.
- Troy (2004), directed by Wolfgang Petersen, starring Brad Pitt as Achilles, Orlando Bloom as Paris, Eric Bana as Hector, Peter O’Toole as Priam, and Brian Cox as Agamemnon. The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of Homer’s Iliad, although it omits the gods and condenses the ten-year war into a few weeks. The film’s depiction of the death of Hector and the famous scene of Achilles dragging Hector’s body is in modern mythological cinema.
- 300 (2006), based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, about the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE), in which 300 Spartans held off the vast Persian army of Xerxes. The film is more historical than mythological, but it draws on Greek myth and imagery extensively.
- Alexander (2004), directed by Oliver Stone, about the life of Alexander the Great, who was educated by Aristotle and who was famously devoted to Achilles.
- Immortals (2011), a more stylized and violent treatment of the myth of Theseus and the Titans.
The Percy Jackson Franchise
The most successful modern film franchise based on Greek myth is the Percy Jackson series, based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling novels. The first film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), was followed by Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) and the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023), the latter being a more faithful adaptation of the source material.
The Percy Jackson franchise has introduced the Greek myths to a generation of young readers and viewers, and it has helped to keep the myths alive in popular culture. The series features a wide range of Greek gods, heroes, and monsters, including Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Heracles, Percy Jackson (in some versions), and many more.
The Clash of the Titans Franchise
The 1981 film Clash of the Titans, with stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen, was remade in 2010 with a new generation of special effects. The 2010 version, directed by Louis Leterrier, features Sam Worthington as Perseus, Liam Neeson as Zeus, Ralph Fiennes as Hades, and Gemma Arterton as Io. The film was a commercial success and was followed by Wrath of the Titans (2012), which continued the story with the gods fighting the Titans.
The 2024 film Argylle, directed by Matthew Vaughn, features a complex narrative involving a spy novelist whose stories mirror real-world events. While not strictly a Greek myth film, it draws on the themes and motifs of Greek mythology in its exploration of fiction and reality.
The Troilus and Cressida Tradition
Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, a complex and sometimes cynical play set during the Trojan War, has been adapted for film and television many times. The most recent major adaptation was the BBC/Netflix series Troy: Fall of a City (2018), an eight-part series that told the story of the Trojan War from a global perspective, with a diverse cast and a more inclusive approach to the source material. The series was praised for its ambition and its willingness to take risks, and it brought the Trojan War to a new generation of viewers.
Television and Streaming
In addition to feature films, Greek mythology has been a major presence on television, both scripted and documentary. The BBC, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and many other networks have produced documentaries on the myths, with scholars, dramatizations, and location footage. The Smithsonian Channel’s Greek Gods and the PBS Greek Myths series are among the most recent.
Streaming services have also been active in producing Greek myth content. The Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023) is the most ambitious adaptation of a Greek myth property to date, and it has been renewed for additional seasons. The Netflix series Kaos (2024) is a modern retelling of the Greek myths with a darkly comedic tone, featuring Jeff Goldblum as Zeus.
Video Games
The video game industry has been one of the most active producers of Greek myth content in recent years. The most successful Greek myth game is Hades (2020) by Supergiant Games, a roguelike game based on the Greek underworld. The game features Zagreus, the son of Hades, who is trying to escape the underworld with the help of various Olympian gods.
Other major Greek myth games include:
- God of War (2005-2023), the long-running series featuring Kratos, a Spartan warrior who fights the gods of Olympus
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (2018), set in ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War
- Age of Mythology (2002, 2014), a real-time strategy game based on Greek mythology
- Titan Quest (2006), a role-playing game based on Greek myth
- Apotheon (2015), a side-scrolling game based on Greek pottery art
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (2020), an open-world game based on Greek myth
The Future of Greek Mythology in Film
The future of Greek mythology in film looks bright. The success of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the God of War franchise, and the Hades video game has demonstrated that the myths continue to resonate with modern audiences. New adaptations are in development, including a film version of Madeline Miller’s Circe, a series based on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and a new version of the Argonauts story.
The Greek myths are also being adapted by a more diverse range of filmmakers, including directors from non-Western backgrounds, who are bringing new perspectives to the old stories. The myth of Medea, for example, has been the subject of recent adaptations by women directors, and the story of Achilles and Patroclus has been the subject of a series of recent retellings that have brought the queer aspects of the story to light.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. The history of Greek myth in film is a history of the medium itself, and the major cycles of the twentieth century (silent, peplum, Hollywood epic, modern TV) are the easiest way to organise the material. The standard scholarly reference is the Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Film (2015), which has a long chapter on the Hollywood epics. The reader who wants the older cycles should consult The Ancient World in the Cinema by Jon Solomon (1978, second edition 2001).
For more on the cultural legacy, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture, and our profiles of Achilles, Odysseus, Perseus, and Medusa.