Mythology Reimagined
Explore below to see how contemporary art makers of various kinds remold myths for modern audiences. Like the ballet in Bridgerton, these retelling become important jumping off points for us to consider long-standing human struggles and desires and where the individual fits within the demands of society.
Bolu Babalola reimagines a wide range of myths, including Eros and Psyche. In a Bustle interview on why she wrote Love in Colour, she says “[The book] is about exploring these different cultures and bringing them to the forefront in relatable ways, like we’ve seen done with European folk tales.”
Eros and Psyche's myth offers a framework of transformation, love, and a journey towards understanding. These themes are likewise found in Beauty and the Beast where Belle must come to deeply know someone she does not understand, and through love, the Beast is able to transform.
Netflix's "The Brave Ones" is heavily inspired by ancient South African and broader African mythology--especially in elements such as 'the tree of life', reincarnated deities, and ancestorial spirits.
Hades Town retells the stories of Orpheus and Eurydice intertwined with Hades and Persephone in an American folk and jazz inspired broadway.
Artist Hiba Schahbaz depicts women and creatures through a mythological feminine lens.
Video game "Okami" melds Japanese folklore and mythology together to tell the story of how sun goddess Amaterasu saves the land from darkness while in the form of a white wolf.
Comic, and later movie, "Hellboy" mixes legends, folklore, and mythology from around the world (Russian, Slavic, Irish, Celtic, and Greek to name a few...) to craft a fantasy universe of monsters, creatures, and quests with modern elements.
"Onyx Equinox" is an anime based off based on the mythologies of Mesoamerica. It's characters are inspired by deities of Aztec, Maya and Zapotec myth.