Julius Caesar's virilities: between ancient and media representations

• Grant number: 15/03820-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2015
• End date: May 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: André Leonardo Chevitarese
• Grantee: Victor Henrique da Silva Menezes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

By making use of sources ranging from the poems of Catullus, the works of biographer Suetonius, to films such as Julius Caesar (1953), Cleopatra (1963) and TV series like Rome (2005 - 2007) and Spartacus (2010 - 2013), this research aims to analyze the discourses construed in Antiquity about the virility of the Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar (c. 100 - 44 BC) in order to compare them to their many resignifications in North American cinema and TV productions. The research will exploit firstly how the classical authors treated the rumors surrounding the general's potentially improper sexual practices and breaches in the masculinity protocols of the Roman world. Next, the aim is to study how films and TV series have chosen to omit, hide, or otherwise let show raucously (as has been the case as of late) any possible wear-and-tear in Caesar's cloak of virility. Aware of the vast gamut of classical references about Caesar, this research will focus specifically on the main ancient authors that wrote and discussed at length about Caesar's virility whereas the cinema and television productions analyzed will be mainly those deemed a box-office success. By considering the relationship between ancient History, cinema and television as a thriving field for studying the new meanings assigned to characters and events from antiquity, both cinema and TV are to be taken here as valid sources - their contextual differences respected. The theoretical approaches adopted derive from the concepts associated with discoursive constructions and the uses and representations of the past, which fall within the field of cultural History. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

MENEZES, Victor Henrique da Silva. Julius Caesar's masculinities: between ancient and media receptions. 2018. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas Campinas, SP.