Sparta Live!
This week's event
Dr Jeremy Swist (Grand Valley State University)
Hell’s Hoplites: Sparta in Heavy Metal Music
The ancient Spartans have inspired scores of heavy metal songs and albums by bands across the globe. Their last stand at Thermopylae, in fact, is the most popular ancient battle in metal music and their king Leonidas is one of the most popular ancient figures. Their reception by metal bands is a product of their rise in popularity in popular culture since the premiere of the 2006 film 300, and as in pop-culture, their appeal resonates with political and nationalistic agendas, especially of Greek bands. Sparta’s wide appeal harmonizes with metal’s core ethos of hypermasculinity, the liberation of animal instincts, and the disruption of systems of conformity and control. As with other topics from the classical world, heavy metal music takes the Spartans from both ancient sources and modern media and remakes them in the image of its own counterculture, that of the few standing defiant against the many.
Attendance to the webinar is free but you must register in advance via this link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/90a555f7-1b5f-42d2-8033-16ea707d9bd9@67bda7ee-fd80-41ef-ac91-358418290a1e
University of NottinghamUniversity Park Nottingham, NG7 2RD
telephone: +44 (0)115 951 4800 fax: +44 (0)115 951 4811 email: csps@nottingham.ac.uk