Professor Stephen Hodkinson was historical consultant to Kieron Gillen’s graphic novel Three (Image Comics, 2014).
The novel tells the story of three fugitive helot-slaves set in 4th-century Sparta. It includes an 11-page conversation between Gillen and Hodkinson.
Input from CSPS helped Gillen to counter-balance the over-glorification of the Spartans in the graphic novel and film 300. Instead, the novel presents a subaltern portrayal of Sparta, from the viewpoint of its exploited helot slaves.
The Greek edition of Three was published by Jemma Press in late 2019 with sponsorship from the Centre for Spartan & Peloponnesian Studies, and its launch took place at the AthensCon2019 (30 November – 1 December).
To celebrate the occasion, the Centre and Jemma Press ran the panel ‘Beyond the Clichés: Ancient Greece in Comics’. The panel was formed by Professor Stephen Hodkinson, Kieron Gillen (graphic novelist, Three), Abraham Kawa (graphic novelist, Democracy) and Dr Lynn Fotheringham (discussant).
Read a Research Exchange blog on the inspiration behind the collaboration and development of Three
Read a Research Exchange blog on Kieron Gillen's visit to the University of Nottingham and round-table discussion of Three
Read the 2014 news item announcement of the collaboration
Dr Stephen Hodkinson (University of Nottingham)Kieron GIllen (author) Dr Lynn Fotheringham (University of Nottingham)
CSPS
University of NottinghamUniversity Park Nottingham, NG7 2RD
telephone: +44 (0)115 951 4800 fax: +44 (0)115 951 4811 email: csps@nottingham.ac.uk
