To explore strange new worlds: Examining Star Trek: The Original Series’ relationship with the classics

Research output: Contribution to conferenceConference Abstract

Abstract

Since the inception of the genre, there has been a strong presence of the ancient world in science fiction (SF), and this is equally the case in one of the genre’s definitive franchises, Star Trek. This paper explores the reception of the classics across Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), drawing on examples across the series, but mostly using as case studies the episodes ‘Bread and Circuses’, ‘Who Mourns for Adonais?’, and ‘Plato’s Stepchildren’. Produced in the late 1960s, the series was a product of a time where American SF was emerging as a genre,
television was emerging as a medium, and America was in a period of social upheaval, questioning its own identity and role in the world.

In considering why TOS engages with the classics, this paper argues that SF and the ancient world are both removed temporally and spatially from our contemporary time, and this allows for a unique conflagration where the two can be used in conjunction to explore ideas about our own society.

It explores the cinematic legacy of the Roman Epics of the 1950s in the visual portrayal of the Roman Empire and the homogenisation of the ancient world, and how this became synonymous with popular understanding of the ancient world. It then explores how Star Trek uses the temporal contrast of the future setting of the show and the past of the Greeks and Romans to examine the idea of the progress of humanity, and how one should acknowledge the past but not be beholden to it. Finally, this paper considers how this is used thematically to highlight and comment upon various contemporary issues such as fears of imperialism, the morality of the television industry, and wider social issues.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusUnpublished - 2022
EventClassical Association Conference 2022 - University of Swansea, Swansea, United Kingdom
Duration: 8 Apr 202211 Apr 2022
https://classicalassociation.org/conference/

Conference

ConferenceClassical Association Conference 2022
Abbreviated titleCA 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CitySwansea
Period8/04/2211/04/22
Internet address

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