Abstract

In recent decades, scholars have recognized close connections between Western film and Greek and Roman antiquity, a relationship HBO’s Westworld brings into sharp relief through classical themes, characterizations, and allusions. Two episodes from season 2 in particular have a heavy classical bent. Episode 4 (“Riddle of the Sphinx”) casts park owner James Delos as an Oedipus figure who, in attempting to avoid his fate, runs right into it, as he is confronted with the truth about his nature and identity. In episode 9, William too is identified with Oedipus, when his wife commits suicide after recognizing her husband’s true nature, and William murders his own kin through a failure of recognition, while quotations from Plutarch and Plotinus highlight the issues of identity, fate, and self-knowledge that resound throughout the episode. While the series more broadly is concerned with patriarchal overreach and issues of free will and identity, these two episodes, when examined through a classical lens, offer a concentrated view. In the end, much like its Sophoclean predecessor, Westworld works as an implicit criticism of unbridled ambition, patriarchal narcissism, and lack of self-awareness.

摘要

近几十年来，学者们已经认识到西方电影与古希腊和古罗马之间的密切联系，HBO 的《西部世界》(Westworld)通过经典主题、人物刻画和典故，使作品更加鲜明。特别是第 2 季的两集具有浓厚的古典色彩。第 4 集（“狮身人面像之谜”）将公园老板詹姆斯·德洛斯塑造成一个恋母情结的人物，当他面对关于他的本性和身份的真相时，他试图避免他的命运，直接撞上了它。在第 9 集中，威廉也被认同为俄狄浦斯，他的妻子在认出丈夫的真实本性后自杀，威廉因认不出自己的本性而谋杀了自己的亲属，而普鲁塔克和普罗提诺的引述突出了身份、命运和命运的问题。贯穿整集的自知之明。虽然该系列更广泛地关注父权制的过度扩张以及自由意志和身份问题，但这两集，当通过经典镜头检查时，提供一个集中的视图。最后，就像它的 Sophoclean 前身一样，《西部世界》隐含地批评了放纵的野心、重男轻女的自恋和缺乏自我意识。