A Greek-Soviet mythology: the cycle of animations "Legends and myths of Ancient Greece" (1969-1974)

Abstract

Based on the reflections of Eleazar Meletinsky (1918-2005), who was part of the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School, on the recovery of the mythological model by Soviet ideology, we intend to address how Greek mythology was reinterpreted in Soviet animations directed by Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio: Return from Olympus (1969), The Labyrinth (1971), Argonauts (1971), Perseus (1973), and Prometheus (1974). In her films, Snezhko-Blotskaya establishes a dialogue between Greek myth and the social values at play in the USSR. Taking advantage of the collective character of those stories and of the archetypes represented in them, the director criticizes the bourgeois-capitalist exploitation of labor as she exalts solidarity, the diffusion of knowledge and the struggle for social justice. Moreover, the female characters are presented in their individuality and collaborate on equal grounds with their male counterparts to the development of each plot, which echoes the aspirations of Soviet women at the time. Thus, in drawing Ancient Greece close to her country, Snezhko-Blotskaya actualizes such myths and appropriates them, putting them in service of the creation of a Soviet mythology.