Crossing classical thresholds: Gods, monsters and Hell dimensions in the Whedon universe

Abstract

This essay shows that Classics provides an enriching context for the hugely popular youth-oriented fantasies on US television. Taking two Joss Whedon created series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, I examine what additional nuances might be revealed about the nature of the hero and how heroism is theorised from Greek and Roman mythical models to the present day. The figures of Aeneas in the Latin epic of Virgil and Prometheus in Aeschylus and Hesiod are connected to the supernatural aspects of Buffy and Angel who in a completely different cultural context face death and chthonic demons as real and metaphorical foes