This book focuses on the characters that populate the Game of Thrones universe and on one of the most salient features of their interaction: violence and warfare. It analyses these questions from a multidisciplinary perspective that is chiefly based on Classical Studies. The book is divided into two sections. The first section explores Martin’s characters as the mainstay of both the novels and the TV series, since the author has peopled his universe with three-dimensional intriguing characters that resonate with the reader/audience. The second section is devoted to violence and warfare, both pervasive in the Game of Thrones universe. In particular, the TV series’ depiction of violence is explicit, going beyond the limits that have seldom been traversed in primetime television i.e. the execution of Ned Stark, the “Red Wedding” and “Battle of the Bastards”. In the Game of Thrones universe, violence is not only restricted to warfare but is an everyday occurrence, a result of the social and gender inequalities characterising the world created by Martin.
Author(s): Alfonso Álvarez-Ossorio, Fernando Lozano, Rosario Moreno Soldevila, Cristina Rosillo-López
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 239
City: Cham
About this Book
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Heroes, Villains, War and Violence in Game of Thrones
Bibliography
Part I: “The Things I do for Love”: Heroes, Villains and None of the Above
Chapter 2: Scheming in the Shadow of Tyrants: The ‘Littlefinger’ Type in Roman Historiography
1 From Syracuse to King’s Landing
2 Roman ‘Littlefingers’
3 Aelius Sejanus
4 Curio
5 ‘Positive’ Littlefingers
Bibliography
Chapter 3: Parallel Lives: Connections Between the Lannisters and Historical Dynasties
1 Introduction: The Lion’s Den
2 In the Shadow of the Iron Throne: Tywin Lannister
3 Two Siblings, One Love: Lannister and Borgia
4 Old King Log: Tyrion and Claudius
Bibliography
Chapter 4: The Tragedy of Eddard Stark: Greek Tragedy in A Song of Ice and Fire
1 The Tragic Hero
2 Peripeteia and Anagnorisis
3 The Tragic Error
4 Catharsis
5 Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 5: “Was it a God, a Demon, a Sorcerous Trick?”. Magic, Performative Rituals, and Moral Standards in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones
1 Who Practices Magic? Otherness in Westeros and Classical Greece
2 What Is Magic? Blood, Fire, Spells, and Charisma
3 The Forms of Magic: Illusions, Soul-projection, and Ghostly Assistants
4 Why Magic? Prophecy, Resurrection, Targeted Killings, and Battles
5 Magic as Religion or Magic Versus Religion? An Intradiegetic Debate
6 Morals as a Criterion for Distinguishing Between Magic and Religion?
Bibliography
Part II: “Some Allies are More Dangerous than Enemies”: Warfare and Violence
Chapter 6: Juggling “a Hundred Balls in the Air”: Reflections of the Year of the Four Emperors in the War of the Five Kings
1 Introduction: Politics and Fantasy
2 “Mixed and Matched” References to the 68–70 CE Civil War: Power, Legitimacy and Spatialisation
Parallels with the Year of the Four Emperors
Circulation of the Information and Dramatisation of the Narrative
3 From the Legitimacy to the Exercise of Power: Martin’s Political Pessimism?
Legitimate, but not Wise: Joffrey, Viserys and Suetonius’ Tyrants
Legitimate, Wise, but Corrupted Anyway: Ned and Tacitus’ Galba/Piso
4 Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 7: The Punic Wars in the World of A Song of Ice and Fire
1 Romans and Valyrians Against Carthaginians and Ghiscari
The Principal Sources
The Name of the Wars and Their Number
The Geography
The Ghiscari Cities and Forms of Government
The Forms of Combat
The Armed Conflict
The Subsequent Expansion
The Idea of Translatio imperii
2 Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 8: The “Battle of the Bastards”: A Tactical Iconic Narrative
Bibliography
Chapter 9: Some Heads Are Gonna Roll: Punishments and Executions in G. R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and in HBO’s TV Series
1 Some Heads Are Gonna Roll
2 The Death Penalty
Decapitation
Crucifixion
Hurling
Crematio
Other Methods: Slitting the Throat and the damnatio ad bestias
3 Conclusions: Timeo danaos et dona ferentis
Bibliography
Chapter 10: From Greek Tragic Drama to Fantastic Terror: Tragic Echoes in A Storm of Swords’ Red Wedding
1 Introduction
2 “So much for guest right”: The Violation of Philia and the Circle of Violence
3 The Tragic Roots of a Spectacular Aesthetic
4 Catelyn Stark, from a Tragic Model to the Archetype of the Suffering of Women
5 Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
