PARTHENOPE AS MYTH AND SIMULACRUM: FROM THE ANCIENT SIREN TO THE CINEMATIC IMAGE

Authors

Keywords:

Paolo Sorrentino, Parthenope, myth, simulacra and simulation, utopia

Abstract

This article analyzes the image of Parthenope, tracing its transformation from antiquity to its contemporary cinematic interpretation in Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope (2024). Two dominant archetypes are identified across literary and visual traditions: Parthenope as a mythical creature (a siren – half-bird, half-woman) and as a beautiful woman with a tragic fate. Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality and simulacra is employed to examine how the siren’s image is recontextualized within a postmodern visual narrative, where the myth gradually loses its original meaning. The analysis traces how the key stages of simulacral representation, as theorized by Baudrillard, are manifested in the film – from the heroine’s immersion in an aestheticized replica of reality to her gradual symbolic disengagement from it. The protagonist is portrayed as a simulacrum of classical female beauty, emphasized through specific cinematographic techniques (close-ups, references to classical iconography, musical framing, etc.). At the same time, the plot development centers around her attempts to break free from the imposed role of the mythical siren and the illusory world she inhabits. A pivotal «system failure» is marked by the death of Parthenope’s brother – an event resistant to simulation. This triggers the heroine’s search for identity through acting, intellectual inquiry, and spiritual experience. Yet these efforts also prove illusory, as each domain is revealed to be embedded within the system of simulacra. Parthenope’s final decision to leave utopian Naples and begin teaching in Trento is interpreted as a refusal to continue reproducing the myth and a turn toward personal experience beyond constructed illusions. Her return in the final scenes to the city of her childhood signifies not a return to origins, but an acceptance of reality without illusion.

References

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Published

2025-12-26

How to Cite

Fedchenko Є. Е. (2025). PARTHENOPE AS MYTH AND SIMULACRUM: FROM THE ANCIENT SIREN TO THE CINEMATIC IMAGE. Культурологічний альманах, (4), 162–170. Retrieved from http://almanac.npu.kiev.ua/index.php/almanac/article/view/738

Issue

Section

HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY