Ancient Ukraine Features in Twenty-first Century Popular Western Film
The film is important because it is an example of Western culture borrowing from Ukrainian culture to create something unique, or to add another facet to the story. Sarmatia, the native land of one of the knights and main characters, fights for the Roman Army for fifteen years under contract with the promise of returning to his homeland at the end of his service, should he survive. Ukraine exists in this tale as one of the last outposts of freedom; from the Roman army, from Christianity, and from foreign rule. This is a fascinating example of how European myths intermingle, and how romantic ideas about ancient origins contribute to Western culture.
The importance of reaching out to see what other countries and other minds do with Ukrainian culture was the main focus of our presentation at St. Andrew's College on Wednesday. In our presentation on Mazeppa the cultural works created by varying perceptions of the historical figure Mazeppa, and those of the Mazeppa myth were examined in respect to how they create cultural artifacts in Western European and North American music, art, writing, and performance. 'King Arthur' is a good example of how Ukrainian myth and history were used to create visual art and a story for ancient Ukraine in 2004. It is a valuable item to add to our survey of Ukrainian contributions to Western art and media.
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