Depictions of the ancient world on the stage and in art have always competed with the reconstruction of the past by academics. The rise of cinema and television has heightened the difficulty in distinguishing between 'elite' and 'popular' culture. On American TV, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has incorporated aspects of the classical within the high school horror genre. In art cinema, the films of Theo Angelopoulos seek to reclaim Greek myth from academia and claim its recognition as part of a living modern culture. Alexander the Great has been recreated in an animated Japanese...