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Playable Girls in Ancient Worlds: Athena (1986) Opens the Door

Lowe, Dunstan (2022) Playable Girls in Ancient Worlds: Athena (1986) Opens the Door. In: Draycott, Jane and Cook, Kate, eds. Women in Classical Video Games. IMAGINES – Classical Receptions in the Visual and Performing Arts . Bloomsbury, London, pp. 15-28. ISBN 978-1-350-24191-6. E-ISBN 978-1-350-24193-0. (doi:10.5040/9781350241954.ch-001) (KAR id:94064)

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Abstract

After half a century of existence, digital games now regularly portray women in and around the ancient world, but this situation took time to evolve. In this chapter, I propose the transformative years 1985–7 as a point of origin, when the first playable woman from classical antiquity appeared in a digital game. In that period, many developers created fantasized versions of Greek mythology, just as female protagonists began to gain popularity. This chapter examines SNK’s 1986 arcade game Athena, the intersection of these two trends, which would both have lasting effects on how classical receptions in gaming evolved.

Item Type: Book section
DOI/Identification number: 10.5040/9781350241954.ch-001
Uncontrolled keywords: Digital games, videogames, video games, arcade, Greek myth, Japan, SNK, Athena, Asamiya, Psycho Soldier, King of Fighters, anime, platformer, media mix, female protagonist
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D51 Ancient History
D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D890 Eastern Hemisphere
T Technology > TR Photography > TR897.7 Computer animation
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies
Depositing User: Dunstan Lowe
Date Deposited: 19 Apr 2022 10:13 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Jul 2023 13:29 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/94064 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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