Classical Reception in Lil Nas X with Yentl Love

We sit down with Yentl Love to talk all about classical reception in Lil Nas X’s 2021 music video for 'Call Me By Your Name'. Yentl Love is the famous Queer Classicist and we recommend checking out her blog for accessible analysis of the ancient world. We are thrilled to have Yentl return to the show - you may remember her from the insightful conversation we had about the reception of Cleopatra. Lil Nas X has enjoyed great success with his debut album Montero and we were keen to learn more about how he utilised allusions to the ancient world to drive conversations about black identity and queerness as well as to complicate ideas about the heroic and how we might derive meaning when we analyse the past. It's definitely worth watching the music video before getting into the episode itself! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swmTBVI83k The ancient world has a wealth of symbolism and allusion that has built up and developed over time through the use and reuse of imagery and ideas and this conversation really just touches some of the potentials. Special Episode - Classical Reception in Lil Nas X with Yentl Love The Ideal Man What makes the ideal man? Lil Nas X poses the question with a visual allusion to Doryphoros, the famous sculpture by the Greek Polykleitos, which is thought to represent the physical ideal in ancient Greek culture. Doryphoros was a favoured subjected in later Roman sculpture as well. Doryphoros from Pompeii - A Roman marble reimagining of a Greek sculpture by Polykeitos. Now in the MAN Napoli. Architectural Influences The opening of the music video provides a sweeping vista that on the surface has the appearance of paradise but is dotted with ruined buildings and structures. What could this mean? We ask Yentl's perspective. Still from 'Call Me By your Name' showing a Doric Temple in the foreground and an Aqueduct in the background Just a regular symposium... Famously, Plato's Symposium gets a shout out in 'Call me By Your Name' with a quotation that roughly translates as "After the division the two parts of man, each desiring his other half..." We consider the significance of this phrase in context and enjoy the fact that every so often someone uses an ancient language in a modern setting! Still from 'Call Me By Your Name' Ancient Greek from Plato's Symposium on the Tree of Knowledge I like my hair like I like my Flavians! As the music video progresses, we see Lil Nas X shift scenes to an arena. The hairstyles on display in this scene recall the gravity defying hair styles favoured by the Flavian dynasty. Still from 'Call Me By Your Name' showing hairstyles echoing the Flavians For comparison, consider the hair style of the portrait bust below. Although the identity of the subject is not certain, this piece is often identified as Julia Titi, the daughter of the Flavian emperor Titus. She was reputed to be a great beauty, but it's the very high ringlets that win the day here! Portrait bust of a young woman with an extremely high hair style made of ringlets. Capitoline Museum.