Retelling the Ancient Myths in a Modern Setting

[Red Terror]

I remember reading works like Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and Portrait of the Artist by James Joyce and being fascinated how these artists use the ancient stories of Pygmalion and Galatea and Daedalus and Icarus to retell the ancient myths in a modern setting. These two are ones just at the top of my head. I know there is Ulysses by Joyce (which I haven't read but have read about). Anthony Burgess wrote one about Aeneas but no one talks about that novel. Anyone know any others? I remember when I was in my early 20s I read Ovid's Metamorphoses with attention trying to see if I could write a novel or play like Joyce and Shaw did but did not "find" anything to work with. I wonder if I read it again now in my middle age could I find something to build upon? Any thoughts??? I'm sure someone is going to bring up --- Sigh --- Joseph Campbell, The Hero of a Thousand Faces, Star Wars and the mono-myth.

[AuntShecky]

Many of Faulkner's novels have their bases in ancient myths. What about O'Neill's plays? Just off the top of my head I recall a brilliant movie called Black Orpheus directed by Marcel Camus (?) in 1958. It airs on tv from time to time.

[TheFifthElement]

Canongate have released a whole series of books which are re-telling of mythologies: http://www.canongate.tv/canongate-myths
The Winterson, Smith, Kirino and Byatt are very good.

[PerfectCat900]

Not sure if 'ancient' fits the bill, but Mahabharata has been played and retold in settings of contemporary variant. Recently, I just saw Hiroshi Koike's Mahabharata Part 3 played in Jakarta. The next parts will be played in Cambodia and India, if I'm not mistaken.