The Iliad, an ancient Greekepic poem in dactylic hexameters traditionally attributed to Homer, is set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, and tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. The Odyssey, also ascribed to Homer, is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, and is fundamental to the modern Western canon.[1] The classical Greek writer Aristophanes, devoted an entire comedy, the Lysistrata, to a strike organised by military wives where they withhold sex from their husbands to prevent them from going to the Peloponnesian War. The Aeneid, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans.[2]
The rapid growth of movable type in the late 16th and early 17th centuries saw an upsurge in private publication. Political pamphlets became popular, often lampooning military leaders for political purposes. A pamphlet directed against Prince Rupert of the Rhine is a typical example. During the 19th century, irreverence towards authority was at its height and for every elegant military gentleman painted by the master-portraitists of the European courts for example, Thomas Gainsborough, Francisco Goya, and Joshua Reynolds, there are the sometimes affectionate and sometimes savage caricatures of Thomas Rowlandson and William Hogarth.
The increasing importance of cinema in the early 20th century provided a new platform for depictions of military subjects. During the First World War, although heavily censored, newsreels enabled those at home to see for themselves a heavily sanitized version of life at the front line. About the same time, both pro-war and anti-war films came to the silver screen. One of the first films on military aviation, Hell's Angels broke all box office records on its release in 1929. Soon, war films of all types were showing throughout the world, notably those of Charlie Chaplin who actively promoted war bonds and voluntary enlistment.
Caricature Japanese soldier in a US propaganda poster
Popularized cropped version of Guerrillero Heroico, a photo by Alberto Korda (March 5, 1960, Havana)
Although some groups engaged in combat, such as resistance movements, all refer to themselves using military terminology, notably "Army", "Brigade", or "Front", none have had the structure of a national military to justify the reference, and usually have had to rely on support of outside national militaries.
References
^D.C.H. Rieu's introduction to The Odyssey (Penguin, 2003), p. XI.
^Virgil (2006) [29–19 BC]. The Aeneid. Trans. by Robert Fagles. United States of America: Viking Press. ISBN978-0-670-03803-9.