Tales of catastrophe: the authenticity of Mediterranean palaeo-disasters in films

This article explores the enduring allure of ruins from ancient civilizations and the depiction of catastrophic events in cinema, focusing on the portrayal of natural disasters in antiquity and prehistoric times. A reflection from an archaeological and environmental point of view is based on literary and scientific sources of natural events that inspire the film synopses. Using films from the Peplum genre’s “Golden Age” in the mid-20th century, we analyze how cinema reimagines historical calamities, ranging from the destruction of the Colossus of Rhodes to the demise of Pompeii. While some palaeo-disasters in these films are scientifically plausible, such as the Vesuvius eruption in Pompeii, others, like the Black Sea deluge hypothesis in Noah and The Ten Commandments’ multi-disaster scenario, persist as enduring myths. The article also addresses debated hypotheses, including the meteoritic impact in Sodom and Gomorrah and the speculative cataclysm in 10,000 BC, emphasizing their reliance on myths and pseudo-archaeological theories. This exploration contributes to understanding the complex interplay between cinematic imagination, historical events, natural disasters and enduring cultural myths.