"Hispania, la leyenda": The Myth of Viriatus’ Struggle Transfigured for Television

Abstract

“Hispania, la leyenda” is the first Spanish attempt to represent on screen the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and the resistance led by Viriatus. This paper analyzes the TV series in terms of two key features that define it as a historical recreation that repackages the foundational myth as an adventure story with patriotic overtones: 1) the appropriation of a key figure in Portuguese culture to build a notion of Hispanic identity; and 2) the analogy with the Napoleonic occupation and War of Independence, amply evoked in the film and television of the dictatorship and early democracy as well as in the productions made for the recent bicentennial commemorations.

Keywords

• hispania
• television
• viriatus
• history
• myth