When we approach this TV series, we realise that its story is very similar to a true story: of the Roman Empress Agrippina and the turbid relationship with her son Nero. Figure 1 shows Agrippina\u2019s family tree.<\/p>\n
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Figure 1.<\/strong> Family tree<\/p>\n Agrippina the Younger was an example of getting power at the expense of everything. She killed her own husband and the legitimate heir so that her son, Nero, could become Emperor. Something similar happens in Gemma Teller\u2019s story, a main character in Sons of Anarchy<\/em> TV series, whose soaring ambition makes her commit atrocities in order to keep her influence over her son. She is a killer, an extortionist and an overprotective mother and grandmother. Gemma wants her son Jax to be the leader of SAMCRO and the moment she achieves it is one of the most important in the TV series. It is very similar in the true story: the moment that Nero is crowned by his mother is crucial (see Figure 2).<\/p>\n Figure 2.<\/strong>\u00a0Sculpture of Nero being crowned by his mother. This is meaningful moment in their relationship.<\/p>\n Source: Carlos Delgado; CC-BY-SA<\/p>\n In this case, we find that the TV series reconstructs a specific mythologema: the contempt of the paternal \/ maternal figure towards the son, which has been expressed many times through the myths of Tantalus, Saturn devouring his children, Hera and Medea, among others. The main topic in the TV series is a mother\u2019s obsession with his son and her final matricide. There are certain parallels between the true story and the fictional one depicted in the drama TV series, as it is represented in the table below.<\/p>\n Table 1.<\/strong> Parallels between the true story of Agrippina and the fictional story of Gemma Teller.<\/p>\n This table shows that there is a deeper meaning in this case study, as usually happens in other audiovisual products. In unravelling the architecture of the myth, we find out that the existential concerns of the human being find in the art, in this case the cinema, an appropriate channel to update and adapt to contemporaneity. There are also a lot of parallels between the two sons depicted in the two stories: both of them kill their mothers (and none of them offer resistance to death) and both of them kill themselves. Both Agrippina and Gemma go beyond Ethics and are an example of veiled power inside a patriarchal system. Eventually, the same stories once and again\u2026<\/p>\n If you want further information about this case study, you can find it in the book Hern\u00e1ndez de Santaolalla, V. y Cobo Dur\u00e1n, S. (comps.) (2017): Sons of Anarchy<\/em>: Estudio ideol\u00f3gico, narrativo y mitol\u00f3gico<\/em>. Barcelona, Editorial Laertes, pp. 159-170. ISBN 978-84-16783-33-5.<\/p>\n \u00c1ngeles Mart\u00ednez-Garc\u00eda\u00a0(angelesmartinez@us.es<\/a>) is a professor at the University of Seville, Faculty of Communication, with more than ten years of experience in university education. Her goal is to meet standards through students\u00b4 engagement. She teaches on Film Studies and Film Image and she is developing current research on myths and cinema, as well as on the analysis of film image.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/cifr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/232\/2018\/07\/Fig-2-225x300.jpg\")
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\n HISTORICAL CHARACTER<\/strong><\/td>\n TV SERIES CHARACTER<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Agrippina the Younger<\/td>\n Gemma Teller<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Nero (Agrippina\u2019s son)<\/td>\n Jax Teller (Gemma Teller\u2019s son)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Claudio (Agrippina\u2019s third husband)<\/td>\n Clay Morrow (Gemma Teller\u2019s second husband)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Enobardo + Pasieno Crispo (Agrippina\u2019s first and second husbands)<\/td>\n John Teller (Gemma Teller\u2019s first husband)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Claudia Octavia (Nero\u2019s first wife)<\/td>\n Wendy Case (Jax\u2019 s first wife)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Popea Sabina (Nero\u2019s second wife)<\/td>\n Tara Knowles (Jax\u2019 s second wife)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n