Many modern stories you know well are in fact far older than you think. In the case of Mario Puzo's The Godfather, there's an underlying narrative that has been told by humans for thousands of years. That's because The Godfather is really an Ancient Greek tragedy.
That's because The Godfather is really an Ancient Greek tragedy. In ancient Athens, the amphitheaters that played host to such tragedies were not merely there for entertainment, but as an essential pillar of ancient life. For the Greeks, the public performance of tragedy played a critical role in fostering the civic virtue of all audience members — indeed, attending the theater was essential to your formation as an individual, and part of your civic duty.
For the Greeks, the public performance of tragedy played a critical role in fostering the civic virtue of all audience members — indeed, attending the theater was essential to your formation as an individual, and part of your civic duty. But when you think of wholesome, character-building movies, odds are you don't think of ones about the Italian mafia.