Q: You weave action, adventure, mythology, sci-fi, romance, and philosophy throughout
The Hunger Games. What influenced the creation of The Hunger Games?
A: A significant influence would have to be the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The
myth tells how in punishment for past deeds, Athens periodically had to send seven youths
and seven maidens to Crete, where they were thrown in the Labyrinth and devoured by the
monstrous Minotaur.
Even as a kid, I could appreciate how ruthless this was. Crete was sending a very clear
message: “Mess with us and we’ll do something worse than kill you. We’ll kill your children.”
And the thing is, it was allowed; the parents sat by powerless to stop it. Theseus, who was the
son of the king, volunteered to go. I guess in her own way, Katniss is a futuristic Theseus.
In keeping with the classical roots, I send my tributes into an updated version of the Roman
gladiator games, which entails a ruthless government forcing people to fight to the death as
popular entertainment. The world of Panem, particularly the Capitol, is loaded with Roman
references. Panem itself comes from the expression “Panem et Circenses” which translates
into “Bread and Circuses.”
The audiences for both the Roman games and reality TV are almost characters in themselves.
They can respond with great enthusiasm or play a role in your elimination.
I was channel surfing between reality TV programming and actual war coverage when
Katniss’s story came to me. One night I’m sitting there flipping around and on one channel
there’s a group of young people competing for, I don’t know, money maybe? And on the next,
there’s a group of young people fighting an actual war. And I was tired, and the lines began to
blur in this very unsettling way, and I thought of this story.
