ABSTRACT
Although the term ‘adaptation studies’ is relatively new, scholarly attention to the varied relationships that exist between the arts in different media is not new at all. In fact, the study of adaptation, by other names, has been integral to the development of Western literature. Both Plato and Aristotle wrote extensively about mimesis, or the representation of ideal forms or aspects of nature in art, and it is not difficult to see that artistic work as kind of adaptation. Although most modern scholars would argue with Plato’s conception of an ideal world, all would agree that he was deeply interested in the relationships between the world we live in and the artistic representations of that world.
