Editing Mordred (section)

==Modern portrayals==
[[File:Roddy McDowall Mordred Camelot.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Roddy McDowall]] as Mordred in the Broadway musical ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'' (1960)]]

Mordred is especially prominent in popular modern era Arthurian literature, as well as in other media such as film, television, and comics.<ref>Torregrossa, Michael A., "Will the 'Reel' Mordred Please Stand Up? Strategies for Representing Mordred in American and British Arthurian Film" in ''Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays'' (Rev. edn.), ed. Kevin J. Harty. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002 (pb. 2009), pp. 199–210.</ref> He has been played on screen by [[Leonard Penn]] (''The [[Adventures of Sir Galahad]]'', 1949), [[Brian Worth]] (''[[The Adventures of Sir Lancelot]]'', 1956–1957), [[David Hemmings]] (''[[Camelot (film)|Camelot]]'', 1967), [[Robert Addie]] (''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'', 1981), [[Nickolas Grace]] (''Morte d'Arthur'', 1984), [[Simon Templeman]] (voice in ''[[The Legend of Prince Valiant]]'', 1991–1993), [[Jason Done]] (''[[Merlin (miniseries)|Merlin]]'', 1998), [[Craig Sheffer]]&nbsp;(''[[Merlin: The Return]]'', 2000), [[Hans Matheson]] (''[[The Mists of Avalon (miniseries)|The Mists of Avalon]]'', 2001), [[Asa Butterfield]] and [[Alexander Vlahos]] (''[[Merlin (2008 TV series)|Merlin]]'', 2008–2012), [[Rob Knighton]] (''[[King Arthur: Legend of the Sword]]'', 2017), and [[Miyuki Sawashiro]] (voice in ''[[Fate/Apocrypha]]'', 2017), among others. In modern adaptations, the character of Morgause is usually conflated with that of [[Morgan le Fay in modern culture|Morgan]], typically cast as Mordred's villainous mother (or alternatively his lover or wife), often manipulative and sometimes abusive. Some modern books and other media even feature Mordred as protagonist.

Virtually everywhere Mordred appears, his name is synonymous with [[treason]]. In [[Inferno (Dante)|Dante's ''Inferno'']], he is found in the lowest circle of Hell, set apart for traitors: "him who, at one blow, had chest and shadow / shattered by Arthur's hand" (Canto XXXII).<ref>''Inferno'', Canto XXXII, lines 61–62 (Mandelbaum translation).</ref> A few works from the Middle Ages and today, however, portray Mordred as less a traitor and more a conflicted opportunist, or even a victim of fate.<ref>''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', p. 394.</ref> Even Malory, who depicts Mordred as a villain, notes that the people rallied to him because, "with Arthur was none other life but war and strife, and with Sir Mordred was great joy and bliss."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://artifactsjournal.missouri.edu/2015/08/king-arthur-and-his-part-in-the-breaking-of-the-round-table/ | title=King Arthur and His Part in the Breaking of the Round Table // Artifacts Journal| year=2023}}</ref>