Byronic Hero: "a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart—a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection"

- Lord Macaulay

Christiansen, Rupert (1989). Romantic Affinities: Portraits from an Age, 1780–1830. London: Cardinal. ISBN 0-7474-0404-6. Retrieved 2025-09-24.

“Mad, bad, and dangerous to know" was coined by the Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist Lady Caroline Lamb to describe the Romantic poet Lord Byron, with whom she had a passionate and scandalous love affair in 1812. 

• Edward Rochester is a byronic hero

Lanthimos went to a film school in Athens that is highly influenced by Ancient Greek composition principles (especially Aristotle). It’s interesting to consider how an ancient culture can into something timeless/sacred but then lose it. Even though it can go dormant, it’s so potent that any culture who revives it goes through a period of rebloom /