Painting Aeneas Flees Burning Troy by Federico Barocci, 1598
J. R. R. Tolkien derived the characters, stories, places, and languages of Middle-earth from many sources, especially medieval ones. Tolkien and the classical world have been linked by scholars, and by Tolkien himself. The suggested influences include the pervasive classical themes of divine intervention and decline and fall in Middle-earth; the splendour of the Atlantis-like lost island kingdom of Númenor; the Troy-like fall of Gondolin; the Rome-like stone city of Minas Tirith in Gondor; magical rings with parallels to the One Ring; and the echoes of the tale of Lúthien and Beren with the myth of Orpheus descending to the underworld. Other possible connections have been suggested by scholars.
Tolkien stated that he wanted to create a mythology evocative of England, not of Italy. Scholars have noted aspects of his work, such as the plants of Ithilien, which are clearly Mediterranean but not specifically classical.
Tolkien's fiction was brought to a new audience by Peter Jackson's film version of The Lord of the Rings. This in turn influenced the portrayal of the classical world in several later films, such as the 2004 Troy.