They are the new screenwriters Hollywood is desperate to use. And soon they will be at a cinema near you: Euripides, Herodotus, Homer, Aristophanes and Aeschylus.

The classics are back - not pseudo, sword-and-sandal sagas like Gladiator, but the real thing. Ancient Greek historians and playwrights are providing the inspiration for a new wave of violent, psychological thrillers.

Next year The Bacchae, a full-length screen version of Euripides's sexually explicit and brutal play, will reach British screens. Produced by a major Hollywood filmhouse - Turman-Morrissey - the script has been described by reviewers as 'very adult'.

'This is not a period piece,' one said. 'But a movie that some will find offensive and many will find controversial.'

In 90 action-packed minutes a man is torn to shreds by a group of libidinous naked women; a pregnant mother is zapped by a lightning bolt sent by the father, Zeus; and amid scenes of mass nudity Dionysus, the hero, smashes his way through walls.

Other classical projects in production include a film by Michael Mann, director of The Insider, dramatising the heroic defence by the Spartan warriors of the pass at Thermopylae against the Persian hordes in 480 BC. Scriptwriters are drawing heavily on original Greek accounts, particularly those of Herodotus, traditionally seen as the father of history.

The part of Leonidas, the leader of the Spartans, is rumoured to have been written with George Clooney in mind. Mann has commissioned a second script about Julius Caesar and Pompey, whose rivalry led to civil war. Tom Hanks's name has been linked with the role of Caesar.

Even the producers of Tantalus (pictured), a 10-hour stage epic drawn from fragments of ancient texts, have been approached by American and British producers.

Mark Cousins, the BBC2 film critic, believes the trend represents a search for a new kind of masculinity on the screen. 'As Schwarzenegger and Stallone age, there is the need for a new macho hero. It was something that started with Russell Crowe in Gladiator and I think it is a reaction to the effeminate or gay characters in some of the recent successful romantic comedies. It is a reaction to Rupert Everett, in many ways.'

Cousins also believes the sudden emphasis on classical texts is part of a familiar Hollywood pattern. 'Whenever there is a technological development, the movies turn to the classic stories. They did it with early silent movies, they did it with Cinemascope, and now they are doing it with digital,' he said.

'They are the most baroque plots to take on. It is as if they are saying, "Look at what we can do".'

There are other, political, motivations. As the calls to check the growth of screen violence grow louder, Hollywood is turning to different ways of bringing home the box-office hits. 'By going back to the classics, film-makers can say, as they always have, "What do you mean, we are too violent?" These early stories were just as bad. It is a less controversial way of dealing with censorship,' Cousins said.

Last week's British launch of Sir Peter Hall's epic production of Tantalus, written from fragments of original ancient texts describing the story of the Trojan war, has brought the classic myths centre stage in Britain too. The Royal Shakespeare Company's co-production received rave reviews in Denver, where the 10-hour play cycle was first performed.

The RSC has already been approached by film companies interested in bringing the extraordinary work to the big screen. The scene in which the Trojan horse makes its fabled entrance into Troy has been hailed as a theatrical triumph and is believed to have whetted the appetite of directors.

John Barton, the play's writer, believes that the power of the Trojan myth is more than just 'relevant' today. He claims it addresses all the big questions, while having the narrative drive of a soap opera.

Professor Valentine Cunningham, of Oxford University, said he was not surprised to see some of the oldest tragic tales being revived for the big screen. 'Classic stories, or stories that are just very ancient, gain the status of myths in their retelling,' he said. 'They are stories that can be revivified... so they earn long life.'

While other classical scholars have pointed to the presence of 'deep structures' and 'archetypes' to explain the appeal of myth, Cunningham is sceptical.

'We should admit we don't know why they are retold. It is a mystery. We do know that each time they are retold the film director or author believes he is reaching the essential truth, and each time [those truths] are different.'