摘要：A reading of Las Vegas is provided in this paper using an optic of critical theory and theheuristic power of Homer's tale of Odysseus and his crew's encounter with the sea crea-tures called the Sirens. This analysis reveals Las Vegas to be a city remade for visualconsumption where the streetscape becomes a fantascape and the arts that are on dis-play are amusement goods¡ªpatterned and predigested products for consumption. Thispaper also argues that the present glitz, glitter and newness of Las Vegas appears allthe more meaningful in the light of the archaic. The juxtaposition affords us an opportu-nity to see ourselves in spite of ourselves, or to be decentered from our historical posi-tion of privilege.
