Editing Dahomey (section)

==In popular culture==
[[File:PAUL DUNBAR IN DAHOMEY IN LONDON 1904.jpg|thumb|right|The poster announcing the London premiere of ''In Dahomey'' at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre]], 1903]]
The Kingdom of Dahomey has been depicted in a number of different works of [[fiction]] or [[creative nonfiction]].

===Literature and theatre===
*In the novel ''[[Robur the Conqueror]]'' (1886) by [[Jules Verne]], the crew and passengers of the ''Albatross'' travel to Dahomey, where they interrupt an act of human sacrifice.
*''[[In Dahomey]]'' (1903) was a successful [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical, the first full-length Broadway musical written entirely by African Americans, in the early 20th century. 
*Novelist [[Paul Hazoumé|Paul Hazoumé's]] first novel ''Doguicimi'' (1938) was based on decades of research into the oral traditions of the Kingdom of Dahomey during the reign of King [[Ghezo]]. 
*The anthropologist [[Judith Gleason]] wrote a novel, ''Agõtĩme: Her Legend'' (1970), centered on one of the wives of a king of Dahomey in the late 18th century, who offends her husband who sells her to slavery in Brazil; she makes a bargain with a ''vodu'' (deity), putting her son on the throne of Dahomey and bringing her home.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/agotimeherlegend00glea|last=|first=|title=Agotime: her legend|publisher=Grossman Publishers|website=Internet Archive|date=1970|access-date=29 April 2025}}</ref> 
*Another novel tracing the background of a slave, this time in the United States, was ''The Dahomean'', or ''The Man from Dahomey'' (1971), by the African-American novelist [[Frank Yerby]]; its hero is an aristocratic warrior. 
*In the third of George McDonald Fraser's [[The Flashman Papers|Flashman]] novels, ''[[Flash for Freedom!]]'' (1971), Flashman dabbles in the slave trade and visits Dahomey. 
*''[[The Viceroy of Ouidah]]'' (1980) by [[Bruce Chatwin]] is the story of a Brazilian who, hoping to make his fortune from slave trading, sails to Dahomey in 1812, befriending its unbalanced king and coming to a bad end.  
*The main character of one of the two parallel stories in ''Will Do Magic for Small Change'' (2016) by [[Andrea Hairston]] is Kehinde, a [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] woman forced into the Dahomean army; she struggles with divided loyalty, and after the fall of Behanzin, joins a French entertainment troupe who intend to exhibit her as an Amazon at the [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair]]. 
*The Booker Prize-winning novel ''Girl, Woman, Other'' (2019) by Bernardine Evaristo features a character named Amma who writes and directs a play titled ''The Last Amazon of Dahomey''.
*Behanzin's resistance to the French attempt to end slave trading and human sacrifice has been central to a number of works. [[Jean Pliya|Jean Pliya's]] first play ''Kondo le requin'' (1967), winner of the Grand Prize for African History Literature, tells the story of Behanzin's struggle to maintain the old order. [[Maryse Condé|Maryse Condé's]] novel ''The Last of the African Kings'' (1992) similarly focuses on Behanzin's resistance and his exile to the Caribbean.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of African Literature|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|location=London|edition=Gikandi, Simon}}</ref> The novel ''Thread of Gold Beads'' (2012) by Nike Campbell centers on a daughter of Behanzin; through her eyes, the end of his reign is observed.
*  [[Zora Neale Hurston|Zora Neale Hurston's]] book ''[[Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"]]'', posthumously published May 2018.<ref name="Barracoon" />

===Film and television===
*Dahomey's role in the slave trade is the central focus of the film ''[[Cobra Verde]]'' (1987), directed by [[Werner Herzog]] and adapted from the novel ''[[The Viceroy of Ouidah]]'' (1980). The main protagonist is a fictional Brazilian slave trader who travels to the kingdom, and the character is based upon the historical Brazilian slave trader [[Francisco Félix de Sousa]], who was politically and economically influential in Dahomey during the reigns of King [[Adandozan]] and King [[Ghezo]]. 
*The historical television drama ''[[Victoria (British TV series)|Victoria]]'' (2016) portrays the real-life story of [[Sarah Forbes Bonetta]] being freed from slavery in Dahomey in season 2 episode 17 ("Comfort and Joy").
*The Dahomey Amazons are depicted in the film ''[[The Woman King]]'' (2022), directed by [[Gina Prince-Bythewood]].
* A documentary titled ''[[Dahomey (film)|Dahomey]]'' directed by [[Mati Diop]], an international co-production among France, Senegal and Benin, was selected in the Competition at the [[74th Berlin International Film Festival]] to be held from February 15 to 25, 2024, where it will compete for the [[Golden Bear]]. It is about return of 26 of the royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey to Benin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/455195 |title= The Berlinale unveils its Competition and Encounters titles |first=Davide|last=Abbatescianni |date=January 22, 2024|access-date=January 28, 2024 |website= [[Cineuropa]] |language=en}}</ref>

===Video games===
Dahomey has been depicted in some historical [[strategy video game|war strategy video game]]s. 
*The Dahomey Amazons appear in  the historical strategy video game ''[[Empire: Total War]]'' (2009), developed by [[Creative Assembly]].
*In the [[grand strategy wargame|grand strategy]] video games ''[[Europa Universalis IV]]'' (2013)  and ''[[Victoria 3]]'' (2022), both developed by [[Paradox Interactive]], Dahomey appears as one of many historical nations that players can play as or interact with.