Ancient Greek Myth in World Fiction Since 1989 (original) (raw)
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Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception presents scholarly monographs offering new and innovative research and debate to students and scholars in the reception of Classical Studies. Each volume will explore the appropriation, reconceptualization and recontextualization of various aspects of the Graeco-Roman world and its culture, looking at the impact of the ancient world on modernity. Research will also cover reception within antiquity, the theory and practice of translation, and reception theory.
By the Elite, for the Elite? The Audience of the Ancient Greek Novel
Journal of historical studies, 2016
Until fairly recently the Greek novel was of little to no interest to historians of antiquity. Within the previous few decades however academic opinion on the genre has steadily grown more favourable to the point where study of the Greek novel has experienced something of a revival, consequentially resulting in the rehabilitation of the genre into the internationally recognized wider corpus of canonical ancient literature. As a result of this invigorated engagement scholars have, quite naturally, deliberated over sociological aspects of the Greek novel within the historical context of its conception. Of paramount importance within this discussion has been the question of the novel’s intended and unintended ancient readership, as it is known that most, if not all, of the Greek novels were circulated widely throughout the Roman Empire, especially within the Greek-speaking Eastern Mediterranean, from the mid 1st century CE to the late 4th century.
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Intertextuality is a well-known tool in literary criticism and has been widely applied to ancient literature, with, perhaps surprisingly, classical scholarship being at the frontline in developing new theoretical approaches. By contrast, the seemingly parallel notion of intervisuality has only recently begun to appear in classical studies. In fact, intervisuality still lacks a clear definition and scope. Unlike intertextuality, which is consistently used with reference to the interrelationship between texts, the term ‘intervisuality’ is used not only to trace the interrelationship between images in the visual domain, but also to explore the complex interplay between the visual and the verbal. It is precisely this hybridity that interests us. Intervisuality has proved extremely productive in fields such as art history and visual culture studies. By bringing together a diverse team of scholars, this project aims to bring intervisuality into sharper focus and turn it into a powerful tool to explore the research field traditionally referred to as ‘Greek literature’.
Fantastic antiquities and where to find them ancient worlds in post modern novels, 2024
This volume, Fantastic Antiquities and Where to Find Them: Ancient Worlds in (Post-)Modern Novels, explores the diverse receptions of classical antiquity in contemporary literature. Covering themes from myth retellings to socio-political reinterpretations and speculative restagings, it highlights how antiquity is continuously reimagined to engage with modern concerns. The contributions span feminist critiques, global perspectives, and reflections on the intersection of ancient and modern worlds, offering new insights into the enduring influence of the classical past on postmodern storytelling. Find the whole issue and the fantastic contributions here: https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol19
The relationship between the Greek novel and the 'real world' deserves reconsideration. Because the Greek-speaking provinces of the Roman Empire have recently inspired a large number of publications, this paper aims at delivering some remarks relative to the sort of historical informations which can be drawn from these texts, so far improperly characterized as 'ideal novels'.Concerning elite, for instance, wealth appears to be more important than eugeneia, even if it allows to perform prestige through the same social practices of differentiation than before. Secondary roles and even groups of ordinary people (sailors , goatherds) display a large description of Greek civic societies, not restricted to the elite.
"MYTHS IN CRISIS: NEW GREEK POETRY BETWEEN CLASSICAL RECEPTION AND CONTEMPORARY POP CULTURE"
ΣΤ΄ Ευρωπαϊκό Συνέδριο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών της Ευρωπαϊκής Εταιρείας Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, 6th European Congress of Modern Greek Studies of the European Society of Modern Greek Studies Lund, 4-7 October 2018, 2020
This paper tackles the role of Classical myth in the so called New Greek Poetry. It considers works that have been published in English-translated anthologies between 2014 and 2016, where the impact of the still ongoing financial crisis can be sensed. In these poems it is often myths themselves that seem to be in crisis –a crisis of identity, of representation–. As a consequence, the new poets approach Classical elements –as well as the most reverenced myths of the Generation of the 30s– in an unattached fashion, mixing them with references from highbrow and lowbrow culture and negotiating new meanings. Classical Reception Studies have not jet payed sufficient attention to this rich poetic production, and so this paper is intended as a contribution to widen our understanding of both Classics and contemporary Greek poetry.
Building a new world in the Ancient one : bringing fantasy to the Classical World.
The presence of classical influences in SFFF has been an emerging subject in the last few years, with various conferences and publications on the topic being published (see for instance Bost-Fiévet & Provini, 2014; Roger & Stevens 2015, 2017) . Research has often focused on the presence of classical elements in various SFFF works, or tried to identify SFFF precursor elements in ancient texts such as Lucian’s Vera Historia. Yet there also exist a category of texts known as Classical Fantasy for which authors choose to bring SFFF in ancient contexts, either by retelling classical mythological tales, by creating new stories using the classical mythological material or by creating new stories which includes new SFFF elements in the classical context, with few, if any, reference to the original material beyond superficial elements. Glyn Iliffe’s retelling of the siege of Troy, with its inclusion of the Gods, is a good example of the first type, while movies such as Immortal (Tarsem Singh, 2011) or Clash of the Titans (either the 1981 one by Desmond Davis or the 2010 one by Louis Leterrier) exemplify the second. Maybe even more interesting for those studying world building are the stories that try to introduce completely new elements in the classical context. Two such universes are The Macht trilogy (2008; 2010; 2012) by Paul Kearney and the ongoing serie Les Rois du Monde by French author Jean-Philippe Jaworski (2013; 2015). Kearney rewrites Xenophon’s and Alexander the Great’s lives in a world where the Persians are not only barbarians but also aliens, as in from a non human race, while Jaworski describes the life of Bellovese, a Celtic leader of the 6th century BCE of which Livy spoke, but including many fantastic elements forgotten by history, including the fact that he died and came back to life, first step on the way to glory. This paper shall thus look at how those authors build their universes, what parts of the Ancient world are included or excluded, and how those novels differ from more traditional historical fictions as well as from the more mainstream forms of Classical Fantasy, thus contributing to the well established field of classical reception studies as well as the more recent corpus of research on the interaction between SFFF and the Classical World.