thersites. Journal for Transcultural Presences and Diachronic Identities from Antiquity to Date
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Review of Samantha Masters, Imkhitha Nzungu & Grant Parker: (u)Mzantsi Classics. Dialogues in Decolonisation from Southern Africa
No full textDivine Ontology and Multicultural Representation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
No full textThe Marvel Cinematic Universe (‘MCU’) is one of the most lucrative entertainment franchises ever, and shapes the pop-cultural imagination to no small degree. This paper examines the MCU’s receptions of divine and supernatural characters from two interrelated research foci: (1) divine ontology, and (2) multicultural representations of premodern religions and civilizations. The first topic examines how the MCU remediates godhood: what does it mean to be a god in the MCU? Where lies the distinction between gods, heroes, and superheroes? What are the socio-cultural implications of these conceptualizations? We argue that the MCU currently exhibits a variety of divine definitions and modalities. The second topic investigates how the MCU represents various premodern cultures and mythologies. It demonstrates how the MCU’s storytelling and representation of (inter)mythological communities are driven (but not entirely subsumed) by white and Western cultural concerns. In sum, this paper investigates contemporary meanings attached to premodern religion and mythology by one of the largest entertainment franchises, illuminating not only how these meanings stand in dialogue with evidence but also what they reveal about contemporary society and how present-day creators look towards world mythologies
„Es wehte homerische Luft“: Zur Antikenrezeption in den Werken Erhart Kästners von 1941 bis zum Kriegsende 1945
No full textDer Artikel behandelt anhand mehrerer Werke Erhart Kästners das Griechenlandbild dieses Schriftstellers. Dieses schreibt sich in die allgemeinere Geschichte der deutschen Griechenland-Rezeption ein, die im 18. Jahrhundert begann und im 19. Jahrhundert ihren Höhepunkt erreicht. Kästner versteht sich zwar als Teil dieser Tradition, aber verwirklicht mit seinem Griechenlandaufenthalt von 1941–1945 propagandistische Ziele der nationalsozialistischen Machthaber in Deutschland. Indem er sich bereit erklärt, für die Soldaten der deutschen Wehrmacht Bücher über seinen Aufenthalt zu verfassen, verschmilzt das traditionelle bildungsbürgerliche Griechenlandbild in den Beschreibungen Kästners mit rassistischen und nationalsozialistischen Elementen, sodass diese Bücher als Propaganda für den Krieg (Griechenland. Ein Buch aus dem Kriege) bzw. als Propaganda für das Bleiberecht der deutschen Besatzer in Griechenland (Kreta) wirken. Nach dem Krieg wurden die „anstößigen“ Passagen aus dem Text entfernt und die Bücher in der Weise umgearbeitet, dass sie bis heute als schöngeistige Reiseliteratur geführt werden. Dieser unkritische Umgang ist den Werken Kästners nicht angemessen; der Artikel will eine Grundlage für eine notwendige Kontextualisierung der beiden im Zweiten Weltkrieg entstandenen Werke Griechenland und Kreta leisten.Based on several of his works, this article deals with Erhart Kästner’s image of Greece. As such, it is part of the general history of the German reception of Greece, which began in the 18th century and reached its peak in the 19th century. Although Kästner sees himself as part of this tradition, his stay in Greece from 1941 to 1945 served the propaganda of the National Socialist rulers in Germany. In the books he agreed to write about his stay for the soldiers of the German Wehrmacht, the traditional bourgeois image of Greece merges with racist and National Socialist ideological elements. As a result, these books act as propaganda for the war (Griechenland. Ein Buch aus dem Krieg), or as legitimization for the right of the German occupiers to remain in Greece (Kreta). After the war, the “offensive” passages were removed from the text and the books were reworked. Today they are presented as belletristic travel literature. This uncritical approach is not appropriate to Kästner’s works. The article aims to provide a basis for an historical contextualization of the two works Griechenland. Ein Buch aus dem Krieg and Kreta, written during the Second World War
“Imagines 8. Pagan Pornotopias? The Reception of Antiquity in Eroticism and Pornography”: A Report
No full text“Imagines 8. Pagan Pornotopias? The Reception of Antiquity in Eroticism and Pornography” was the eighth conference organised by Imagines Project. It took place 27th, 28th and 29th September 2023 at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and its conference programme covered a total of 18 papers grouped into five panels. These contributions were focused, as referred to by the event’s title, on the reception of the ancient world —especially Greece and Rome— in erotic and pornographic products ranging from the 19th century to today. With this topic at the core, and working with concepts such as “pornotopias” in Western popular culture, ancient Greece’s role in the shaping and legitimisation of homosexuality, or the characterisation of ancient Rome as inherently opposed to Christianity in erotic moral terms, the workshop’s aim was to explore the degree in which Antiquity and its conscious, unconscious, direct or indirect reception have shaped the construction of not just eroticism and pornography, but desire, attraction, sexuality, sexual orientations and identities, and performance gender
Alexander the Great Scouser
No full textThe idea to give Alexander the Great a life in Liverpool came to my students during a lesson in which we had a lively discussion about the personality and deeds of the Macedonian king. My students were called to decide whether the historical Alexander was great or not, before moving to meeting the legendary hero of the Alexander Romance. The module, entitled ‘The Alexander Romance: An Introduction to the Ancient Reception of Alexander the Great’ was held online in February-March 2023 at the Continuing Education department of the University of Liverpool, and was designed to provide the students with an introduction to the ancient reception of Alexander the Great, with a particular focus on the Alexander Romance. My students gained a deeper understanding of this iconic Macedonian hero and formed educated opinions on his place in ancient history and mythology; they surely went above a beyond my expectations, making Alexander one of them, a Liverpudlian on a quest
You can’t keep the woman in the wallpaper: The agency of the woman and the house from Homer to modern feminist literature
No full textThis article uses new-materialist approaches to explore the dynamic and two-way interaction between the woman and the house from ancient Greek literature to the works of Ismail Kadare, Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sue Townsend and Daisy Johnson. It shows the ethical import of the New Materialisms in terms of inclusivity, shifting our focus to underrepresented agents and questioning hierarchical approaches to both materiality and the female. If women are confined to the domestic domain, their agency will interact with that of the house: whether in collaboration, or antithesis
Review of Katherine Lu Hsu, David Schur, Brian P. Sowers (eds.): The Body Unbound. Literary Approaches to the Classical Corpus
No full textCaesar in der Pampa? Der argentinische Dichter Leopoldo Lugones (1874–1938) und die Antikenrezeption in der Historia de Roca
No full textDie Biographie des argentinischen Präsidenten Julio A. Roca verknüpft historische Ereignisse mit klassischen Themen und moderner politischer Philosophie. Der ehemalige General schien sich kaum an antike Vorbilder angelehnt zu haben, doch der Dichter Leopoldo Lugones beschrieb Rocas Leben so, dass es mit zeitgenössischen und persönlichen Narrativen in Einklang geriet. Lugones vertrat eine nationalistische "παιδεία", die seine Begeisterung für die militärische Oligarchie mit einer Ehrfurcht vor der Antike verband. Er war der Ansicht, dass bedeutende antike Autoren wie Plutarch, Vergil und Caesar für gebildete Menschen unverzichtbare Lektüre seien. Sein letztes Werk, die Historia de Roca, ist jedoch hauptsächlich durch einen Rassismus gegenüber Nicht-Europäern, insbesondere indigenen Völkern, geprägt. Lugones konstruierte also trotz seiner hohen Wertschätzung für die Kulturen der antiken Welt mit Absicht einen Rahmen für ein faschistisches Zivilisationskonzept und die Verherrlichung eines militärischen Führers.The biography of the Argentine President, Julio A. Roca, intertwines historical events with classical themes and modern political philosophy. The former general seemed to have only loosely embraced ancient models, but the poet Leopoldo Lugones shaped Roca's life to align with contemporary and personal narratives. Lugones championed a nationalist "παιδεία" fusing his enthusiasm for the military oligarchy with a reverence for antiquity. He believed great ancient authors like Plutarch, Vergil, and Caesar were crucial reads for educated people. However, his last work, the Historia de Roca, primarily displays racism towards non-Europeans, particularly indigenous peoples. Thus, despite holding the culture of the ancient world in high esteem, Lugones intentionally constructed a framework for a fascist concept of civilization and the glorification of a military leader
Solving Problems through Katasterismos: Classical Reception in New Zealand author Sabrina Malcolm’s Zeustian Logic
No full textNew Zealand writer Sabrina Malcolm’s 2017 novel Zeustian Logic is a contemporary school story about a family struggling to deal with grief. This text follows in a decades-long tradition of New Zealand YA literature employing Classical reception. The novel illustrates how Classical myth helps a contemporary New Zealand teenager (Tuttle) come to terms with his father’s death and his own feelings of helplessness, frustration and anger. This chapter examines the role of Classical reception in this novel, discussing how the author uses star mythology to underpin the depiction of the protagonist’s coming-of-age. More than that, Malcolm compares Tuttle’s feelings with ancient perceptions of anger and grief and skillfully casts Tuttle, in his quest for knowledge, as a modern-day Telemachus. The chapter concludes with a look at how Tuttle’s attitudes towards Zeus change, as he matures
