@article{DespujolZabalaAlarioHoyosTurroRibaltaetal.2024, author = {Despujol Zabala, Ignacio and Alario Hoyos, Carlos and Turr{\´o} Ribalta, Carlos and Delgado Kloos, Carlos and Montoro Manrique, Germ{\´a}n and Busquets Mataix, Jaime}, title = {Transforming Open Edx into the next On-Campus LMS}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-62512}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-625122}, pages = {5}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Open edX is an incredible platform to deliver MOOCs and SPOCs, designed to be robust and support hundreds of thousands of students at the same time. Nevertheless, it lacks a lot of the fine-grained functionality needed to handle students individually in an on-campus course. This short session will present the ongoing project undertaken by the 6 public universities of the Region of Madrid plus the Universitat Polit{\`e}cnica de Val{\`e}ncia, in the framework of a national initiative called UniDigital, funded by the Ministry of Universities of Spain within the Plan de Recuperaci{\´o}n, Transformaci{\´o}n y Resiliencia of the European Union. This project, led by three of these Spanish universities (UC3M, UPV, UAM), is investing more than half a million euros with the purpose of bringing the Open edX platform closer to the functionalities required for an LMS to support on-campus teaching. The aim of the project is to coordinate what is going to be developed with the Open edX development community, so these developments are incorporated into the core of the Open edX platform in its next releases. Features like a complete redesign of platform analytics to make them real-time, the creation of dashboards based on these analytics, the integration of a system for customized automatic feedback, improvement of exams and tasks and the extension of grading capabilities, improvements in the graphical interfaces for both students and teachers, the extension of the emailing capabilities, redesign of the file management system, integration of H5P content, the integration of a tool to create mind maps, the creation of a system to detect students at risk, or the integration of an advanced voice assistant and a gamification mobile app, among others, are part of the functionalities to be developed. The idea is to transform a first-class MOOC platform into the next on-campus LMS.}, language = {en} } @misc{Vandewalle2023, author = {Vandewalle, Alexander}, title = {Review of Ross Clare: Ancient Greece and Rome in Videogames. Representation, Play, Transmedia}, series = {thersites 16}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 16}, number = {16}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol16.220}, pages = {173 -- 177}, year = {2023}, language = {en} } @misc{Avalli2023, author = {Avalli, Andrea}, title = {Review of Dario Barbera: Processo al Classico. L'epurazione dell'archeologia fascista}, series = {thersites 16}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 16}, number = {16}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol16.233}, pages = {168 -- 172}, year = {2023}, language = {en} } @article{Skibinski2023, author = {Skibinski, Connie}, title = {'Crazy Man-Killing Monsters'}, series = {thersites 17}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 17}, number = {17}, editor = {Potter, Amanda and Gardner, Hunter H.}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol17.240}, pages = {183 -- 211}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The Amazons have a long legacy in literature and the visual arts, extending from antiquity to the present day. Prior scholarship tends to treat the Amazons as hostile 'Other' figures, embodying the antithesis of Greco-Roman cultural norms. Recently, scholars have begun to examine positive portrayals of Amazons in contemporary media, as role models and heroic figures. However, there is a dearth of scholarship examining the Amazons' inherently multifaceted nature, and their subsequent polarised reception in popular media. This article builds upon the large body of scholarship on contemporary Amazon narratives, in which the figures of Wonder Woman and Xena, Warrior Princess dominate scholarly discourse. These 'modern Amazon' figures epitomise the dominant contemporary trend of portraying Amazons as strong female role models and feminist icons. To highlight the complexity of the Amazon image in contemporary media, this article examines the representation of the Amazons in the Supernatural episode 'Slice Girls' (S7 E13, 2012), where their portrayal as hostile, monstrous figures diverges greatly from the positive characterisation of Wonder Woman and Xena. I also consider the show's engagement with ancient written sources, to examine how the writers draw upon the motifs of ancient Amazon narratives when crafting their unique Amazon characters. By contrasting the Amazons of 'Slice Girls' to contemporary figures and ancient narratives, this article examines how factors such as feminist ideology, narrative story arcs, characters'/audience's perspectives and male bias shape the representation of Amazons post-antiquity.}, language = {en} } @article{MartinezJimenez2023, author = {Mart{\´i}nez Jim{\´e}nez, Javier}, title = {Lycaon and classical versipelles in MTV's Teen Wolf}, series = {thersites 17}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 17}, number = {17}, editor = {Potter, Amanda and Gardner, Hunter H.}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol17.248}, pages = {212 -- 244}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The modern conception of the werewolf is heavily influenced by Gothic reinterpretations of medieval European stories. This kind of werewolf is the one that has appeared on screen and written fiction for decades, but MTV's Teen Wolf, a re-boot of the 1980s film which aired between 2011 - 17, is different. In this young adult supernatural drama, werewolves descend directly from Lycaon, and a substantial proportion of the show's werewolf lore derives from Graeco-Roman stories about wolf-shifters and versipelles. This paper wants to explore the extent of the use in the show of the myth of Lycaon in particular, of Classical versipelles in general, the significance of these two references for the narrative, and the degree of innovation in modern supernatural fiction of this adaptation of Greek and Roman stories.}, language = {en} } @article{Maurice2023, author = {Maurice, Lisa}, title = {From Olympian to Christ-figure: Lucifer (2016 - 2021)}, series = {thersites 17}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 17}, number = {17}, editor = {Potter, Amanda and Gardner, Hunter H.}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol17.244}, pages = {245 -- 272}, year = {2023}, abstract = {On the surface the television series Lucifer (2016 - 21) is a simple police procedural but, in actuality, the criminal cases in the show serve merely as window-dressing and structure for the deeper consideration of issues, such as guilt, shame, love, and even the meaning of life on both an individual and universal level. These topics are explored through the ever-developing character of Lucifer himself, who, like other recent anti-hero depictions, is initially presented in a manner that is very different from traditional portrayals of the Devil, and is, in fact, far closer to that of the Greek Olympian gods. Over the course of six seasons, the depiction of Lucifer alters, however, as he becomes a figure that is in many ways Christ-like, but with a 21st century twist that places the individual in an exalted position that is superior to that of divinity.}, language = {en} } @article{Potter2023, author = {Potter, Amanda}, title = {Classical Monsters and Hero(ines) in InSEXts, Eros/Psyche and Porcelain}, series = {thersites 17}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 17}, number = {17}, editor = {Potter, Amanda and Gardner, Hunter H.}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol17.247}, pages = {96 -- 124}, year = {2023}, abstract = {This paper applies Monster Theory to the use of Greek mythology in three creator-owned comic series by female writers: InSEXts (2016 - 2017) by American comic writer Marguerite Bennett and Indonesian artist working in America Ariela Kristantina as well as Eros/Psyche (2021) and Porcelain (2021) by Maria Llovet, a comic writer and artist from Barcelona. In the first volume of InSEXts, set in Victorian London, there are allusions to the Furies and Pandora, linked with the discourse of the repression of women. In the second volume, set in the late nineteenth century Paris art world, the representation of classical subjects in art becomes a means to repress women, and a goddess with a Gorgon-like appearance takes revenge on the male repressors. In Eros/Psyche the story of Eros and Psyche and broken statues forms the backdrop and context for a tale of love and deception at a girls' school, and in Porcelain a girl is faced with a choice of paths towards Eros or Thanatos, like Herakles at the crossroads choosing between the paths of virtue and vice. With reference to Cohen's seven theses of Monster Culture I examine how Bennett and Lovett subvert the idea of the monster and the hero.}, language = {en} } @article{Toscano2023, author = {Toscano, Margaret Merrill}, title = {Varieties of Supernatural Depictions}, series = {thersites 17}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 17}, number = {17}, editor = {Potter, Amanda and Gardner, Hunter H.}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol17.249}, pages = {2 -- 31}, year = {2023}, abstract = {This article proposes several conceptual frameworks for examining the widespread use of classical intertexts depicting the supernatural in popular media. Whether the supernatural is viewed as reality or simply a trope, it represents the human capacity and desire to explore worlds and meanings beyond the obvious and mundane. Representations of classical gods, heroes, and monsters evoke the power of mythic stories to probe and explain human psychology, social concerns, philosophical questions, and religious beliefs, including belief about the paranormal and supernatural. The entertainment value of popular media allows creators and audiences to engage with larger issues in non-dogmatic and playful ways that help them negotiate tensions among various beliefs and identities. This paper also gives an overview of the other articles in this journal issue, showing overlapping themes and patterns that connect with these tensions. By combining knowledge of classical myths in their original contexts with knowledge about contemporary culture, classical scholars contribute unique perspectives about why classical intertexts dominate in popular media today.}, language = {en} } @article{Foster2023, author = {Foster, Frances}, title = {Gods and Magic in Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief}, series = {thersites 17}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 17}, number = {17}, editor = {Potter, Amanda and Gardner, Hunter H.}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol17.242}, pages = {32 -- 54}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Megan Whalen Turner's series The Queen's Thief (1996 - 2020) centres on the political intrigues in a group of countries which are at once very like - but also very unlike - Bronze Age and archaic Greece threatened by a powerful Persian Empire. The first book in the series, The Thief (1996), begins as a political adventure haunted by stories of the gods. When those gods directly influence the action, the narrative changes from present political intrigue to a fantasy from the distant past. The mythology in The Thief reflects, imitates and distorts archaic Greek creation myths - stories about how the earth and sky were formed, the divine pantheon and heroes. I examine the presentation of this divine pantheon against the narratives about the gods in Hesiod, the Homeric hymns and Homer's epics. I evaluate how the supernatural element interacts with the largely political narrative of The Thief. In so doing, I explore how the text blends a 'classical supernatural' with a world that is like - but in many ways very unlike - Bronze Age and archaic Greece.}, language = {en} } @article{Lovatt2023, author = {Lovatt, Helen}, title = {Resurrecting the Argo}, series = {thersites 17}, volume = {2023}, journal = {thersites 17}, number = {17}, editor = {Potter, Amanda and Gardner, Hunter H.}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol17.254}, pages = {55 -- 95}, year = {2023}, abstract = {This paper analyses the relationship between the figure of the Argo (ship and character) and the supernatural in the mythic fantasy of Robert Holdstock's Merlin Codex. It shows how Holdstock's re-writing of the Argonautica draws on various versions from the Argonautic tradition, including Euripides' Medea, Apollonius, Valerius Flaccus, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Treece and the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts. It sets Holdstock's Argo alongside other representations, as divine herself, possessed by divinity, and a channel of communication with the divine, and in the context of Holdstock's previous work, particularly Mythago Wood, Lavondyss and Merlin's Wood. The paper argues that Holdstock uses the Argo as a reflection of myth itself, a version of the forest in Mythago Wood, as well as a metapoetic image for the challenges and complexities of adapting a well-known story, bringing multiple mythological traditions (Arthurian, Finnish and Argonautic) together. It reflects on Holdstock's relationship to the ancient genres of epic and tragedy, as well as Argo as plot facilitator and mechanism of transformation and transition. Holdstock's relationship with ancient literature is richer and deeper than previously acknowledged; his self-conscious plays reveal a deep understanding of the polymorphous nature of mythical traditions.}, language = {en} }