@article{Capra2022, author = {Capra, Elena Sofia}, title = {"Orfeo out of Care"}, series = {thersites 15}, volume = {2022}, journal = {thersites 15}, number = {15}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol15.209}, pages = {52 -- 89}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The paper focuses on an example of multiple-step reception: the contribution of the classical story of Orpheus and Eurydice and the mediaeval lay Sir Orfeo to Tolkien's work. In the first part, I compare the lay with Virgilian and Ovidian versions of Orpheus' myth. This comparison shows the anonymous author's deep knowledge of the ancient texts and complex way of rewriting them through stealing and hybridization. The lay was highly esteemed by Tolkien, who translated it and took inspiration from it while describing the Elven kingdom in The Hobbit and building the storyline of Beren and L{\´u}thien in The Silmarillion. Through this key tale, Orpheus/Orfeo's romance has a deep influence also on Aragorn and Arwen's story in The Lord of the Rings. The most important element that Tolkien takes from the Sir Orfeo figuration of the ancient story is undoubtedly the insertion of political theme: the link established between the recovery of the main character's beloved and the return to royal responsability. The second part of the paper is, thus, dedicated to the reception of Sir Orfeo and the classical myth in Tolkien. It shows how in his work the different steps of the tradition of Orpheus' story are co-present, creating an inextricable substrate of inspiration that nourishes his imagination.}, language = {en} } @article{Pezzini2022, author = {Pezzini, Giuseppe}, title = {(Classical) Narratives of Decline in Tolkien: Renewal, Accommodation, Focalisation}, series = {thersites 15}, volume = {2022}, journal = {thersites 15}, number = {15}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol15.213}, pages = {25 -- 51}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The paper investigates Tolkien's narratives of decline through the lens of their classical ancestry. Narratives of decline are widespread in ancient culture, in both philosophical and literary discourses. They normally posit a gradual degradation (moral and ontological) from an idealized Golden Age, which went hand-in-hand with increasing detachment of gods from mortal affairs. Narratives of decline are also at the core of Tolkien's mythology, constituting yet another underresearched aspect of classical influence on Tolkien. Such Classical narratives reverberate e.g. in Tolkien's division of Arda's history into ages, from an idealized First Age filled with Joy and Light to a Third Age, described as "Twilight Age (…) the first of the broken and changed world" (Letters 131). More generally, these narratives are related to Tolkien's notorious perception of history as a "long defeat" (Letters 195) and to that "heart-racking sense of the vanished past" which pervades Tolkien's works - the emotion which, in his words, moved him "supremely" and which he found "small difficulty in evoking" (Letters 91). The paper analyses the reception of narratives of decline in Tolkien's legendarium, pointing out similarities but also contrasts and differences, with the aim to discuss some key patterns of (classical) reception in Tolkien's theory and practice ('renewal', 'accommodation', 'focalization').}, language = {en} } @article{Cristini2022, author = {Cristini, Marco}, title = {The Fall of Two Cities: Troy and Gondolin}, series = {thersites 15}, volume = {2022}, journal = {thersites 15}, number = {15}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol15.200}, pages = {1 -- 24}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Vergil was a fundamental source of inspiration for Tolkien, not only when writing the Lord of the Rings, but also at the beginning of his "world-building". The Fall of Gondolin, written in 1916, was modeled upon the Aeneid, whose second book shares many similarities with the description of Gondolin's last day. For instance, the attack that seals the fate of the city takes place during a feast in both works, whereas both protagonists (Aeneas and Tuor) leave wives and sons to fight the enemy and witness deaths of their kings (Priam/Turgon). Other analogies include the topos of the fall of the tallest tower of the city as well as the scenes of Creusa/Idril clasping the knees of her husband and begging him not to go back to the battle. Tolkien chose the Aeneid as his main model because, in his opinion, the Aeneid and The Fall of Gondolin evoked the air of antiquity and melancholy. Vergil's nostalgia for a "lost world" conveyed in the Aeneid greatly resembles the nostalgia pervading both Tolkien's writing and life.}, language = {en} } @article{MatzPaprocki2022, author = {Matz, Alicia and Paprocki, Maciej}, title = {There and Back Again: Tolkien and Greco-Roman Antiquity}, series = {thersites 15}, volume = {2022}, journal = {thersites 15}, number = {15}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol15.228}, pages = {i -- xii}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The following introduction sketches the status questionis of the research on the influence of Greco-Roman antiquity on the works of Tolkien and provides details about the volume's theoretical impetus and its broad themes. The editors discuss Tolkien's complicated and indirect relationship with classical models, underscoring certain emergent themes in volume's contributions, such as decline, multifocal reception and relationship with nature.}, language = {en} } @misc{Klooster2022, author = {Klooster, Jacqueline}, title = {Review of Sophia Xenophontos and Katerina Oikonomopoulou: Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plutarch}, series = {thersites 14}, volume = {2022}, journal = {thersites 14}, number = {14}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol14.197}, pages = {160 -- 167}, year = {2022}, language = {en} } @misc{Vitello2022, author = {Vitello, Eugenia}, title = {Review of Emilio Zucchetti \& Anna Maria Cimino (eds.): Antonio Gramsci and the Ancient World}, series = {thersites 14}, volume = {2022}, journal = {thersites 14}, number = {14}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol14.203}, pages = {188 -- 196}, year = {2022}, language = {en} } @article{Cromwell2022, author = {Cromwell, Jennifer}, title = {From Pyramids to Obscure Gods}, series = {thersites 14}, volume = {2022}, journal = {thersites 14}, number = {14}, editor = {Amb{\"u}hl, Annemarie and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol14.199}, pages = {1 -- 40}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Within Persona 5's modern Tokyo setting, imagined worlds are created that represent the cognitive processes of various characters. These 'palaces' allow the player to explore locations far removed from the game's real-world, contemporary backdrop. One episode creates an ancient Egyptian world. This article examines how this world has been produced and the different transmedial tropes and other influences that its developers have drawn upon. Many references are recognisable to a broad audience (pyramids, gods, hieroglyphs), while others reflect Japanese pop-cultural trends (in various manga and anime), including the mention of an obscure Egyptian god, Medjed. The intentionally fictitious nature of these 'palaces' means that the Egypt that appears in this game is not bound by the need to replicate an 'accurate' landscape. Instead, the developers were free to design a gamescape that combines multiple and diverse receptions of ancient Egypt.}, language = {en} } @misc{Mihanovic2021, author = {Mihanovic, Andelko}, title = {Review of Patrick Gray: Shakespeare and the Fall of the Roman Republic: Selfhood, Stoicism and Civil War}, series = {thersites 13: Antiquipop - Chefs d'œuvres revisit{\´e}s}, volume = {2021}, journal = {thersites 13: Antiquipop - Chefs d'œuvres revisit{\´e}s}, number = {13}, editor = {Bi{\`e}vre-Perrin, Fabien and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol13.195}, pages = {213 -- 218}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The article is a review of Patrick Gray's latest monograph: Shakespeare and the Fall of the Roman Republic: Selfhood, Stoicism and Civil War. Gray analyzes Shakespare's and his characters' representation of the 'self' in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, with Coriolanus used for comparative purposes. The book induced a lively discussion of its content in academic community.}, language = {en} } @article{Pampanay2021, author = {Pampanay, {\´E}lise}, title = {The Nike of Samothrace's presences during the XX and XXI centuries: mysteries and victories}, series = {thersites 13: Antiquipop - Chefs d'œuvres revisit{\´e}s}, volume = {2021}, journal = {thersites 13: Antiquipop - Chefs d'œuvres revisit{\´e}s}, number = {13}, editor = {Bi{\`e}vre-Perrin, Fabien and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol13.146}, pages = {71 -- 83}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Despite its fame, the Winged Victory of Samothrace keeps on fascinating not only every visitor of the Louvre museum, but also the eye of the connoisseur. Despite its recent restoration in 2014, some of its mysteries might indeed never be solved, like the identity of its sculptor. But this fascination also comes from the statue itself, its majestic aesthetics and lack of head, in a similar fashion perhaps to the loss of the Venus of Milo's arms. Since her discovery more than 150 years ago by Charles Champoiseau, she's been on the throne at the top of the Daru stairs at the Louvre Museum. This hellenistic masterpiece, that Champoiseau called a "mousseline de marbre", became a must see in the Paris museum, together with the Mona Lisa and its other chefs d'oeuvre. But this statue's fate is not set in stone. Many modern artists, like Omar Hassan or Xu Zhen, have tried to make it their own and give it a new depth. Recently, Beyonce and Jay-Z also offered a new perspective by including this Louvre masterpiece, among others, in their political masterstroke, the video clip "Apeshit". This paper seeks to decode the meanings and symbolism of these new versions of the Nike.}, language = {en} } @article{BievrePerrin2021, author = {Bi{\`e}vre-Perrin, Fabien}, title = {"Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy"}, series = {thersites 13: Antiquipop - Chefs d'œuvres revisit{\´e}s}, volume = {2021}, journal = {thersites 13: Antiquipop - Chefs d'œuvres revisit{\´e}s}, number = {13}, editor = {Bi{\`e}vre-Perrin, Fabien and Carl{\`a}-Uhink, Filippo and Rollinger, Christian and Walde, Christine}, issn = {2364-7612}, doi = {10.34679/thersites.vol13.191}, pages = {i -- v}, year = {2021}, abstract = {A quote from Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk, 1996) may seem unusual for a Classicist. Nevertheless, this famous sentence summarises the contents of this special issue of thersites perfectly. As specialists in classical reception frequently witness, there is a sort of d{\´e}j{\`a}-vu effect when it comes to the presence of Antiquity within popular culture. In 2019, to try to better understand the phenomenon, Antiquipop invited researchers to take an interest in the construction and semantic path of these "masterpieces" in contemporary popular culture, with a particular focus on the 21st century.}, language = {en} }