TY - JOUR A1 - Skibinski, Connie ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - ‘Crazy Man-Killing Monsters’ BT - The Inimical Portrayal of the Amazons in Supernatural’s ‘Slice Girls’ JF - thersites 17 N2 - 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. KW - Amazons KW - Warrior women KW - Classical reception KW - Supernatural KW - Monsters Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.240 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 183 EP - 211 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aufschnaiter, Claudia von T1 - Reflexive Professionalisierung: Zentral – Vielschichtig – Herausfordernd JF - Reflexion in der Lehrkräftebildung: Empirisch – Phasenübergreifend – Interdisziplinär (Potsdamer Beiträge zur Lehrerbildung und Bildungsforschung ; 4) N2 - Ausgehend von der Diskussion um die Zentralität von Reflexionen in der Lehrkräftebildung wird die Vielschichtigkeit des Konstrukts Reflexion kritisch beleuchtet. Es wird darin einerseits ausgeführt, welche möglichen Konsequenzen die oft fehlende Trennschärfe des Reflexionsbegriffs haben kann. Ein Augenmerk wird dabei auch auf Bereitschaft zur Reflexion gelegt, z. B. in der Frage, ob es nicht sinnvoll ist, Reflexionen in bestimmten Situationen absichtsvoll zu vermeiden. Andererseits wird aufgezeigt, dass dem Reflektieren im Professionalisierungsprozess eine doppelte Funktion zukommt: Lernen von Reflexion und Lernen durch Reflexion; das Reflektieren ist also sowohl ein Mittel zur Erreichung spezifischer Professionalisierungsziele als auch ein eigenständiges Professionalisierungsziel. Im Beitrag wird zudem an verschiedenen Stellen auf die Herausforderungen eingegangen, die sich aus den jeweiligen Überlegungen für Forschung und Lehre ergeben. KW - Reflexion KW - Reflexionskompetenz KW - Unterrichtsanalyse Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-618956 SN - 978-3-86956-566-8 SN - 2626-3556 SN - 2626-4722 IS - 4 SP - 25 EP - 44 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Siegel, Janice ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy: A Kinder, Gentler, More Modern Heracles JF - thersites 17 N2 - In Hellboy (2004, Sony Pictures), Guillermo del Toro presents a mythic hero (half human/half demon) seemingly made from the same mold as the classical hero Heracles (Hercules). Hellboy’s modern world is shaped by a cosmology not unlike that of Greek mythology, and as is true for Heracles, his unique pedigree and superior physicality empower him to mediate between the forces of supernaturality and humanity. Hellboy’s experiences evoke comparison with most characters and exploits in the Heraclean mythological corpus; his good character precludes comparison with others. Hellboy must contend with his own versions of Hera, Eurystheus, and a Nemean Lion/Hydra-like monster. He, too, relies on his own superhuman strength, innate cunning and an Athena-like protector to be successful at his job. Both heroes navigate a difficult path to their very different destinies. But in the end, Hellboy’s compassion, humility, unerring moral compass, and genuinely altruistic motivations make him both a better man and a better mythic hero, one worthy even of being loved. KW - Hellboy KW - Heracles/Herakles/Hercules KW - Classical Reception KW - Reception of Mythology KW - Mythic Hero Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.253 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 143 EP - 182 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Strong, Anise K. ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - The Persistence of Memory BT - Forgiveness, Forgetting, and Cultural Assimilation JF - thersites 17 N2 - The 2017 Pixar film Coco and the 2021 Disney film Encanto form a small part of an increasing modern wave of media focused on parent-child conflicts caused by intergenerational trauma and rejection. Other recent works in this genre include the video game Hades, the films Turning Red and Everything Everywhere All At Once, and the television series Ms. Marvel. The traumas in all these films, some directed explicitly at a younger audience and some pitched more broadly, serve as a distinct set of meditations on the immigrant experience, even while not necessarily focusing on literal immigration. They also all invoke imagery of ghosts and death, both echoing specific classical Mediterranean motifs and tropes and incorporating a wide variety of other cultures’ supernatural traditions. These works’ concern with familial traumas of separation, culture shock, and loss of ancestral memories and connections contrasts sharply with the individual-focused myth of the American Dream common to earlier generations of American media, in which a lone individual typically emigrates, assimilates, and succeeds in a new culture, forming a new family and set of myths. However, themes of assimilation and questions of cultural imperialism also form a bridge between ancient Roman and modern North American anxieties and traditions. KW - Classical Reception KW - Coco KW - Immigration KW - Ancestors KW - Underworld Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.255 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 125 EP - 142 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wyss, Corinne T1 - Reflexionsprozesse in der Lehrkräftebildung gestalten und fördern BT - Überlegungen zu einer herausfordernden Aufgabe JF - Reflexion in der Lehrkräftebildung: Empirisch – Phasenübergreifend – Interdisziplinär (Potsdamer Beiträge zur Lehrerbildung und Bildungsforschung ; 4) N2 - Seit John Dewey und Donald Schön besteht weitgehender Konsens, dass Reflexivität eine wichtige Kompetenz von Lehrkräften darstellt und die Reflexion in den Unterrichtsalltag einer Lehrkraft integriert sein sollte. Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass Reflexion, wenn sie absichtsvoll und zielgerichtet eingesetzt wird, die berufliche Entwicklung einer Lehrkraft positiv beeinflussen kann. Überzeugungen, Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen können durch die Reflexion bewusster wahrgenommen und verändert werden. Sie regt Lernprozesse an, stärkt Eigenverantwortung und Autonomie und steigert die Berufszufriedenheit. Allerdings birgt die Förderung von Reflexivität im Rahmen der Lehrkräftebildung einige Schwierigkeiten und trotz nunmehr über 40 Jahren theoretischer sowie empirischer Erörterung bleiben bis heute auch verschiedene Fragen unbeantwortet. Im Beitrag werden auf Grundlage der aktuellen Diskussion das Konzept der Reflexion sowie Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Förderung von Reflexivität dargelegt und es wird aufgezeigt, welche besonderen Herausforderungen der Lehrberuf hierbei birgt. Abschließend wird erörtert, welche aktuellen Forschungslücken und -desiderate bestehen. KW - Konzeptionelle Überlegungen KW - Förderung von Reflexivität KW - Besonderheiten des Lehrberufs KW - Forschungsdesiderate Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-618938 SN - 978-3-86956-566-8 SN - 2626-3556 SN - 2626-4722 IS - 4 SP - 19 EP - 24 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Potter, Amanda ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - Classical Monsters and Hero(ines) in InSEXts, Eros/Psyche and Porcelain JF - thersites 17 N2 - 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. KW - Comics KW - Eros KW - Psyche KW - Pygmalion KW - Medusa Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.247 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 96 EP - 124 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lovatt, Helen ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - Resurrecting the Argo BT - Supernatural Re-makings in Robert Holdstock’s Merlin Codex JF - thersites 17 N2 - 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. KW - Holdstock KW - Merlin Codex KW - Argonauts KW - Argo KW - myth Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.254 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 55 EP - 95 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Foster, Frances ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - Gods and Magic in Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief JF - thersites 17 N2 - 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. KW - Greek gods KW - Mythology KW - Young Adult literature KW - Fantasy KW - Magic Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.242 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 32 EP - 54 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Toscano, Margaret Merrill ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - Varieties of Supernatural Depictions BT - Classics in Contemporary Media JF - thersites 17 N2 - 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. KW - Myth Theory KW - Classical Mythology KW - Supernatural KW - Paranormal KW - Afterlife Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.249 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 2 EP - 31 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Potter, Amanda A1 - Gardner, Hunter H. ED - Potter, Amanda ED - Gardner, Hunter H. T1 - Classics and the Supernatural in Modern Media JF - thersites 17 N2 - Short preface to the special edition of Thersites. Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.256 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2023 IS - 17 SP - 1 EP - 1 ER -