TY - JOUR A1 - Bièvre-Perrin, Fabien ED - Bièvre-Perrin, Fabien ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - “Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy” BT - Preface JF - thersites 13: Antiquipop – Chefs d’œuvres revisités N2 - 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 déjà-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. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol13.191 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2021 IS - 13 SP - i EP - v ER - 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 - Haßler, Gerda ED - McElvenny, James T1 - ‘Communicating the past to the present’ BT - Is anachronism inevitable? Desirable? JF - History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences KW - anachronism KW - conceptual history KW - Ferdinand de Saussure KW - linguistic historiography KW - Plato´s Cratylus KW - salon KW - word order Y1 - 2015 UR - http://hiphilangsci.net/2015/06/03/salon-anachronism-in-linguistic-historiography SN - 2366-2409 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 - Kempert, Sebastian Benjamin A1 - Götz, Regina A1 - Blatter, Kristine A1 - Tibken, Catharina A1 - Artelt, Cordula A1 - Schneider, Wolfgang A1 - Stanat, Petra T1 - Training Early Literacy Related Skills BT - To Which Degree Does a Musical Training Contribute to Phonological Awareness Development? JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - Well-developed phonological awareness skills are a core prerequisite for early literacy development. Although effective phonological awareness training programs exist, children at risk often do not reach similar levels of phonological awareness after the intervention as children with normally developed skills. Based on theoretical considerations and first promising results the present study explores effects of an early musical training in combination with a conventional phonological training in children with weak phonological awareness skills. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design and measurements across a period of 2 years, we tested the effects of two interventions: a consecutive combination of a musical and a phonological training and a phonological training alone. The design made it possible to disentangle effects of the musical training alone as well the effects of its combination with the phonological training. The outcome measures of these groups were compared with the control group with multivariate analyses, controlling for a number of background variables. The sample included N = 424 German-speaking children aged 4–5 years at the beginning of the study. We found a positive relationship between musical abilities and phonological awareness. Yet, whereas the well-established phonological training produced the expected effects, adding a musical training did not contribute significantly to phonological awareness development. Training effects were partly dependent on the initial level of phonological awareness. Possible reasons for the lack of training effects in the musical part of the combination condition as well as practical implications for early literacy education are discussed. KW - phonological awareness KW - musical training KW - phonological training KW - preschool children KW - early literacy Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01803 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chinn, Christopher A1 - Thompson, Phoebe ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - Tolkien’s Ithilien and the Landscape of the Ancient Mediterranean JF - thersites 15 N2 - This paper examines the intertext between Tolkien’s Ithilien episode in Two Towers and artistic presentations of plants in the art and literature of Augustan Rome. We argue that the evident ‘superbloom’ depicted in the ekphrasis of the flora of Ithilien recalls both Vergilian botanical adynata (especially in the Georgics) and Roman wall paintings of the Augustan period. KW - Tolkien KW - Vergil KW - ecocriticism KW - Ithilien KW - flora Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.211 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - 163 EP - 203 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Matz, Alicia A1 - Paprocki, Maciej ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - There and Back Again: Tolkien and Greco-Roman Antiquity JF - thersites 15 N2 - 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. KW - Tolkien KW - classical reception Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.228 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - i EP - xii ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Praet, Raf ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - The Throne of the King BT - The Throne Room in Minas Tirith and Late Antique Ruler Ideology JF - thersites 15 N2 - A conspicuous feature of Tolkien’s description of the city of Minas Tirith in The Return of The King is the depiction of two thrones in the Great Hall; one empty throne reserved for the king, and one seat for the steward of Gondor. This paper aims to ascertain the late antique and mediaeval sources of inspiration behind Tolkien’s creation of the throne room in Minas Tirith. As a starting point, we shall compare the setting of the two thrones in Minas Tirith with a motive in Christian iconography, the hetoimasia, and its architectural expression in the Chrysotriklinos, the throne room in the Byzantine Great Palace in Constantinople. Next, we shall show that Tolkien intentionally obscured his appropriation of the Byzantine throne room to create a multi-layered image of rulership, in accordance with his aesthetics of applicability and allegory. In conclusion, we shall formulate some remarks on the interpretation of the association between the Byzantine Chrysotriklinos and the Gondorian Great Hall. As a form of Tolkien’s literary process of sub-creation, the description of the throne room in Minas Tirith serves to emphasise the significance of The Return of the King as a retelling of Christ’s restoration of the fallen world, placing the work of Tolkien in the context of a strong personal Catholic piety. KW - late antique palace architecture KW - Chrysotriklinos KW - allegory and applicability KW - sub-creation KW - Christ the King Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.210 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - 232 EP - 252 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 - Pampanay, Élise ED - Bièvre-Perrin, Fabien ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - The Nike of Samothrace’s presences during the XX and XXI centuries: mysteries and victories JF - thersites 13: Antiquipop – Chefs d’œuvres revisités N2 - 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. KW - Nike of Samothrace KW - sculpture KW - polychromy KW - victories KW - modern art Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol13.146 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2021 IS - 13 SP - 71 EP - 83 ER -