TY - JOUR A1 - Beck, Christian ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - Review of Hamish Williams: Tolkien and the Classical World BT - Walking Tree Publishers (Zurich/Jena 2021) (= Cormarë Series No. 45), 414 pp . ISBN: 978-3-905703-45-0, 44 € JF - thersites 15 Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.230 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - 314 EP - 320 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Capra, Elena Sofia ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - "Orfeo out of Care" BT - The Reception of the Classical Myth of Orpheus from Sir Orfeo to Tolkien JF - thersites 15 N2 - 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 Lúthien 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. KW - Orpheus and Eurydice KW - Sir Orfeo KW - reception KW - Tolkien KW - Beren and Lúthien Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.209 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - 52 EP - 89 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 - Conner, Sean T1 - Structural and Socioeconomic Approaches to Justice BT - Transformative Justice in Nicaragua’s ‘Dual Transition’ JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - Transitional justice is conventionally theorized as how a society deals with past injustices after regime change and alongside democratization. Nonetheless, scholars have not reached a consensus on what is to be included or excluded. Recent ideas of transformative justice seek to expand the understanding of transitional justice to include systemic restructuring and socioeconomic considerations. In the context of Nicaragua — where two transitions occurred within an 11-year span — very little transitional justice took place, in terms of the conventional concept of top-down legalistic mechanisms; however, distinct structural changes and socioeconomic policies can be found with each regime change. By analyzing the transformative justice elements of Nicaragua’s dual transition, this chapter seeks to expand the understanding of transitional justice to include how these factors influence goals of transitions such as sustainable peace and reconciliation for past injustices. The results argue for increased attention to transformative justice theories and a more nuanced conception of justice. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570170 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 111 EP - 138 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cristini, Marco ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - The Fall of Two Cities: Troy and Gondolin JF - thersites 15 N2 - 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. KW - Tolkien KW - reception of Vergil KW - Aeneid KW - Troy KW - Gondolin Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.200 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - 1 EP - 24 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cromwell, Jennifer ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - From Pyramids to Obscure Gods BT - The Creation of an Egyptian World in Persona 5 JF - thersites 14 N2 - 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. KW - Egypt KW - videogames KW - Persona 5 KW - pyramids KW - gods Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol14.199 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 14 SP - 1 EP - 40 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Francisco Vásquez Carruthers, Juan T1 - Transitional Justice and Political Opportunism JF - Transitional Justice : Theoretical and Practical Approaches (Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik ; 7) N2 - This paper aims to contribute a different approach to transitional justice, one in which political decisions are rocketed to the forefront of the research. Theory asserts that, after a transition to democracy, it is the constituency who defines the direction a country will take. Therefore, pleasing them should be at the fore of the responses taken by those in power. However, reality distances itself from theory. History provides us with many examples of the contrary, which indicates that the politicization of transitional justice is an ever-present event. The first section will outline current definitions and obstacles faced by transitional justice, focusing on the implicit ties between them and the aforementioned politicization. An original categorization of Transitional Justice as a method of analysis will also be introduced, which I denominate Political Opportunism. The case of Argentina, a country that is usually described as a model to export but that after 35 years is still dealing with the consequences brought by the contradictions of using several methods of justice, will then be reinterpreted through this perspective. At the end of the paper, the inevitable question will be posed: can this new angle be exported and implemented in every transition? Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-570153 SN - 978-3-86956-473-9 SN - 1869-2443 SN - 1867-2663 IS - 7 SP - 39 EP - 71 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kambo, Kevin ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - Platonic Tripartition and the Peoples of Middle-Earth JF - thersites 15 N2 - Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings employ traditional races from fairy tales: elves, men and dwarves. These peoples are differentiated principally by their dominant desires, but also by their speech, diet, and realms. I argue that these three races are significantly inspired by the three aspects that characterize the Republic’s tripartite soul—logistikon, thumoeides, and epithumetikon—along with their respective principal desires: desire for truth, greatness, and material goods. For Tolkien, therefore, these races have a corporate or political psychology that explains who they are as peoples in the history of Middle-earth. I offer a comprehensive view of the major races, connecting the dwarves with the appetitive artisans of the Republic, humans with the honour- and glory-seeking auxiliaries, and elves with the ruling guardians. This treatment explains the artisanal dwarves, as well as the battle-loving men (and women) of Rohan and Gondor, and the nostalgic, ‘anamnetic’ condition of exile that distinguishes the elves. Indeed, the condition of elves in many descriptions recalls a Platonic philosopher returned to the Cave, as well as the Neo-Platonic sagacity pictured in the biographies of Plotinus and Proclus. KW - Plato KW - Tolkien KW - republic KW - Tripartite KW - race Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.219 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - 90 EP - 122 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Keen, Tony ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian ED - Walde, Christine T1 - Legolas in Troy BT - The influence of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies on cinematic portrayals of ancient Greece and Rome JF - thersites 15 N2 - The Lord of the Rings movies were a cinematic phenomenon, extremely popular. They are not often considered as works of Classical Reception. These films’ influence on subsequent ancient world movies has been understudied, and undervalued. A common model of cinematic Greece and Rome in the twenty-first century looks solely back to Gladiator. Undoubtedly Gladiator, and its commercial success, is important to how ancient world movies developed; but focussing solely on Gladiator does not explain a move away from Roman history towards Greek mythology, culminating in a flurry of movies about Greek mythological heroes. Lord of the Rings is an overlooked factor. Already in Troy two LOTR stars are in key roles, and the battle scenes seek to imitate those of Jackson’s trilogy. 300 mythologizes far beyond Frank Miller’s graphic novel, adding several monsters; LOTR’s influence is at play here. LOTR’s influence was one factor in a complex process that saw ancient world movies change in the twentyfirst century. LOTR fed into an atmosphere that moved ancient world movies towards Greece, away from Rome, through promoting the appeal of a combination of epic and the fantastic. KW - classical movies KW - Lord of the Rings KW - classical reception KW - Peter Jackson KW - fantasy movies Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol15.223 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 15 SP - 285 EP - 313 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Klooster, Jacqueline ED - Ambühl, Annemarie ED - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo ED - Rollinger, Christian T1 - Review of Sophia Xenophontos and Katerina Oikonomopoulou: Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Plutarch BT - Brill (Leiden 2019) (= Brill’s Companions to Classical Reception 20), 693 pages, 2 figures. ISBN: 978-90-04-28040-3, € 198 JF - thersites 14 Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol14.197 SN - 2364-7612 VL - 2022 IS - 14 SP - 160 EP - 167 ER -