Walter Benjamin’s Niobe and “Mythic Violence”
Proud of her ability to bear many children, Niobe — daughter of Tantalus, wife of Amphion — taunted the titan goddess Leto, who had mothered only two children, Apollo and Artemis. Leto’s children punished Niobe for her hubristic act by killing all of her children. On seeing this tragedy unfold, Niobe’s husband Amphion either killed […]
Unveiling the Iron Curtain
Last week I was in Prague, visiting my Czech colleagues and continuing our collaboration into Cold War Classics. This time I was let loose on the wonderful Theatre Studies students of Charles University, giving two lectures: one about Classical Reception Studies and the goals of the Brave New Classics project; and one about the reception […]
BNC Bash and Polo mints
If you’re a regular BNC reader, or even if you’re not, you might have noticed in the “Players” gallery, where the BNC profiles are kept, little red or yellow rings, a bit like Polo mints. These indicate that the profile beneath the tile was a contribution from one of our esteemed collaborators. Over the past […]
Nikos the Cretan
by Anna Coopey Through the kind provision of the Laura Cook Memorial Travel Scholarship, given to me by The University of St Andrews School of Classics Travel Scholarship Committee, I was able to travel to Crete in May 2022 in order to undertake some research on Nikos Kazantzakis and his radical receptions of classical antiquity. […]
Thersites: Anti-War Agitator
Thersites might be easily overlooked in the Iliad. In Book 2 he is described as brutish and ugly. [1] But he is a man of action. He stands up to Agamemnon and the other leaders of the Greeks, encouraging his fellow soldiers to stop throwing away their lives for the commanders and some rich man’s […]
Workshop Programme
This workshop explores the relationship between ancient Greek and Roman culture and world communism from 1917. It is hosted by the University of St Andrews with short panels and discussion sessions held online over the weekend of 23-24 October 2021. Associated institutions: • Classical Reception Studies Network • University of St Andrews • University of […]
Call For Papers: A Proletarian Classics?
The Brave New Classics steering committee would like to invite expressions of interest and contributions (abstracts of 150-200 words proposing 15 minute papers) on the relationship between ancient Greek and Roman culture and world communism from 1917. The workshop will be hosted by the University of St Andrews with short panels and discussion sessions held […]
Scratching around down under
It was a few months ago now that I returned from my research trip to Australia. But what with life intervening in all sorts of ways, including having to finish A People’s History of Classics (forthcoming with Routledge) co-written with Edith Hall, I haven’t until now had a moment to collect my thoughts about Australia, […]
Classical Reception at Kazan Federal University
Respected Colleagues (as the polite Russians say), this a report from my recent adventure to Kazan. It was my birthday when Edith Hall (KCL), Richard Alston (RHUL) and I flew out, more or less bright eyed if not quite bushy tailed, to Tatarstan.
Soviets in Scotland, Brits in USSR 1950s
Sometimes an extended dig in an archive turns up the unexpected. This happened when I was in Moscow last winter. I had been spinning through wheels of microfilm without much luck for a few days when suddenly all these photographs appeared on the screen. The photos were cuttings of newspaper items, all seemingly reporting the […]
