Tag: Ancient Greece
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Disability and the Social Hierarchy of Ancient Greece
Ancient Greek society was of a distinctly hierarchical nature. Kate Jensen examines how disability interacted within this hierarchy.
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Aristophanes’ Guide to Athenian Dinner Parties
Fiona Macrae gives us an insight into what to expect from an Ancient Greek symposium, based on the plays of Aristophanes.
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Werewolves in the Ancient Novels
Werewolves are a popular staple in supernatural stories today, but the werewolf has ancient origins. Fiona Macrae demonstrates two examples from ancient novels.
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Female Agency in Ancient Fiction: Considering Penelope and Scheherazade as Protofeminist Heroines
What do Scheherazade from The Arabians Nights and Penelope from The Odyssey have in common? Yacine N’Dao compares their two stories to demonstrate how they’re both protofeminist heroines.
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Funding the Arts in Ancient Athens
The Dionysia, a festival in ancient Athens on honour of the god Dionysus, featured plays sponsored by choregoi: wealthy citizens who financed the performance in exchange for social prestige. Fiona MacRae explores how the benefaction model of ancient Athens might be the key to saving the performing arts today.
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The Soul from Homer to Heraclitus
As Greek philosophy emerged during the sixth century BCE, so too did a swelling interest in explaining the soul. Eleonora Soteriou discusses the work of Presocratic philosophers who, building upon the earliest Homeric theories, have sought to conceptualise the immaterial.
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Review: The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood (2005)
Written by Fiona Macrae. Published as part of the Canongate Myth Series, Margaret Atwood’s 2005 novella, ‘The Penelopiad’, recounts the events of the ‘Odyssey’ from the perspective of Penelope. Fiona Macrae discusses how Atwood’s play on the conventions of Greek epic poetry creates a more nuanced female protagonist.
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Remembrance in Fifth-Century Athens
Written by Fiona Macrae. The wearing of a poppy has become an important symbol for remembering those who gave their lives in battle. Fiona Macrae explores such acts of commemoration in Classical Athens and what parallels can be drawn with our own society.
Retrospect Journal 