Penelope RETOLD: remaking myth in the twenty-first century

by Emma Bridges

Recently I’ve been making some headway with a new research project which looks at the wives of soldiers in ancient myth, and the ways in which the stories of these ‘military wives’ might be compared with the experiences of modern day women whose partners are serving in the armed forces. I have a special interest in the figure of Penelope who, as the archetypal faithful ‘waiting wife’ of ancient literature, has been reimagined by authors and artists in a vast range of contexts ever since the composition of Homer’s Odyssey.

I’ve talked in an earlier blog post about my broader interest in the reception of ancient themes and texts, an interest which I share with other members of the OU Classical Studies department. It’s a rare event, however, when a contemporary reworking of an ancient story comes along which tunes in so precisely with one’s own individual research project. The recent production of Penelope RETOLD, however, did just that for me. This one-woman play written by Caroline Horton, who herself plays Penelope in the show, finds its title character marooned on the bed she shared with Odysseus in the days after he has returned to Ithaca and then left her alone again. In contrast with the Odyssey, where Penelope is very much on the sidelines, this version of the myth allows her to tell her own story, and it is a story which paints a picture of Penelope as a ‘military wife’, many of whose emotions and experiences would be recognisable today to the spouses of serving military personnel the world over.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to talk to Caroline as she was rehearsing for the play earlier this year, and to record an interview with her for our online journal Practitioners’ Voices in Classical Reception Studies (you can read the interview here). In light of my own research it was fascinating to learn about how, in devising the show, she too had spent a lot of time reading about, and talking to, women who had been through the ordeal of separation from a loved one who is away at war. This weekend the play reached the end of its 2015 run, and yesterday I was able to see the final show at the HUB theatre in Leeds. This intimate performance space, housed beneath disused railway arches and with a seating capacity of only 80, was the perfect venue for a sold-out audience to encounter Penelope at close quarters.

Caroline Horton as Penelope.
Photograph by Robert Day.

At times playful and at others simply heart-breaking, this Penelope has a voice of her own, one which is largely absent from the Homeric version of her story. Her recollections of her relationship with Odysseus – from her loneliness and isolation in his absence, to her jealousy of Calypso, her pride in her husband’s reputation and the complex mix of disbelief, joy, and anger on his return – are both enthralling and moving. Aspects of the myth recognisable to those familiar with ancient poetry are woven seamlessly together with contemporary elements, as Penelope records an interview for a website aimed at an online community of military wives, or anxiously listens to the shipping forecast in the hope that it will shed light on the whereabouts of her husband. Penelope RETOLD thus gives us a Penelope whose situation is recognisable in the twenty-first century, yet one who is nonetheless firmly rooted in the ancient tradition within which her story was conceived.

Coincidentally at the weekend I also spent some time teaching students on our module Myth in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds; in the course of the tutorial we discussed some of the reasons behind the longevity of the ancient myths. We came to the conclusion that a key factor which has contributed to their continuing appeal is the sheer flexibility of these stories; they can be almost infinitely adapted and updated to appeal to new audiences and to shed fresh light on issues of contemporary relevance. That the story of Penelope, a story which originated thousands of years ago, still has the power to captivate a twenty-first century audience is testimony both to the universal human appeal of ancient myth and to the brilliance of the creative practitioners who have revisited this enduring tale from a new perspective.

Psychology and the Classics meeting in Leuven

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John Harrison is currently writing his PhD thesis on ‘Myth in reception: Insights from Stourhead house and gardens 1714-1830‘

I remember vividly during the course of studying A330 how excitedly I opened Chapter 3 of Eric Csapo’s Theories of Mythology. I remember also my surprise at finding that the chapter titled ‘Psychology’ begins and ends with Freud – with most of the pages in between dealing with Freud. It was (and is) curious to psychologists like myself how psychoanalysis seems to have become the dominant psychological approach for explaining myth, especially given the richness of psychological paradigms such as the cognitive, developmental and neo-behaviourist approaches. How refreshing then to see a call for papers announcement for Psychology and the Classics: A Dialogue of Disciplines, which was held in at the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven between 24^th & 27^th March.

So many highlights, but here is a selection of the sessions I enjoyed most:

Prof Jennifer Radden opened the meeting with her fascinating key-note in which she offered the view that Richard Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy is not just a fascinating seventeenth-century view of emotion, but also a text relevant to modern day psychiatry and neuroscience.
The Day 1 evening reception was held at the Leuven Museum and in addition to Belgian beer tasting, we were engaged by the Making Learning to make votives. Huge fun, I would do it all again in a snip 🙂
A highlight of Day 2 for me was Luca Grillo’s wonderful presentation, in which he sought to apply cognitive psychology models to our understanding to Cicero’s multiple uses of irony. Two competing models appear to explain Cicero’s irony, and Luca’s call to arms was for psychologists and philologists to collaborate to determine which model is the best fit.
In Prof. Christopher Gill’s excellent keynote he sought to show that the roots of modern Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be found in the work of the Stoics, especially in the writing of Epictetus. Since the Leuven meeting I have had the opportunity to discuss this issue with CBT expert colleagues from the THINC task force, who were content to agree the point.
Friday’s opening session, titled ‘What can the cognitive sciences offer Classics?’ was a fascinating session. We were treated to presentations on the application of cognitive analysis of Odysseus’ behavior during his 10 year journey home, as well as a second invocation of schema theory (I had discussed this cognitive theory in my Day 1 presentation) by William Short. This block of presentations was helpfully drawn together by Prof. Douglas Cairns, whose current research interests include classical emotions and metaphor.
The application of cognitive psychological theory to a classical theme for me found its zenith in Lilah Grace Canevaro’s entrancing presentation ‘Anticipating audiences: Hesiod’s Works and day and cognitive psychology’, in which she interpreted aspects of Hesiod in cognitive psychological terms. A further treat was Joel Christensen’s premise that theories of learned helplessness could be applied to aspects of Odysseus’ behavior, and especially whilst he was Calypso’s guest on Ogygia.

Odysseus and Calypso, red-figure vase, 5th century BC, Naples Archaeological Museum The close of the meeting brought deservedly warm applause for the organisers, and especially Jeroen Lauwers. A wish expressed by many of the presenters was that this event should be beginning of what promises to be a fruitful and mutually beneficial interdisciplinary approach. As one with ‘a foot in both camps’, I’d willingly endorse such a view. Perhaps the next step is for psychologists to repay the compliment by hosting their classical colleagues at a reciprocal event?

John Harrison

Image: Odysseus and Calypso, Red-figured vase, 5th century BC, Naples Archaeological Museum.

Behind the Scenes: Creating the New MA Part 2 (A864)

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I’m the chair of the team currently putting the finishing touches on the brand-new module for Part 2 of the MA in Classical Studies, and I think I speak for the whole team when I say it has been quite a journey! When we started out, we knew we had to follow up the more thematically broad-based and skills-oriented MA Part 1 with a more specific subject-based module; we settled on the topic of the human body in the ancient world, as it seemed broad enough to be able to cover a variety of themes and types of evidence, but specific enough for students to feel that they have an in-depth knowledge of the subject. It also happens to be one of the most dynamic and fast-growing areas of classics right now, with several of the field’s key scholars amongst our staff at the OU. Because of this, of course, we have all been very excited to work on this module in particular, and many of us have been able to bring our own research expertise into the teaching material, which is always fun!

In Block 3 of A864 we look at religious healing in the ancient world. This votive stele shows the healing hero Amphiaraos treating the shoulder of Archinos, who is also shown being bitten on the same shoulder by a snake whilst sleeping. Sanctuary of Amphiaros, Oropus, Attica. Marble, c.400-380 BCE. (This file comes from Wellcome Images, a website operated by Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom)

Once the initial excitement subsided, however, it was clear that it wasn’t going to be the easiest module in the world to put together. What exactly did we want to get across to students? How could we choose topics that would teach students not just about the ins and outs of that topic, but what they tell us about different types of evidence, or investigation techniques, or periods of scholarship? And how were we going to manage the fact that much of our material would inevitably go very close to the bone for many of our students? Topics like disability, sexuality, birth and death can be difficult to teach because they lie at the very heart of some of the central concerns – and taboos – of human society. Rather than seeing this as a disadvantage, however, we have embraced this fact, because it means that students will be thinking about, discussing and formulating thoughts on matters that have profound significance for the way we live our lives. We think that by learning about how Greeks and Romans used and regarded their bodies, we can go some way to understanding not just the interesting things that make our societies very different, but also the commonalities that make us all human.

As the start date (3^rd Oct.) looms, we are now putting together the final items of teaching material and starting to populate the module VLE. We are very much looking forward to seeing how the first year of presentation goes, and to those of you registered on the module, we hope very much that you enjoy it!

To find out more information and the latest news on the module, visit the MA in Classical Studies Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ClassicsMA .

Ursula Rothe on behalf of the Module Team for Part 2 of the MA in Classical Studies

The OU at the Classical Association annual conference

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We’re delighted that the Open University’s Department of Classical Studies is going to have a strong presence at this year’s Classical Association annual conference, with several of our colleagues presenting papers on topics which represent the range of our research interests. PhD student Mair Lloyd, who has convened a panel on ‘Sustainable Classics’, has written a post on her personal blog giving a taste of what to expect; you can read it here. If you’re going to be at the conference do come and say hello to us! We’re also looking forward to 2017, when the conference will be jointly convened by the Open University and the University of Kent.

Producing ‘New Voices’

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gardening

New Voices in Classical Reception Studies is one of two e-journals published out of the Classical Studies Department of the Open University. Classical Reception Studies has been one of the fastest growing areas of Classical Studies in recent years and has been a traditional strength of our department. We therefore felt it would be particularly apt to harness this strength to the wider OU vision of expanding participation and access and promote a journal that particularly targeted early career researchers looking to publish their work for the first time.

In line with this mission, we aim to provide early career researchers with a highly supportive pathway through the publication process. Submissions to the journal go through the due process of peer review by anonymous readers but we also endeavour to maintain very high standards in giving feedback to authors and in supporting them during the editing and revision stages. This means authors can work towards publication in a quality journal (New Voices was an ‘A’ ranked journal in the 2010 ERA and is included in the MLA Directory of Periodicals and the databases of EBSCO Publishing) but can also feel that this process helps in their wider development as scholars and researchers. We aim to give the contributors to the journal a sense of a wider supportive research community in this subject area, and we hope that authors will move on from their interaction with the journal with confidence in their ability to thrive within this community.

The journal publishes a very wide variety of content (this reflects the field of Classical Reception Studies) and actively encourages submissions that cross discipline boundaries. We attract submissions from a wide international community: published authors have come from not only the UK but also from Argentina, Australia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Norway and Spain. We always work with our international contributors to ensure that language won’t be a barrier to publication in the journal. Our international advisory board means the editorial team has access to wide-ranging expertise over the broad spectrum of the subject area that the journal covers.

We used to publish New Voices at a set time of year, following an annual call for papers. Instead, we publish each issue as soon as there are sufficient finished articles available. This enhances the turnaround time of the journal so that early career researchers to see their publication plans come to fruition. There is also now a conference proceedings imprint of the journal which similarly aims to bring research in Classical Reception into the public domain in as timely a fashion as possible (whilst still maintaining peer review).

In his final tweet before he passed away, Leonard Nimoy compared life to a garden full of perfect if transitory moments. For an academic one of life’s fleeting perfect moments ought to be the publication of one’s first article. At New Voices we aim to provide the gardening advice to make this happen.

by Trevor Fear (‘New Voices’ Editor)

Saturdays well spent: teaching and learning at the OU

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by Emma Bridges

As well as working with the Classical Studies team based in Milton Keynes, I’m also one of the Open University’s Associate Lecturers. For the uninitiated, this is the name given by the OU to a veritable army of tutors who are subject experts and who deliver face-to-face teaching to students across the regions and nations served by the university. OU students tend to have a whole range of other commitments outside their studies which means that tutorials at ‘regular’ hours during weekdays aren’t ideal for most; evenings and weekends are usually more convenient for the majority. Hence, as I live in Yorkshire, I often spend my Saturdays giving tutorials in Leeds, at one of our many study centres.

It may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with the OU teaching/learning model that students at a ‘distance learning’ institution actually have regular opportunities to engage in person with a tutor, and with other students. The job of an Associate Lecturer involves monitoring student progress, marking assignments and offering guidance on how best to approach the module materials (some of this is also done online and over the ‘phone), as well as an element of pastoral care; but for me one of the most enjoyable aspects is getting to meet some of my students in person and to talk to them about the things in which we all share an interest. Last Saturday’s teaching involved working with two separate groups of students; the morning featured a discussion of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and its reception as part of our module Myth in the Greek and Roman Worlds and in the afternoon there was a good helping of Greek grammar along with analysis of some different translations of Aristophanes’ Clouds with students of Reading Classical Greek: Language and Literature.

For me, one of the best things about teaching adult learners is the sheer diversity of experience and knowledge which students bring with them to their OU work. Many of my students have their own challenges to face – competing responsibilities at home or at work, health problems, or difficult personal circumstances. Over the years I’ve taught a whole range of people from all walks of life: those for whom caring responsibilities or health issues make part-time study the ideal way for them to pursue their own education; students who have chosen to combine their degree with work immediately post-‘A‘ levels or have done a degree elsewhere in a subject unrelated to Classical Studies (I’ve taught a fair few mathematicians and scientists whose introduction to ancient Greek has been through mathematical symbols!); some who are returning to study after a gap of sometimes decades since they were last in formal education; and still others who are studying from prison.

This rich mix of life experiences means that every student brings something different and of value to the table, and makes every tutorial a learning process for me as well as for them. At one time, for example, I had a student who was a relationship counsellor offering fresh insights into the emotional state of Euripides’ Medea; last weekend, one of my group who is also studying art history with the OU had some fascinating thoughts to share on the ways in which themes from Ovid’s poetry are depicted in the paintings we’ve been looking at; meanwhile a member of my Greek class has also studied several modern languages so is able to offer her peers some valuable advice on different elements of language learning.

I’m frequently blown away by the enthusiasm and dedication of this diverse bunch of people whom I have the privilege to teach. I’m sure that I learn at least as much as my students do from the discussions which we share; that’s just one of the many reasons why I feel lucky to be able to do this job.

New Voices in Classical Reception Studies – Issue 10 out now!

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We are very pleased to announce that Issue 10 of our e-journal New Voices in Classical Reception Studies has now been published, and is available to view on the journal’s website. This issue includes articles on Homeric narrative motifs in L. Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, classical imagery in pre-Raphaelite paintings of sorceresses, ancient mythological archetypes in The Hunger Games, and much more. We hope you enjoy reading!

Latin in Brno – adventures ancient and modernist

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by Mair Lloyd

When I was fortunate enough to land a PhD place at the Open University researching eLearning for ancient languages, I had no idea how far this adventure was going to take me! As I wrestle my way through my third year, I can now look back on visits to such diverse places as Kentucky, Antwerp and Glasgow, as well as a couple of marvellous Classical Association conferences in Reading and Nottingham. My recent adventure in the Czech Republic stands out as one of my most memorable outings though.

View across Brno

By some miracle of fate, I found myself invited to go out to Brno with our Head of Classics, Helen King, to speak at an international conference on Language Centres in Higher Education. We were invited by the Faculty of Medicine division of the language centre at the host institution, Masaryk University. Helen had been asked to share her research on the plague of Athens. Meanwhile, I was to bring along my expertise in eLearning for ancient languages because the centre teaches Latin medical terminology for recording diagnoses and treatments. They use only a small subset of Latin vocabulary and morphology, mostly nouns, adjectives and prepositions. Verbs, apart from participle forms, and the dative and vocative cases are not required. I therefore focused my workshop on approaches and technologies which can help with memorising vocabulary and endings. You can view my slides here, and I think that eventually Masaryk University will publish them in sync with an audio-recording on the conference website.

I also learned a lot from other contributors. A poster presented by the University of Pécs in Hungary explained the tremendous importance of accurate Latin when recording medical diagnoses for soft tissue injuries where, for example, distinguishing between a stab wound and a slash wound can have legal implications for offender punishment and financial implications for subsequent victim compensation. I was also particularly excited by the work going on in Masaryk to build a corpus of authentic medical diagnoses to be used, in conjunction with the Sketch Engine query system, as a teaching tool. This is an approach which might well be emulated with ancient texts to the advantage of Classics language students.

Inside Villa Tugendhat

As well as the exchange of ideas, I really enjoyed the warm welcome we were given and the insight we gained into a fascinating city and culture. Our lovely ‘minders’ from the language centre, Katka and Pepina, took great pains to make sure we were well cared-for and entertained. We shared some wonderful food, beautiful music and lively folk dancing (from a safe distance!), and we were given an excellent tour of the various historical landmarks in the city. I was especially delighted with our visit to the Villa Tugendhat, a modernist home and European Heritage site which overlooks the city. It made a huge impression on me despite my almost total ignorance of anything relating to architecture or indeed modernism! It would be worth at least one blog post to itself, but, tearing myself away from that, I will return to my PhD adventures. I count myself hugely privileged to be on the receiving end of the many wonderful opportunities the Open University has given me as a student, encouraging me to extend both my academic and cultural frontiers. In both respects, my time in Brno was extremely well spent.

The new MA in Classical Studies

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Interested in doing an MA with us? To watch a short introductory video, click here.

To find out more about applying, visit our postgrad pages.

Journeys across time and space: researching classical reception

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by Emma Bridges

A common thread running through the research and teaching of many of us who work in the department of Classical Studies at the OU is the study of classical reception – that is to say that we think about the ways in which, and the reasons why, ancient Greek and Roman ideas, texts and material culture have been revisited and refigured by later cultures and societies.

One of the most challenging aspects of thinking about classical reception is also, for me, one of the most exciting. In order to develop an understanding of the ways in which themes and ideas have been adopted and adapted in new contexts, a researcher must frequently step outside her own comfort zone, looking beyond the texts with which she is most familiar and exploring a range of genres, historical periods and geographical settings. Following the journey of a theme across time and space can yield fascinating and sometimes unexpected results, and the researcher who does so often needs to become familiar with areas of study of which she had little prior knowledge.

My recent book, Imagining Xerxes, took me on one such journey; in tracing the ancient cultural responses to the figure of the Persian king whose invasion of Greece was famously defeated against seemingly overwhelming odds, I found myself examining ancient sources which spanned a period of around 700 years, with a geographical spread incorporating Greece, the Roman empire and ancient Persia itself, and in a vast – and sometimes daunting – array of diverse literary genres.

Xerxes crosses the Hellespont.
Original illustration from Imagining Xerxes (2014). Image copyright Asa Taulbut. Reproduced by permission of the artist.

As a scholar, I have always felt most at home with the Greek texts which were written in the fifth century BC – thus, when I started out, I knew a fair bit about Aeschylus’ Persians, in which a defeated Xerxes appeared on the Athenian tragic stage, and about Herodotus’ historiographical account of the course of the Persian Wars. In the course of my research, however, I also needed to tackle sources ranging from the inscriptions and relief sculptures of the royal palace complex at Persepolis, to biblical texts (Xerxes appears – named as Ahasuerus – as a key figure in the Book of Esther), to Roman and rhetoric and satirical poetry. Along the way I would discover that the historical figure of Xerxes was reimagined and reshaped in astonishingly diverse cultural settings, and that portrayals of his character – shaped by the historical circumstances in which they were produced as well as by the literary agendas of the authors who wrote of him – ranged from images of him as the archetypal and destructive enslaving aggressor, to a figure synonymous with the luxury and exoticism of the Persian court, or as an example of the vacillations of human fortune.

The joy of this kind of work is that there is always more to discover; every text or artefact encountered, every ‘reception’ of an ancient work or idea, has a context – literary, artistic, intellectual, historical – which needs to be investigated and explained if we are to understand why themes from the ancient world recur where and when they do. That’s good news for people like me, who love the challenge of getting to grips with something new!