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So many modern perceptions of the classical world – whether popular or academic – are crucially informed and shaped by its many and varied presentations in contemporary culture, whether in film, television, theatre, popular literature, graphic novels, video games … Titans, Riots, and Silent Girls considers the nature of the contemporary world’s ongoing engagement with antiquity, and asks what lies behind modern re-presentations of the ancients? Where do ideas and ideals of the classical past underpin modern cultural life? How do our revisions of ‘the classics’ inform contemporary political, religious, and social debates? In considering such questions, this module offers an introduction to classical reception studies (a crucial area of research in itself) and focusses on three key areas of study to help ground our review. Exploring thematic case studies drawn from film, theatre, and popular literature – from Gladiator to 300, from Antigone to Medea, from The Song of Achilles to The Silence of the Girls – we consider the part that Greek and Roman narratives still play in shaping modern identities.
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