An Introduction To Classical Reception Studies In Sixteen Encounters

Module description

The modules offered in each academic year are subject to change in line with staff availability and student demand, there is no guarantee every module will run. Module descriptions and information may vary between years.

This module is intended to introduce students to Classical Reception Studies through sixteen case-studies.

Each case-study, for example the Victorians’ use of Aesop’s Fables as children’s literature, will explore the presence of a classical text or artefact in British culture since the 18th century. A broad range of familiar and significant cultural phenomena from antiquity will be considered (Greek and Roman poetry, prose, architecture and statuary): they include translations of Homer and Virgil, popular fiction and theatre, the Elgin marbles and the Venus de Milo, body-building, and modern performance poetry, as well as several movies (Spartacus, 300, Walt Disney’s Hercules).

Students will become acquainted with the main principles and theoretical issues in Classical Reception Studies, and develop an awareness of the varied and colourful histories of British responses to ancient Greek and Roman culture. In doing so, they will engage with interdisciplinary materials by using interpretations of cultural artefacts produced in several Humanistic disciplines in addition to Classics. They will appreciate the continuing vitality of the Greek and Roman Classics in contemporary culture, and develop broader conceptual contexts within which to situate the classical knowledge they have acquired in other modules during the course of their undergraduate studies. Students will be encouraged to explore an additional case-study of their own choice in one of their two assessed essays.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/classics/modules/level6/6AACTL70.aspx

 

Assessment details

Coursework

2 x 5,000-word essays (the higher marked essay is weighted at 70%, the lower is weighted at 30%).Students are reassessed in the failed elements of assessment and by the same methods as the first attempt.

Teaching pattern

20 x 2-hour seminars (weekly)

Module description disclaimer

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Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.