Professor Joel Christensen
Dialogue –
Echoes of war crimes in Greek epics resonate in today’s world
There’s been an odd bit of tension in the reviews of Emily Wilson’s new translation of Homer’s Iliad as readers have celebrated the work for making Homer modern, championed it …
Dialogue –
The resurgence of Greco-Roman studies – propaganda or learning?
Over the past few weeks, the Greco-Roman past has been centre stage on social media. From reports about men thinking daily about the Roman Empire to breathless–and sometimes contentious–coverage of …
Dialogue –
The dangerous hero: the disturbing parallels between ancient Greek myth and current US politics
Last week, the Texas State Legislature effectively banned Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives at all state institutions and nearly ended the practice of Tenure in the state. Texas conservatives have …
Life –
How do chatbots dream of electric Greek heroes?
If you care about literature, art or education at any level and have spent time on social media over the past year you know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the …
Dialogue –
Ancient view of social media, free speech and noise
Antiquarians of all varieties often speculate for fun how ancient luminaries would have used social media–long, technical screeds from Pliny the Elder on Reddit; the Roman poet Martial, dishing out …
Dialogue –
Reading Greek epic through another massacre
In the U.S., the past two weeks have seen the white supremacist massacre of ten Black Americans at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York and the slaughter of 19 children …
Dialogue –
Epic glory and modern war: from the walls of Troy to the defence of Kyiv
Simone Weil wrote her much-celebrated essay, “The Iliad or the Poem of Force” during the occupation of France by Nazi Germany. Her provocative assertion in the essay’s opening paragraphs that …