The city of Thebes has always been of interest to scholars working within mythographical and literary traditions, precisely because its presence looms large in our corpus of extant textual and especially non-textual sources. Looming even larger is the absence of a monumental epic to encapsulate its story in the manner that the Iliad and Odyssey do for the Troy story. Myths set in Thebes or involving Theban characters occupy a… Read more
We were excited to welcome Joel Christensen for an Open House. The title of the discussion is “Homer’s Thebes: Epic Rivalries and the Appropriation of Mythical Pasts,” based on his research and collaboration with Elton T. E. Barker. The event took place on Friday, March 6 at 11:00 a.m. EST. It was live-streamed and recorded. In preparation, you might like to read Iliad 4.1–421 and Odyssey 11.225–332, as well as… Read more
We are pleased to share our video discussion with Elton Barker (Open University). Barker is a principal investigator on three innovative digital projects that help to visualize the ancient world in new ways. The Hestia Project: Google Ancient Place (GAP): Pelagios (Pelagios: Enable Linked Ancient Geodata In Open Systems), Elton Barker: Biography Elton Barker is a reader in Classical Studies at the Open University. Elton’s research interests include: the agon… Read more
Professor Joel Christensen visited our community to discuss the Odyssey and Breaking Bad. He also studies a wide range of topics including modern science fiction. We are pleased to share the following video from Classics Confidential where he talks about the epic future, myth, and science fiction. This video also features Elton Barker, a scholar with whom Professor Christensen has collaborated on several occasions. Barker and Christensen have authored a book Homer:… Read more