Nicolò D’Alconzo, Women of fiction. The heroines of the ancient Greek novels and their Byzantine readers

Voorsmaakje

The world of the ancient Greek novels rotates around its excellent heroines: Callirhoe, Anthia, Leukippe, Chloe, Charikleia. The stories often revolve around their stunning beauty, the suffering that comes as a consequence of it, and the virtue with which they endure it. Outside the fiction, in the real ancient world, they were the construct of male authors, and, concerning them, antiquity has preserved only the opinions of male commentators. It is in this context of production and reception that the fame of the novels’ heroines lasted throughout Late Antiquity, the Byzantine era, and beyond.

For a while, the real world of 2023 too has seemed to rotate around one fictional heroine: Barbie, the plastic doll brought to life by Margot Robbie in Greta Gerwig’s film. Thanks to an all-out advertising campaign spreading its fame everywhere, Barbie became a global cultural phenomenon which sparked global debates. In this talk I explore how Barbie’s messages, and especially its contradictions, can help us understand some important aspects of the heroines of the Greek novels, like their objectification and centrality to the story. Moreover, Barbie can also help us look into the few real ancient women who are known to have read the novels, the nun Kassia and the princess Anna Komnene.

Over de spreker

Nicolò D’Alconzo is a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC project Novel Echoes, which explores the reception of ancient Greek novels throughout Late Antiquity and the Byzantine era. He received his PhD from Swansea University and lectured in Classics at the University of Exeter, before joining Ghent University. He specialises in Greek novels, the collaboration of art and text, and the afterlife of the novels in quotation culture.

Praktische informatie

Wanneer? woensdag 22 november 2023, om 19u30

Waar? leslokaal 0.4 (Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Gent)

Prijs? gratis voor leden van het Griekenlandcentrum, UGent studenten (m.u.v. PhD-studenten) en scholieren. Anderen betalen €5 aan de kassa.

! Opgelet: deze lezing wordt in het Engels gegeven !