Afterlives of the Iliad

Subject associations
COM 374 / HLS 374 / HUM 374
Term
Spring 2016
Instructors
Karen Renee Emmerich
Registrar description
What possible relevance could Homer's Iliad have today? Yet for nearly three millennia the epic has inspired countless rewritings, from ancient and early modern drama, to modern translations and continuations, to Hollywood blockbusters and contemporary avant-garde theater. This course traces the influence of the epic across languages, media, and time. Together we will ask vital questions about the formation and reformation of literary canons; the role of translation in the transformation of literary works; and the social, political, and ethical impulses that often motivate our encounters with literary texts.