Aristotle from Reykjavík to Bukhara: The First Global Phase of the Classical Tradition
By Erik Hermans
The early Middle Ages is an underappreciated phase in the classical tradition. Overviews of the inheritance of classical thought and literature often jump from antiquity to the rise of universities in the high Middle Ages or to the Renaissance (Ziolkowski, 2010). Nevertheless, the corpus of classical texts that made it to modern times is to a large extent shaped by the choices that early medieval intellectuals made.
Neoplatonism in Colonial Latin America
By Erika Valdivieso
The legacy of Neoplatonism in colonial Spanish America is at least as complex as its development in Europe. In this new context, Neoplatonism became an important mediator between European and American antiquities, invoked as a means to render ancient traditions mutually intelligible. Thus Neoplatonic thought frequently appears when an author describes the customs of indigenous peoples in reference to ancient and Renaissance ideas. Three examples will be discussed which demonstrate the range of application for Neoplatonic thought in the colonial period.
Vergil in the Antipodes: the Classical Tradition and Colonial Australian Literature
By Sarah Midford
When Captain Cook claimed terra Australis for the British Empire in 1770, the continent was understood to be an empty land, devoid of history, culture, and civilization. In place of built environments and written histories, or what was thought of as recognisable cultural and historical heritage, the new settlers emphasized Australia’s great potential: Australia was a sleeping continent brought to life by European settlement (Yarrington, 1879).
The Development of the Classical Tradition in Africa: Theoretical Considerations and Interpretive Consequences
By William Dominik
This presentation examines the development of the classical tradition in Africa and how Classics has been used for various social, cultural and political purposes. The first part of this paper highlights theoretical considerations regarding the classical tradition on the African subcontinent. The classical tradition model tends to emphasize the influence of classical ideas upon later periods of western civilization.
The Classical Tradition and the Translation of Latin Poetry in Twentieth-Century China
By Bobby Xinyue
This paper examines the dissemination, translation, and intellectual impact of Greek and Latin poetry in China in the twentieth century. It uses Ovid as a case study to explore the key factors that have affected the study of Latin poetry in cultures (such as China) which stand outside notions of ‘tradition’ and ‘heritage’ that connect the West to a Greco-Roman past.