Writing outside the Box: Communicating Classical Studies to Wider Audiences

My paper will explore the ways that various forms of writing that are not looked on particularly kindly by tenure committees and are often treated as marginal and “unscholarly” -- such as various genres that I have worked in, including reviews, trade books, translations, blogs and anthologies -- play an essential role in communicating the literature, history and cultures of Graeco-Roman antiquity to audiences beyond departments of classical studies, and also beyondthe academy.

In re-presenting classical literature to non-scholarly audiences, I’ve worked in three genres of narrative. In fiction, I’ve reimagined Ovid as he wrote Metamorphoses and tragically transfigured his own life. In memoir, I’ve explored how classical myth and tragedy—especially in works of Hesiod, Aeschylus, Euripides, Ovid, Apuleius—helped me configure patterns in my own younger life.

In this presentation, I will focus on the psychological acuity of classical writers and how their insights resonate with contemporary observations.

“Ancient history” has become a cliché meaning “outdated, irrelevant;” Herodotus goes unread while the grotesque 300 movies entertain millions. Those of us who consider the ancient historians to be “page-turners” find such trends painful to contemplate, but they’re not irreversible. Character, I believe, is the key that can unlock the power of these narratives and keep modern readers connected to the facts. The techniques ancient historians used to evoke character – speeches and dialogue, quips and anecdotes, scenes from private life – are deemed,

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