Free to attend; registration required to receive Zoom webinar attendance link
Join us online for a dialogue between Helen Morales (Classics) and Vilna Bashi-Treitler (Black Studies) about Morales’ new book, Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths. Audience Q&A will follow.
A witty, inspiring reckoning with the ancient Greco-Roman myths and their legacy, from what they can illuminate about #MeToo to the radical imagery of Beyoncé. The picture of classical antiquity most of us learned in school is framed in certain ways — glossing over misogyny while omitting the seeds of feminist resistance. Even today, myths are still informing harmful practices like diet culture and school dress codes. But in Antigone Rising, classicist Helen Morales reminds us that the myths have subversive power because they can be told — and read — in different ways. Through these stories, whether it’s Antigone’s courageous stand against tyranny or Procne and Philomela punishing a powerful man, Morales uncovers hidden truths about solidarity, empowerment, and catharsis. Antigone Rising offers a fresh understanding of the stories we take for granted, showing how we can reclaim them to challenge the status quo, spark resistance, and rail against unjust regimes.
Helen Morales is a classicist and cultural critic with interests that include the ancient novel, Greek imperial poetry, mythology, literary criticism, sexual ethics, diversity, and pilgrimage. These interests are always connected to major contemporary concerns—leadership, class, race, sexual politics, aesthetics, law—a better understanding of which, in her view, comes through appreciating their investment in Classics. She is the author of Pilgrimage to Dollywood (2014), Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction (2007 and 2010), and Vision and Narrative in Achilles Tatius’ “Leucippe and Clitophon” (2004). She is also editor of the journal Ramus.
Sponsored by the IHC’s Harry Girvetz Memorial Endowment