**Feel free to go ahead and post thoughts, questions, etc!**
On myths, from an interview with the poet Carl Phillips --
KP: So many of your poems seem to engage classical myth and history on such a deeply personal, lyrical level—“Roman Glass,” for example. How do you see yourself bridging the gap between ancient and the contemporary worlds? Do you see your poems transforming classical mythology and history?
CP: I don’t think my poems really transform or contemporize existing myths. Rather, it seems to me that the myths that exist do so because they arose out of experiences common to being human, and that makes them timeless, given that there are still humans on earth. (emphasis mine)
This is not to say that our discussion will focus on myths; it is just a thought about the potential timelessness of human narratives as demonstrated by myths. Whether myths have timeless value or resonance is another matter...
Interview at: http://books.missouri.org/node/730
And a sample poem of his for fun -- much of his poetry draws explicitly and directly on Classics/ ancient Greek and Latin (which he taught for years) -- http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/leda-after-the-swan/
On myths, from an interview with the poet Carl Phillips --
KP: So many of your poems seem to engage classical myth and history on such a deeply personal, lyrical level—“Roman Glass,” for example. How do you see yourself bridging the gap between ancient and the contemporary worlds? Do you see your poems transforming classical mythology and history?
CP: I don’t think my poems really transform or contemporize existing myths. Rather, it seems to me that the myths that exist do so because they arose out of experiences common to being human, and that makes them timeless, given that there are still humans on earth. (emphasis mine)
This is not to say that our discussion will focus on myths; it is just a thought about the potential timelessness of human narratives as demonstrated by myths. Whether myths have timeless value or resonance is another matter...
Interview at: http://books.missouri.org/node/730
And a sample poem of his for fun -- much of his poetry draws explicitly and directly on Classics/ ancient Greek and Latin (which he taught for years) -- http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/leda-after-the-swan/
Cool post, Paula Rosine!
ReplyDeleteI've had a few cluster-related thoughts (sounds cheeky!), and thought I'd just share:
1) Open University's list of reasons to study the Classics: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/classical-studies/10-reasons.shtml
2) A friend told me that the Classics department at Cambridge is dwindling--at least in the way of undergrad enrollment. I haven't been able to find confirmation of this, and was wondering if anyone knew this to be so . . . In spite of that, my friend and I reached the conclusion that the Classics department at Cambridge will never vanish because it used to be THE thing to study (citation needed). Wish I knew more about the history of the Classics dept. here! Back to the internet!