The Reception of Classical Antiquity in German Literature

This volume, based on a series of lectures co-organised by the Institute of Classical Studies and the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies in 2011 and 2012, examines the enduring relevance of Classical material, its openness to multi-layered readings and its use to express contemporary concerns, in other words, its re-presentation, or making ‘present’, in German literature. The essays in this volume, which range from the Middle Ages to the present and deal with genres as diverse as poetry and comic books, epigrams and novels, signal that one reason for the enduring relevance of Classical myth lies in its fluidity: its canonicity lends authority but is supple enough to allow adaptation to forms that ‘speak’ most potently to a given age or audience. These changing cultural contexts help shape the new works of art that mutate out of the old, inviting ‘readers to think more deeply about how to shape society in such a way that culture on a higher level can accommodate and enhance human nature’.