Filippo Carlà-Uhink

Domitilla Campanile

Margherita Facella

TransAntiquityexplores transgender practices, in particular cross-dressing, and their literary and figurative representations in antiquity. It offers a comprehensive study of cross-dressing, both of the social practice and its conceptualization, and of its interaction with normative prescriptions on gender and sexuality in the ancient Mediterranean world. Special attention is paid to the reactions of the societies of the time, the impact transgender practices had on individuals' symbolic and social capital, as well as the reactions of institutionalized power and the juridical systems. The variety of subjects and approaches demonstrate just how complex and widespread "transgender dynamics" were in antiquity.

Cross-dressing and Transgender Dynamics in the Ancient World

Transantiquity

Anja Wieber

Why is Cleopatra, a descendent of Alexander the Great, a Ptolemy from a Greek–Macedonian family, in popular imagination an Oriental woman? True, she assumed some aspects of pharaonic imagery in order to rule Egypt, but her Orientalism mostly derives from ancient (Roman) and modern stereotypes: both the Orient and the idea of a woman in power are signs, in the Western tradition, of 'otherness' – and in this sense they can easily overlap and interchange. This volume investigates how ancient women, and particularly powerful women, such as queens and empresses, have been re-imagined in Western (and not only Western) arts; highlights how this re-imagination and re-visualization is, more often than not, the product of Orientalist stereotypes – even when dealing with women who had nothing to do with Eastern regions; and compares these images with examples of Eastern gaze on the same women. Through the chapters in this volume, readers will discover the similarities and differences in the ways in which women in power were and still are described and decried by their opponents.

Orientalism and the Reception of Powerful Women from the Ancient World

Martin Lindner

Jane Draycott

Kate Cook

Introduction / Jane Draycott and Kate Cook -- Playable girls in ancient worlds : Athena (1986) opens the door / Dunstan Lowe -- A historical overview of women in ancient-period video games / Jordy Orellana Figueroa -- Dangerous defaults : demographics and identities within and without video games / Marcie Persyn -- The maiden, the mother and the monster : the monstrous-feminine in historical and archaeological video games / Dan Goad -- Bringing down the divine patriarchy through Deicide in Apotheon (2015) / Amy Norgard -- Argonautic women? : gender and heroic status in Rise of the Argonauts / Sophie Ngan -- Good riddance : refiguring Eurydice in Supergiant's Hades / Kira Jones -- Reception and representation of Greco-Roman goddesses in Smite : battleground of the gods / Katherine Beydler -- Aphrodite, a caricature of female sexuality / Olivia Kinsman -- Violence against women in classical video games / Hannah-Marie Chidwick -- Playing Cleopatra in Assassin's Creed Origins / Jane Draycott -- Playing Salammbô? : orientalism, gender and gaming with the Punic world / Andrew Dufton -- Kassandra's odyssey / Richard Cole -- "We do what we must to survive" : prostitution and power in Assassin's creed odyssey / Roz Tuplin -- "It's the most freedom a woman can have" : gender, genre and agency in choices : a courtesan of Rome / Kate Cook.

Women in Classical Video Games

Irene Berti

To what extent did mythological figures such as Circe and Medea influence the representation of the powerful 'oriental' enchantress in modern Western art? What role did the ancient gods and heroes play in the construction of the imaginary worlds of the modern fantasy genre? What is the role of undead creatures like zombies and vampires in mythological films? Looking across the millennia, from the distrust of ancient magic and oriental cults, which threatened the new-born Christian religion, to the revival and adaptation of ancient myths and religion in the arts centuries later, this book offers an original analysis of the reception of ancient magic and the supernatural, across a wide variety of different media – from comics to film, from painting to opera. Working in a variety of fields across the globe, the authors of these essays deconstruct certain scholarly traditions by proposing original interdisciplinary approaches and collaborations, showing to what extent the visual and performing arts of different periods interlink and shape cultural and social identities.

Ancient Magic and the Supernatural in the Modern Visual and Performing Arts

Daniel Morat

Juliane Brauer

Christine Gundermann

Judith Keilbach

Thorsten Logge

Schlüsselbegriffe der Public History

TransAntiquity explores transgender practices, in particular cross-dressing, and their literary and figurative representations in antiquity. It offers a ground-breaking study of cross-dressing, both the social practice and its conceptualization, and its interaction with normative prescriptions on gender and sexuality in the ancient Mediterranean world. Special attention is paid to the reactions of the societies of the time, the impact transgender practices had on individuals’ symbolic and social capital, as well as the reactions of institutionalized power and the juridical systems. The variety of subjects and approaches demonstrates just how complex and widespread "transgender dynamics" were in antiquity.

Cross-Dressing and Transgender Dynamics in the Ancient World

TransAntiquity

Theme park studies is a growing field in social and cultural studies. Nonetheless, until now little attention has been dedicated to the choice of the themes represented in the parks and the strategies of their representation. This is particularly interesting when the theme is a historical one, for example ancient Greece. Which elements of classical Greece find their way into a theme park and how are they chosen and represented? What is the “entertainment” element in ancient Greek history, culture and myth, which allows its presence in commercial structures aiming to people's fun? How does the representation of Greece change against different cultural backgrounds, e.g. in different European countries, in the USA, in China? This book frames a discussion of these representations within the current debates about immersive spaces, uses of history and postmodern aesthetics, and analyses how ancient Greece has been represented and made “enjoyable” in seven different theme parks across the world, providing an original and ground-breaking contribution to theme park studies and classical reception.

Filippo Carlà-Uhink

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