Seminar Papers

Dr Richard Rowland (Department of English & Related Literature, University of York)

Ramphal R3.41, Wednesday 7th May 2014, 5.15.

Bipolarities: Killing Hercules in the Eighteenth and Twenty-First Centuries.

The paper deals with translations of Sophocles, Ovid and (Pseudo) Seneca, and the retellings of the story of Hercules's killing in the versions by Handel - the original performances of Hercules in 1745 and the stagings of it in 2004 and 2011, the latter set in Guantanamo - and Martin Crimp, in his 2004 play Cruel and Tender.

There will be drinks afterwards and all participants are encouraged to join us at Le Gusta for supper (pay-as-you-go) afterwards. This will be a chance for those of us, at all levels, working on or interested in the classical tradition and translation to meet informally and continue to discuss the paper. If you intend to join us please let me (t dot grant at warwick dot ac dot uk) know so that I can book the right number of places.

Dr Emily Wingfield (School of English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies, University of Birmingham)

IAS Seminar Room, Millburn House, Thursday 21st February 2013, 5.15.

'The Eneados' @ 500: A Reassessment and Celebration

2013 will mark the 500th anniversary of 'The Eneados', the first complete translation of Virgil’s 'Aeneid' into English completed on 22 July 1513 by the Scottish poet and bishop of Dunkeld, Gavin Douglas (c.1476-1522). This paper is designed to stand as both a reassessment and celebration of this significant text. It will address how 'The Eneados' relates to the wider reception of the Trojan legend in medieval and early modern Scotland and examine how Douglas used Virgil's 'Aeneid' to reflect on some of the particular difficulties of authorship facing him, such as writing in the vernacular or constructing a coherent narrative out of a seemingly contradictory literary tradition. The final section of the talk will progress to address issues of advice and good governance. It will explore, in particular, Douglas’ characterisation of the poem’s (male and female) leaders and his attitude to warfare, and demonstrate how 'The Eneados' was designed — and later received — as both a positive and negative exemplum, both specific to the current political situation and of general applicability.

Dr Wingfield's research interests are in older Scots literature, particularly romance literature and book history. She has just completed a monograph (to be published by Boydell and Brewer) on the literary representation of the Trojan legend in Scotland from c. 1375 to c. 1513 and plans to complement this with an edition of The Scottish Troy Book. She has just moved from a JRF at Churchill College, Cambridge to take up a permanent Lectureship at Birmingham.