Theodore Papanghelis – författare

This collective volume contains 27 original studies that address in a critical way the position of classical studies in the twenty-first century and its challenges, as captured in the oxymoron of the theme title ‘the future of the past’. The relevance of classical antiquity is reflected in all aspects of modern life: the sciences, the linguistic forms, literary expressions, cultural tradition, religion and ethics, philosophical thinking, modes of argument, political theory, history, the arts, and an entire host of other areas—in a word, much of what modern man is. As the conversation between past and present is best demonstrated at the intersection of different disciplines and cultural trends, interdisciplinary and intercultural topics are discussed in the essays. The contributions are organized in thematic groups according to the topics and sub-topics covered, and explore new ways of viewing the values of the classical past and their relevance to the present and future of societies. The work is of special relevance to scholars interested in classical studies, ancient history, critical thinking, the reception of classical ideas in the modern world, and the relation of the past with the present and the future of humanity.

The idea of the past, far from suggesting a nostalgic longing or an antiquarian curiosity for ages and cultures irrevocably lost, is essential to the human perception of the world. The volume at hand, entitled In the Mists of Time: Negotiating the Past in Ancient Literature, explores pastness as expressed through myth and early history and as reflected in sophisticated concepts and epistemological questions in Ancient Greek and Latin literature. The eighteen contributions illustrate how the ancients addressed the past through poetry, history and philosophy and lend insight into the metaliterary, self-reflexive way of dealing with past texts through scholarship.