Vasileios Balaskas – Författare

Vasileios Balaskas explores the revival of classical drama at ancient venues as a sociopolitical apparatus of the European nation-states in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The modern use of Graeco-Roman theatres, odeons, amphitheatres, and stadiums depended on social or artistic influences and interconnections. In particular, the Spanish and Greek cases developed in parallel and addressed similar sociopolitical concepts, while the Italian example served as a model for their theatrical tradition in the first decades of the twentieth century. In theatrical terms, this book argues that the repertoire and orientation of classical drama were influenced by (inter)national artistic trends, while power relations among theatrical directors, actors and actresses, companies, and institutions determined the course of these artistic traditions. Staging classical drama in Greece and Spain transformed Graeco-Roman venues into sociopolitical powerhouses that generated collective narratives, theatrical modernization, and economic development. Despite the distinct degree of ideological engagement with classical culture, political conditions in Greece and Spain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries offer a space for reflection and critical comparison. In this context, this study discusses how historical realities led to the staging of classical drama at Graeco-Roman venues and how each country appropriated and showcased this classical heritage as sociopolitical capital.

This volume introduces a fresh exploration of Classical literature, examining its engagement with personal or collective tragedy, horrific events, and fear-inflicting episodes. It explores the different ways fear, terror, and horror have been manifested in Graeco-Roman culture and their reception. While previous studies often examine physiological and psychological reactions to horror, fear and dread in classical literature and its reception (in fiction and the performing arts) separately, this volume connects these concepts into a broader, unified framework, exploring their presence in both classical antiquity and modern fiction. The individual chapters introduce a new theoretical and conceptual framework for the growing field of Horror Studies as applied to the classical world, and cover its application in a broad range of ancient interpretations and modern media, from Greek tragedy, Roman drama and poetry, myth and Etrurian daemons, to modern Spanish theatrical receptions, animation, Lovecraft and The Haunting of Bly Manor. It examines themes such as body horror, haunted spaces, and suspense in the Graeco-Roman tradition and its modern reinterpretation, expanding the scope of traditional scholarship and providing fresh insight into the genre in classical literature and culture. The book serves as a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in the emotions and Horror Studies in classical antiquity, and in classical reception. It will also be of interest to those working in the fields of Literary Criticism, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, and Classical Archaeology, who will encounter a novel exploration of classical themes and their reconceptualization in pop culture as well as in the visual and performing arts.