Troy, Carthage and the Victorians
Cambridge University Press, 11/30/2017
EAN 9781107192669, ISBN10: 1107192668
Hardcover, 300 pages, 25.3 x 18 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
Playful, popular visions of Troy and Carthage, backdrops to the Iliad and Aeneid's epic narratives, shine the spotlight on antiquity's starring role in nineteenth-century culture. This is the story of how these ruined cities inspired bold reconstructions of the Trojan War and its aftermath, how archaeological discoveries in the Troad and North Africa sparked dramatic debates, and how their ruins were exploited to conceptualise problematic relationships between past, present and future. Rachel Bryant Davies breaks new ground in the afterlife of classical antiquity by revealing more complex and less constrained interaction with classical knowledge across a broader social spectrum than yet understood, drawing upon methodological developments from disciplines such as history of science and theatre history in order to do so. She also develops a thorough critical framework for understanding classical burlesque and engages in in-depth analysis of a toy-theatre production.
Prologue
1. Troy and Carthage in the nineteenth century
2. Homeric pilgrimage, topography and archaeology
3. The Trojan War at the circus
4. The Iliad and Aeneid burlesqued
5. Carthage and future ruins
Epilogue
Troy and Carthage as 'a beacon and a warning'
Appendix A. List of burlesques
Appendix B. Select chronology.