E-Book Overview
Frankenstein and Its Classics is the first collection of scholarship dedicated to how Frankenstein and works inspired by it draw on ancient Greek and Roman literature, history, philosophy, and myth. Presenting twelve new essays intended for students, scholars, and other readers of Mary Shelley's novel, the volume explores classical receptions in some of Frankenstein's most important scenes, sources, and adaptations. Not limited to literature, the chapters discuss a wide range of modern materials-including recent films like Alex Garland's Ex Machina and comics like Matt Fraction's and Christian Ward's Ody-C-in relation to ancient works including Hesiod's Theogony, Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Apuleius's The Golden Ass. All together, these studies show how Frankenstein, a foundational work of science fiction, brings ancient thought to bear on some of today's most pressing issues, from bioengineering and the creation of artificial intelligence to the struggles of marginalized communities and political revolution. This addition to the comparative study of classics and science fiction reveals deep similarities between ancient and modern ways of imagining the world-and emphasizes the prescience and ongoing importance of Mary Shelley's immortal novel. As Frankenstein turns 200, its complex engagement with classical traditions is more significant than ever.
E-Book Content
Frankenstein and Its Classics
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Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception presents scholarly monographs offering new and innovative research and debate to students and scholars in the reception of Classical Studies. Each volume will explore the appropriation, reconceptualization and recontextualization of various aspects of the GraecoRoman world and its culture, looking at the impact of the ancient world on modernity. Research will also cover reception within antiquity, the theory and practice of translation, and reception theory. Also available in the Series: Ancient Magic and the Supernatural in the Modern Visual and Performing Arts, edited by Filippo Carlà and Irene Berti Ancient Greek Myth in World Fiction since 1989, edited by Justine McConnell and Edith Hall The Codex Fori Mussolini, Han Lamers and Bettina Reitz-Joosse The Gentle, Jealous God, Simon Perris Greek and Roman Classics in the British Struggle for Social Reform, edited by Henry Stead and Edith Hall Imagining Xerxes, Emma Bridges Ovid’s Myth of Pygmalion on Screen, Paula James Victorian Classical Burlesques, Laura Monrós-Gaspar Julius Caesar’s Self-Created Image and Its Dramatic Afterlife, Miryana Dimitrova Homer’s Iliad and the Trojan War, Naoise Mac Sweeney and Jan Haywood
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Frankenstein and Its Classics The Modern Prometheus from Antiquity to Science Fiction Edited by Jesse Weiner, Benjamin Eldon Stevens, and Brett M. Rogers
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BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC 1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2018 Copyright © Jesse Weiner, Benjamin Eldon Stevens, and Brett M. Rogers, 2018 Jesse Weiner, Benjamin Eldon Stevens, and Brett M. Rogers have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editors of this work. For legal purposes the Preface on pp. vii–ix constitutes an extension of this copyright page. Cover illustration by Christian Ward from ODY-C © 2014 Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, Inc. & Christian Ward All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. A