Colloquium, Department of Classical Studies
Apr 17, 2025
4:45pm - 6:15pm
402 Cohen Hall
249 South 36th St.
In Odyssey book 4 Helen administers a drug to Telemachus and others present at Sparta before the assembled company are told of the wooden horse that led to Troy’s downfall. Helen’s pharmakon allows those who imbibe it to experience the narration of upsetting events without feeling their emotional effects. This talk explores how three figures from the gay underground—writer, William S. Burroughs, filmmaker, Derek Jarman, and performance artist, Ron Athey— similarly applied classical culture as a remedy, balm, or antidote at specific moments during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 90s. Moreover, each of these three artists engages with the Homeric journey or episodes from the Trojan cycle as they create works that process their current moment’s precarity.
*4:15-4:45 pm: Coffee and cookies in Cohen Hall 2nd Floor Lounge. All are welcome