20th Annual Student Research Conference
Social Science
Sex, Lies, a Goddess, and a Shepherd: A Modern Adaptation of “To Aphrodite”
Sam R. Cummins*, Maryellen R. Harman, and Joe W. Hollingsworth
Prof. Martha L. Rose, Faculty Mentor
The Homeric hymn “To Aphrodite,” which relates the events surrounding a sexual encounter between Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual desire, and Anchises, a Trojan shepherd, is a story of lust, deceit, and mistaken identities. In order to better understand this poem and the ancient Greeks who wrote it, I and several other students adapted it into a comic play. We added and deleted characters, changed the language to colloquial English, as well as gave each of our characters a unique stage “personality,” all with an eye to giving the poem a more modern spin. This paper details the methods and ideas behind our adaptation as well as the insights it gave us into the Ancient Greek world.
Keywords: Greece, History
Topic(s):History
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 32-3
Location: VH 1320
Time: 10:15 am