The old lie: I Classici e la Grande Guerra/Classics and the Great War

The Old Lie, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” (Horace, Odes,  III):  more than two thousand years later, the line was resumed by Wilfred Owen as a polemical and bitter seal for one of his poems, written between 1917 and 1918, a sharp accusation against the atrocities of war, which is often mystified by some sort of propaganda describing it as a glorious and monumental event. “The old lie”, therefore, over the centuries perpetuated by people who are in fact far away from the conflict.
Owen’s poem is just an example of the the way Classics were reused during the First World War. They sometimes became filters or even benchmarks for the experience of young fighters (e.g. Patrick Shaw-Stewart); other times they were indispensable/essential “safety nets” during an age of human and cultural aberration; yet other times, their message underwent a shift in an antiwar direction (as for The Trojan Women in Franz Werfel’s adaptation). On the other hand, some classicists not only had a cultural role, but were also active in the political and ideological scene (as Giorgio Pasquali).

On the last year of celebration for the centenary of the Great War, the cultural associations Rodopis – Experience Ancient History and Prolepsis, are organising an International Workshop entitled “The old Iie: Classics and the Great War”, a recently explored topic, which still deserves to be investigated and debated.
Proposal for oral presentations can be about (but not limited to) the following topics:
Reception of Classics during the First World War;
Ideological reuse of Classical texts during the First World War;
Nineteenth century reflections on issues regarding the war, filtered by Classics;
Analyses of the political engagement of classicists of the time and how their political views influenced their scientific production.

This Workshop will be structured in three sessions, two in the morning and one in the afternoon, with a total of nine speakers to be selected. Each paper will last 20 minutes at most, and a final discussion will follow each presentation. An introductory lecture by Prof. Giovanni Brizzi will precede the workshop.
The most valuable papers may be considered for publication.
Official languages of the workshop are Italian and English.

PhD students, post-docs and early career academic researchers are invited to send an anonymous abstract not exceeding 300 words, to the e-mail address: Iclassicielagrandeguerra@gmail.com, by the 15th of December 2017.
Successful speakers will be notified by the 31st of December 2017.