The Battle of Thermopylae, Achilles and Hector, and Alexander the Great. Ancient stories and figures of war still capture the imagination, even today when technology appears to dominate modern warfare.
The conference Our Ancient Wars: Rethinking War Through the Classics, presented March 22-24 in 3222 Angell Hall, brings together scholars to consider ancient representations of warfare and society’s continuing fascination with it.
Organizers say the conference also presents an opportunity to build bridges between scholars, artists and the area veteran community. To further this goal, there will be two performances of Outside the Wire LLC’s “Theater of War.” This presentation features readings of ancient Greek plays to service members, veterans, caregivers and families as a catalyst for town hall discussions about the challenges faced by military communities today.
The performances are from 7-9 p.m. March 23 at Kahn Auditorium in the Biomedical Science Research Building, and March 24 at the Michigan Theater.
Our Ancient Wars conferees include scholars in history, political theory, philosophy, and literary studies from the United States and abroad. They will explore issues ranging from what can be learned from ancient writings on war and the continuing fascination with them to how our relationship to ancient war influence shapes understanding and reaction to contemporary war.
The conference is sponsored by the interfaculty initiative Contexts for Classics, and several campus departments and units. Go to www.umich.edu/~ancwars/sched.html for a conference schedule. All presentations and performances are open to the public.
