Course Title: Alexander in Antiquity and Japanese Anime
Instructor: Dr. Juan Dopico, A&S '23 (PhD)
Brought to you by Odyssey
August 30, 2024 - October 4, 2024 (6 Sessions)
Friday, 5:00PM ET - 6:00PM ET
Virtual via Zoom
Course Description: Alexander the Great is one of the most famous historical figures in the human imagination for his multiple achievements. His conquests spread from Macedonia and Egypt to the Indus River Valley bringing Greek culture as far as India. In Gandhara art, the Buddha is depicted with traditional Indian elements, but with Greek clothing and stylization. Alexander also founded the city of Alexandria in Egypt, which would later become a cultural and intellectual center of the Mediterranean until the Middle Ages, hosting famous poets, such as Callimachus, Jewish philosophers, such as Philo, and intellectual movements such as Gnosticism.
Therefore, it is a given that Alexander has had countless biographies written about him in multiple languages since antiquity. But how do we account for a sci-fi rendition of Alexander’s life in Japanese animation – a land which never had any contact with Alexander directly? What are the reasons for Japanese producers and animators to create an animated biography?
In this seminar style course, students will meet weekly to explore and discuss not only the various adaptations of Alexander from antiquity to our modern day, but also to engage with how ideas have crossed time and space. In particular, we will see the interplay of the Mediterranean West and Japan, exploring questions of cultural imperialism in the early 20th century and modern day via Philhellenism (“love of Greece”).
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