In the abstract, Weiner asks, “Is there something subversive and radical in adapting Greek and Latin literature to undermine and challenge Western imperialism, racism, misogyny, and classism? Or are these receptions of the Western canon doomed to reinforce the very hierarchies of power they purport to challenge? What are the possibilities and limits of classical reception when these receptions are performed by and for those at the margins of social, economic, and political power? Can we reconcile the political aim and context of any particular reception with the activity of turning to the Greeks and Romans as models?
“As a preliminary gesture towards answers, I draw on two case studies in reception that to me point towards the possibility of working within tensions between the political aims and limitations of reception. The first is a sixteenth-century French translation of Virgil’s Aeneid, the second is a twenty-first century hip-hop song.”
