De macht van de mythe bij vanGennep

The stories from classical antiquity still fascinate readers and writers. Mythological heroes appear in translations, retellings, films and fanfiction, sometimes in a very new guise. Increasingly, there is room for the perspective of women in these stories. What attracts us to them? What do these old stories say about us, modern readers? Two writers will be in conversation at vanGennep (Rotterdam) led by Alek Dabrowski.

Jacqueline Klooster (university lecturer in Classical Languages and Cultures) wrote Medusa in the Mirror, What myths tell us about who we are . In it, she tries to explain why there are so many popular novels about mythical figures right now, but above all: what they teach us about antiquity and ourselves.

Rotterdam writer Michelle van Dijk wrote Don't Look Back!, a novel in which a classical languages teacher becomes entangled in her own ideas about love, even though she herself did research into love relationships in classical antiquity.