A colloquium held under the joint auspices of the APGRD and the Centre for the Classical Tradition (Bristol University)
This one-day colloquium on the theme of The Sacrifice of Iphigenia in the Arts took place on 14 May 2004 at the Burwalls Centre for Continuing Education, University of Bristol, Bridge Road, Leigh Woods, Bristol. It was held under the auspices of the Centre for the Classical Tradition (University of Bristol) and the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama (University of Oxford).
The myth of Iphigenia’s sacrifice has been the subject of numerous stage productions and adaptations including those by Katie Mitchell and Marina Carr in Dublin (2001 and 2002 respectively), and Edna O’Brien in Sheffield (2003). The myth of Iphigenia has also inspired novelists such as Manfred Brinkmann (Iphigenie in Petto, 2000) and Barry Unsworth (The Songs of the Kings, 2002).
This one-day colloquium had two aims: to explore the relevance of the myth of Iphigenia’s sacrifice at the beginning of the third millennium; and to examine possible similarities between the current interest in Iphigenia and other important moments in the reception history of the myth such as those associated with Euripides, Racine, Gluck and Schiller. The colloquium addressed, among other issues, the confrontation between public ambition and private sentiment at times of social and moral crisis, the issue of violence and its representation in art, as well as self-sacrifice and the politics of redemption.
Programme
9.30-9.50 Registration
9.50-10.00 Pantelis Michelakis (Bristol) - Welcome
10.00-11.00 Will Vaughan (London) - Picturing Iphigenia
11.00-11.20 Coffee
11.20-12.10 Susanna Phillippo (Newcastle) - Racine’s Iphigenia
12.10-1.00 Amy Wygant (Glasgow) - Gluck’s Iphigenia
1.00-2.00 Lunch
2.00-3.00 Anna Linton (Oxford) - Iphigenia amongst the Germans
3.00-4.00 Helene Foley (Columbia) - Iphigenia in the Americas
4.00-4.30 Tea
4.30-5.30 Panel on contemporary adaptations of the Iphigenia myth which included Peter Morris (playwright), Edith Hall (Durham) and Fiona Macintosh (Oxford)
5.30-6.00 Discussion
7.00-9.30 Dinner at local restaurant