Perennial Penelope and lingering lotus-eaters: Revaluing mythological figures in the poetry of the Greek financial crisis

Journal article

Since 2013, three poetry collections of the Greek financial crisis have been published by Anglophone presses. This article looks specifically at the manner in which these poetic anthologies speak (if at all) to Greece’s classical antiquity. I explore the ways in which specific poets, who circulate in different spheres of publication (blogs, online magazines, literary journals, and published collections), engage antiquity in their poetry. While antiquity is not necessarily a unifying theme in contemporary Greek poetry of the crisis, I examine instances where antiquity has been used by individual poets and demonstrate how certain mythological figures, such as Penelope and the lotus-eaters, have gained particular currency in this poetry as a way of articulating an unprecedented material and social reality.

Authors: Philippou, E

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Stanford University
• Journal: Dibur Literary Journal
• Volume: Fall 2017
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 71-86
• Series: Poetic Currency
• Publication date: 2018-01-01
• Acceptance date: 2017-12-12
• ISSN: 2228-3552