Frankenstein and its Classics: The Modern Prometheus from Antiquity to Science Fiction

Description

Frankenstein and Its Classics is the first collection of scholarship dedicated to how Frankenstein and works inspired by it draw on ancient Greek and Roman literature, history, philosophy, and myth. Presenting twelve new essays intended for students, scholars, and other readers of Mary Shelley's novel, the volume explores classical receptions in some of Frankenstein's most important scenes, sources, and adaptations. Not limited to literature, the chapters discuss a wide range of modern materials-including recent films like Alex Garland's Ex Machina and comics like Matt Fraction's and Christian Ward's Ody-C-in relation to ancient works including Hesiod's Theogony, Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Apuleius's The Golden Ass. All together, these studies show how Frankenstein, a foundational work of science fiction, brings ancient thought to bear on some of today's most pressing issues, from bioengineering and the creation of artificial intelligence to the struggles of marginalized communities and political revolution. This addition to the comparative study of classics and science fiction reveals deep similarities between ancient and modern ways of imagining the world-and emphasizes the prescience and ongoing importance of Mary Shelley's immortal novel. As Frankenstein turns 200, its complex engagement with classical traditions is more significant than ever. Cover page ......Page 1 Halftitle page ......Page 2 Series page ......Page 3 Title page ......Page 4 Copyright page ......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Contributors......Page 11 Illustrations......Page 14 Introduction: The Modern Prometheus Turns 200......Page 16 Frankenstein and Its Classics: The Case of Plutarch......Page 20 The Frankenstein Tradition: The Case of Scalzi (and Jared)......Page 24 Frankenstein ’s Classical Receptions and Twenty-First-Century Questions......Page 26 Outline of the Volume......Page 29 Notes......Page 33 Part One Promethean Heat......Page 38 1 Patchwork Paratexts and Monstrous Metapoetics: “After tea M reads Ovid”......Page 40 Monstrous Metapoets: Ovidian Frankensteins......Page 41 Monstrous Metamorphoses: Matter unform’d and Ovid......Page 44 Patchwork Paratexts: “Prometheus mixt”......Page 47 Notes......Page 55 Galvanic or Organic? Two Films......Page 57 Which Prometheus?......Page 59 Erasmus Darwin’s Giants......Page 64 Little Worms and Dr. Darwin’s Vermicelli......Page 66 Magi and Alchemists......Page 70 Notes......Page 71 3 The Politics of Revivification in Lucan’s Bellum Civile and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein......Page 74 The “Galvanic Process”: Lucan’s and Shelley’s Monsters......Page 75 Lucan on the Corpse of the Res Publica......Page 78 Shelley and the French Revolution......Page 81 Notes......Page 88 4 Romantic Prometheis and the Molding of Frankenstein......Page 91 Newton’s Return to Nature and Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab......Page 93 Pantheons and Modern Prometheis......Page 97 Notes......Page 102 The Eruption......Page 106 The Aftermath......Page 109 Conclusion: Mary Shelley in 1816......Page 113 Glossary......Page 114 Notes......Page 115 Introduction......Page 117 Ars poetica: Hesiod’s Pandora......Page 118 How to Make a Monster......Page 120 Technology of the Sublime: Hesiod......Page 122 Deformity and/as the Kantian Sublime......Page 124 Technology of the Sublime: Longinus......Page 126 Conclusions: The Creature as Genius loci of the Sublime Landscape......Page 128 Notes......Page 130 Part Two Hideous Progeny......Page 136 Introduction......Page 138 Historical Connections via Paratextual Evidence......Page 141 Cupid and Psyche in Frankenstein: Forms and Themes......Page 144 Cupid and Psyche at the End of Human History: The Last Man......Page 150 Conclusions: The Future of Frankenstein ’s Classical Receptions; or, Mary Shelley’s Apuleian Science Fiction?......Page 153 Notes......Page 155 8 The Pale Student of Unhallowed Arts: Frankenstein, Aristotle, and theWisdom of Lucretius......Page 160 Notes......Page 166 9 Timothy Leary and the Psychodynamics of Stealing Fire......Page 168 Literary Activism, or Hacking the Promethean Myth......Page 170 Timothy Leary; or, the Modern Victor Frankenstein......Page 172 Unmasking the Monster: Magic Mushrooms and the Neuropolitics of Empathy......Page 176 Reanimating Leary’s Legacy......Page 182 Notes......Page 183 Introduction......Page 185 Antiquarianism, Recombination, and Reanimation in Spark of Being......Page 187 Monsters in the Mirror, Monsters on the Screen......Page 194 Conclusion......Page 199 Notes......Page 201 11 Alex Garland’s Ex Machina or The Modern Epimetheus......Page 205 Notes......Page 218 Thinking with Prometheus1......Page 221 The Modern Prometheus......Page 223 Postmodern/Posthuman Prometheus......Page 228 Ancient Prometheus......Page 237 Notes......Page 238 Short Stories, Novels, and Plays......Page 243 Film......Page 248 Television......Page 251 Bibliography......Page 253 Index......Page 282