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The first interdisciplinary collection of essays dedicated to how Frankenstein and works inspired by it draw on ancient Greek and Roman literature, philosophy and myth.

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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.

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Introduction: The Modern Prometheus Turns 200
Jesse Weiner, Hamilton College, USA; Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Trinity University, USA;
Brett M. Rogers, University of Puget Sound, USA

Section 1: Promethean Heat

1. Patchwork Paratexts and Monstrous Metapoetics: "After tea M reads Ovid"
Genevieve Liveley, University of Bristol, UK

2. Prometheus and Dr. Darwin´s Vermicelli: Another Stir to the Frankenstein Broth
Martin Priestman, University of Roehampton, UK

3. The Politics of Revivification in Lucan´s Bellum Civile and Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein
Andrew McClellan, University of Delaware, USA

4. Romantic Prometheis and the Molding of Frankenstein
Suzanne L. Barnett, Francis Marion University

5. Why "The Year without a Summer"?
David A. Gapp, Hamilton College, USA

6. The Sublime Monster: Frankenstein, or The Modern Pandora
Matthew Gumpert, Bogazi‡i University, Turkey

Section 2: Hideous Progeny

7. Cupid and Psyche in Frankenstein: Mary Shelley´s Apuleian Science Fiction?
Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Trinity University, USA

8. "The Pale Student of Unhallowed Arts": Frankenstein, Aristotle, and the Wisdom of Lucretius
Carl A. Rubino, Hamilton College, USA

9. Timothy Leary and the Psychodynamics of Stealing Fire
Nese Devenot, University of Puget Sound, USA

10. Frankenfilm: Classical Monstrosity in Bill Morrison´s Spark of Being
Jesse Weiner, Hamilton College, USA

11. Alex Garland´s Ex Machina or The Modern Epimetheus: Science Fiction after Mary Shelley
Emma Hammond, University of Bristol, UK

12. The Postmodern Prometheus and Posthuman Reproductions in Science Fiction
Brett M. Rogers, University of Puget Sound, USA

Suggestions for Further Reading: Other Modern Prometheis
Sam Cooper, Bard High School Early Colleges Queens, USA

Works cited
Index

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