CLASSICS RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM DATE: Thursday, 28 September 2017 TIME: 14:10 - 15:45 VENUE: Committee Room, Classics Department, Room GO 12A, Ground Floor, MTB, Howard College Campus SPEAKER: Dr Elke Steinmeyer (Classics, UKZN) TOPIC: Cassandra Prophesises Back: Marion Zimmer Bradley’s "Firebrand" ABSTRACT: Marion Zimmer Bradley is probably one of the most famous authors in Fantasy literature and particularly well known for her novel "The Mists of Avalon" (1982). In her novel "The Firebrand" she retells the plot of Homer's "Iliad" (and beyond) from a strong feminist point of view by making Cassandra the protagonist of the story. As in her earlier work, she introduces several matriarchal elements into her reworking of the ancient myth: Cassandra is sent to live for some time with the Amazons and will survive the Trojan War (as in some Greek and Roman authors in Late Antiquity); the female characters bear some traits of the suppressed matriarchy - a struggle which can be found already in "The Mists of Avalon"; some of the female characters such as Hecabe and Andromache are depicted as stronger and more dominant characters than in the ancient sources. In my paper I shall investigate which changes Marion Zimmer Bradley introduced in her new interpretation of the figure of Cassandra, which elements are characteristic for her work and which may be characteristics for Fantasy literature in general. I would like to conclude with a glimpse on the novel "Kassandra" (1983) by the German author Christa Wolf, who also retells the "Iliad" for Cassandra's point of view, but with a political agenda ALL STAFF AND GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE WELCOME! For further information please contact: Dr Elke Steinmeyer Classics Programme University of KwaZulu-Natal 4041 Durban South Africa Tel: +27 31 260 1306 Fax: +27 31 260 7286 Email: steinmeyere1@ukzn.ac.za