Key aspects of philhellenism - political self-determination, freedom, beauty, individual greatness - originate in antiquity and present a complex reception history. The force of European philhellenism derives from ancient Roman idealizations, which have been drawn on by European movements since the Enlightenment. How is philhellenism able to transcend national, cultural and epochal limits? The articles collected in this volume deal with (1) the ancient conceptualization of philhellenism, (2) the actualization and politicization of the term at the time of the European Restoration (1815-30), and (3) the transformation of philhellenism into a pan-European movement. During the Greek struggle for independence the different receptions of philhellenism regain a common focus; philhellenism becomes an inextricable element in the creation of a pan-European identity and a starting point for the regeneration and modernization of Greece. - It is easy to criticize the tradition of philhellenism as being simplistic, naive, and self-serving, but there is an irreducibly utopian element in later philhellenic idealizations of ancient Greece.

Ambiguity in the sense of two or more possible meanings is considered to be a distinctive feature of modern art and literature. It characterizes the "open artwork" (Eco) and is generated by "disruptive tactics" (Wellershoff) and strategies to engender uncertainty. While ambiguity is seen as a "paradigm of modernity" (Bode), there is skepticism regarding its use in the pre-modern era. Older studies were dominated by the conviction that there was a lack of ambiguity in pre-modernity because, according to the rules of the "old rhetoric", ambiguity was seen as an avoidable error (vitium) and a violation of the dictate of clarity (perspicuitas). The aim of the volume is to re-examine the putative "absence of ambiguity" in the pre-modern era. Is it not possible to find clear examples of deliberately employed (intended) ambiguity in antiquity? Are the oracles and riddles, the Palinode of Stesichoros and Socrates (Phaedrus), the dissoi logoi of rhetoric, the ambiguities of the tragedies all exceptions or do they not indicate a distinct interest in the artistic use of ambiguity? The presentations of the conference, which will include scholars from various philologies, will combine a recourse to theoretical concepts of intended ambiguity with exemplary analyses from the field of pre-modern art and literature.

Der Begriff der Mythenkorrektur ist innerhalb der Literaturwissenschaft (noch) nicht etabliert. Ziel des Bandes ist es, ihn vorzustellen und anhand exemplarischer Interpretationen seine Erschliessungskraft zu dokumentieren. Denn in zahlreichen Werken der Literatur wird ein tradierter Zusammenhang von Mythen als bekannt vorausgesetzt, aber an einer bestimmten Stelle wird das uberlieferte Geschehen negiert. Die Frau des Kandaules sei nicht schoen gewesen, die Sirenen hatten nicht gesungen, OEdipus sei von der Nachricht nicht uberrascht worden (Brecht) usw. Die Berichtigungen setzen jeweils an einem markanten Punkt ein, so dass der Eingriff die wohlbekannten Geschichten in ein ganz neues Licht ruckt, den Kern des Mythos aber prinzipiell unangetastet lasst. Der vorliegende Band untersucht eingehend die Formen und Funktionsweisen solcher Mythenkorrekturen. Dabei werden einschlagige Werke der europaischen Literatur behandelt und deren Interpretationen mit UEberlegungen zum antiken Mythos, zur christlichen Mythenkorrektur, zur Neuen Mythologie und zur Mythenkorrektur vom Existenzialismus bis zur Postmoderne verbunden. Das Spektrum der untersuchten Texte ist weit gehalten, um den Begriff der Korrektur nicht unangemessen zu verkurzen. Untersucht werden z.B. Texte von Heiner Muller, Thomas Brasch, Christa Wolf und Volker Braun ebenso wie von Shakespeare, Goethe und Kleist. Pluspunkte: Innovativer Sammelband mit einem neuartigen literaturwissenschaftlichen Konzept zur Mythenrezeption Komparatistische Perspektive: Verschiedene europaische Literaturen werden einbezogen Einschlagig ausgewiesene Herausgeber und Autoren

This collection of essays reports on the present state and tendencies in the reception of Classical Antiquity in present-day literature written in German. It focuses on the continuing influence and potential of the classical tradition, its vitality and diversity, highlighting the different approaches and perspectives in accessing Classical Antiquity. The papers deal with texts by Brasch, Braun, Fichte, Fried, Grunbein, Hacks, Haefs, Handke, Jens, Kohlmeier, Kunert, Muller, Ransmayr, Schutz, Strauss and Wolf. They are arranged exemplarily and pay particular attention to questions of literary form as well as to the function of the classical tradition in the context of the author's overall production. In addition to the essays (written by scholars in Classics and German Studies specialising in the modern reception of the Classics) the volume contains programmatic statements by the authors themselves, which were specially written and selected for this purpose."

Aristoteles benutzt den Katharsisbegriff an verschiedenen Stellen seines Werks: in der Fortpflanzungslehre, der Zoologie, der Physik und Politik. In der Poetik wird der Begriff metaphorisch eingesetzt, um den Wirkungszweck der Tragoedie zu bestimmen. Welche Modelle von Katharsis waren Aristoteles gelaufig, in welchem Verhaltnis stehen sie zueinander? Auf der Grundlage eines ausfuhrlichen Vorworts erstellen die Beitrage von Spezialisten eine UEbersicht zu dem jeweiligen Begriffsgebrauch in Biologie, Medizin, Ritus, Kultus, Musiktheorie, Psychologie und Philosophie. Sie bestimmen dabei in einer breit angelegten interdisziplinaren Zusammenarbeit die spezifische Funktionsweise der jeweiligen Katharsiskonzeptionen, so dass die Voraussetzungen des poetologischen Begriffs deutlich werden.

In modern art, central importance is accorded to the diverse experiences of physical and mental violence. The resultant question of the forms of presentation of violence and the reasons for taking pleasure in tragic objects is however one which was already posed in Classical Greece in a comparable fashion. The studies in this volume arose from a symposium run by the Collaborative Research Centers on "Esthetic experience and the dissolution of artistic limits". After reviewing the history of the 5th century B.C. with its intensive experience of violence, they examine the tension between violence and aesthetics in the fields of myth, cult, and literature with particular reference to tragedy and visual art.

Whereas Aristotle had limited the evocation of fear and sympathy strictly to the cathartic effect of tragedy, a dissolution can be observed of the boundaries of concepts of catharsis following on from Bernays, Freud and Nietzsche, as the possibilities and limits of catharsis as an emotional abreaction are redrawn. What led to the break with the Aristotelian tradition, what transformations of catharsis can be observed in modern theories of art and in modern art?