CLA 252 - Bringing the Page to the Stage: Adapting the Ancient World from Homer to Percy Jackson

The adaptation of a written text into a performance stretches from contemporary Hollywood back to ancient Athens, which provides some of our earliest evidence for staged drama. As technologies change, many of the challenges and opportunities remain the same. What elements of a longer text should be selected for a script? How do setting and staging influence storytelling? How should characters be embodied and enacted? We will focus on differing approaches in adapting three central types of source material: the epic poetry of Homer, historical sources about ancient Rome, and mythology aimed at children. Our source texts range from Homer’s Odyssey to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson, and we will consider adaptations into ancient Greek drama, Shakespearean theater, and contemporary film and television.

This course requires no prior knowledge of the ancient world or contemporary material, and all texts and films will be in English. It is open to anyone interested in the relationship between the past and the present.

Counts toward the major in Classical Languages and Literature, the major in Classical Studies, and the minor in Classical Studies.
Counts toward the major in English
Counts toward the Film and Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome. (Spring 2025)