Margit Dahm (University of Kiel)

What does Troy matter? An ancient city and its significance for courtly culture and literature in the Middle Ages

This paper presents the literary tradition of Troy and the Trojan war throughout the Middle Ages as instrumental for the self-understanding of premodern European societies. This vast tradition connects Troy and the Trojan war to the Christian history of salvation, uses them as a foundational myth for several European dynasties and nations, and grounds the chivalric ideals of combat and service of ladies in the Trojan past. This paper thus shows that Troy and Trojan matter played a crucial role for the understanding of history and for the cultural and ideological self-description of the European nobility.
 

Lunch will be served. Contact: Johannes Junge Ruhland, jmjr [at] stanford.edu (jmjr[at]stanford[dot]edu)
 
This event is sponsored by the Department of German Studies, the DLCL, and the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies.