"This is the first scholarly exploration of concepts and representations of artificial intelligence in ancient Greek and Roman epic, including their reception in later literature and culture. Contributors look at how Hesiod, Homer, Apollonius of Rhodes, Moschus, Ovid and Valerius Flaccus have elaborated on the first literary texts that deal with automata and the quest for artificial life as well as technological intervention improving human life"--
This is the first scholarly exploration of concepts and representations of Artificial Intelligence in ancient Greek and Roman epic, including their reception in later literature and culture. Contributors look at how Hesiod, Homer, Apollonius of Rhodes, Moschus, Ovid and Valerius Flaccus crafted the first literary concepts concerned with automata and the quest for artificial life, as well as technological intervention improving human life.
Parts one and two consider, respectively, archaic Greek, and Hellenistic and Roman, epics. Contributors explore the representations of Pandora in Hesiod, and Homeric automata such as Hephaestus' wheeled tripods, the Phaeacian king Alcinous' golden and silver guard dogs, and even the Trojan Horse. Later examples cover Artificial Intelligence and automation (including Talos) in the Argonautica of Apollonius and Valerius Flaccus, and Pygmalion's ivory woman in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Part three underlines how these concepts benefit from analysis of the ekphrasis device, within which they often feature. These chapters investigate the cyborg potential of the epic hero and the literary implications of ancient technology. Moving into contemporary examples, the final chapters consider the reception of ancient literary Artificial Intelligence in contemporary film and literature, such as the Czech science-fiction epic Starvoyage, or Small Cosmic Odyssey by Jan Kr esadlo (1995) and the British science-fiction novel The Holy Machine by Chris Beckett (2004).
Recenzijas
[ A] well crafted artifact that exemplifies why real books are making a comeback The chapters on offer in this volume are as thought-provoking as they are timely, as variegated as they are relevant to our times. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review * In a world that is currently engaging with AI to an unprecedented degree, this is a timely publication that casts our view back in time to offer new ideas about the ancient notion of AI and how it is presented specifically in ancient Greek and Roman epic poetry. -- Maria Gerolemou, Visiting Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Papildus informācija
An exploration of concepts and representations of artificial intelligence in ancient Greek and Roman epic as well as its reception in later literature and culture.
List of Illustrations
List of Contributors
1. Introduction: Greek and Roman Authors Imagining Artificial Intelligence:
The Case of Epic Poetry, Andriana Domouzi (National and Kapodistrian
University of Athens, Greece) and Silvio Bär (University of Oslo, Norway)
I: Archaic Greek Epic
2. Hesiod's Pandora: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Lilah Grace Canevaro
(University of Edinburgh, UK)
3. The Homeric Trojan Horse: An Intelligent Device, Giulia Maria Chesi
(Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany)
4. Cyber-dogs, 'Gut Thinkings', and the Limits of Recognition in Homer's
Odyssey, Brett M. Rogers (University of Puget Sound, USA)
5. Homertron: The Poet-Construct of Il. 2.489490, Jurgen R. Gatt
(Universitą ta Malta, Malta)
6. Hephaestus' Wheeled Tripods, Braitenberg Vehicles and Entangled Being:
The Problem of Homer's Technology, Ahuvia Kahane (Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland)
II: Hellenistic and Roman Epic
7. Talos: Overcoming the AI Monster?, Genevieve Liveley (University of
Bristol, UK)
8. The Tyrants and Their Robots: The Perverted Use of Artificial
Intelligence in Apollonius of Rhodes, Alessandro Giardini (Scuola Normale
Superiore di Pisa, Italy)
9. Between Nature and Technology: Moschus Europa and Ancient Automata, Kat
Mawford (University of Manchester, UK)
10. Pygmalion and Pandora in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Alicia Matz (Boston
University, USA)
11. Rocking the Boat: Sentient Technology and Metapoetics in Valerius
Flaccus' Argonautica, Bev Back (University of Leeds, UK)
III: Conceptualisation and Reception
12. Artifice of Intelligence? Theories of Mind in Ancient Epic, Benjamin
Eldon Stevens (Howard University, USA)
13. Heroic Machines: Epic Heroes as Cyborgs, Treasa Bell (Yale University,
USA)
14. At the Gates of Mt Olympus: Where AI and Literary Culture Meet, Michiel
Meeusen (Kings College London, UK)
15. Hesiods Age of Heroes and Technological Evolution in Film, Rocki
Wentzel (Augustana University, USA)
16. Homeric Robots and Computers in Love: Artificial Life Forms in Jan
Kresadlos Ancient Greek Epic Astronautilia (1995), Stefan Weise (Bergische
Universität Wuppertal, Germany)
17. A Perfect Woman to Order: The Pygmalion Myth in Chris Beckett's The Holy
Machine, Tony Keen (University of Notre Dame London's Global Gateway, UK)
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Andriana Domouzi is Postdoctoral Researcher in Classics and Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
Silvio Bär is Professor of Classics at the University of Oslo, Norway.