The Friends of the ANU Classics Museum invite you to the AGM and a lecture by Dr Kathleen Rile

"Keeping Ithaca in mind: Home, Homer, and Homecoming"

Kathleen Riley’s new book, Imagining Ithaca, explores the idea of nostos (the ancient Greek word for homecoming or return), from the end of the Great War – a critical juncture in the history of homecoming – to the era of Brexit and COVID-19, which has put the notion of nostalgia firmly under the microscope. It pulls together literary and cinematic moments scattered across a number of modern sources, demonstrating the enduring attraction and influence of the human yearnings first set down by Homer. In a whistle-stop history of nostalgia, Kathleen will highlight just some of those moments, from Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Samuel Goldwyn’s The Best Years of Our Lives to Doris Pilkington Garimara’s epic tale of endurance, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, and Woody Allen’s time-travelling fantasy Midnight in Paris. Along the way she will introduce a cast of characters embracing Alice in Wonderland, George Orwell, and Cambridge Spy Guy Burgess.

Kathleen Riley completed a DPhil in Classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford where she later held a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. She has published books and articles on a wide variety of subjects, from Euripides and Horace to Oscar Wilde and Seamus Heaney. Her latest book, Imagining Ithaca: Nostos and Nostalgia Since the Great War has recently been long-listed for the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award. She is currently at work on a new book which delves into ‘classical responses’ to the Spanish Civil War. Kathleen also has a great interest in theatre history and her biography of Fred and Adele Astaire has been optioned for an upcoming motion picture with Tom Holland.

As it is the first event of the year, the lecture will be preceded by a brief AGM. Unfortunately, ANU Covid protocols again prevent our usual refreshments in the museum. There will, however be abundant opportunity to talk with Kathleen in the theatre or the foyer of the building after the lecture. Items of merchandise will also be available and all sales help to support our museum and its associated activities.