“I was not sure what to expect going into the Myth and Voice internship– right up until the workshop was actually happening, there was so much to account for that made creating something like this so much fun. I found that right across the time I’ve been working on Kill or Spare, the activities and phrasing have changed more often than I could ever have predicted, and that was something I had to take in my stride. Tweaking ideas to fit improved activities, having to figure out what would make people really engage with material, and filtering content to match the context it was being presented in were all large and important parts of the process.

Going into the final stages of polishing the workshop, I decided not to reveal the myth we’d be working with in advance, as I wanted there to be no pressure to try and learn any of the source material. It proved to be a good idea, as most people had either not interacted with the Aeneid before or did not entirely remember the ending. Even in the final draft there was an understanding that regardless of what prompt was written, or information provided, all the resources there would be moulded by the story the participants had to tell. I think having an aspect of blindness to all the plot details allowed the participants to focus on their character rather than worrying about getting things right. I didn’t want them to feel weighed down by the pressure of having to regurgitate memorised content, and from how the session went the reduced information allowed the participants to turn the character into something of their own design. It didn’t take long for them to begin arguing with each other inside of the roles they had chosen for themselves. Getting them to decide who they most identified with rather than assigning roles was likely beneficial to this, since they had the freedom to decide whose path they wanted to shape.

This was proven quickly when during the first attempt at peace talks resulted in the exclusion of Turnus and Aeneas from the discussion. It was an interesting moment, as I had assumed that participants would jump at the chance to pick a main character – yet only two groups showed interest in them, all of the others chose side characters, or those with a less vocal part in the actual text. Most interesting was the presence of “the stranger”, a participant that arrived late decided he wanted to speak for the common man rather than directly engage with the more aristocratic characters. It was fitting in a way that he missed the start of the activity because very often, the people caught up in a war are not there to see how it started, or privy to why.

Something that took me by surprise was the choice to include Evander in the peace talks. I expected the participants to choose to include Amata and Lavinia, however I was not sure if anyone would choose to speak from Evander’s perspective. It developed into a really interesting factor, since during the first round of peace talks we found a degree of objectivity in how those playing Evander chose to act, which later changed after introducing information about the death of Evander’s son as a result of the war. One of the things I hoped to achieve in feeding the participants chunks of information at a time was that as the session went on, the characters would change from relatively blank canvases into something more alive. I think it certainly became the case; the way people grew attached to their roles was very telling of just how impactful and dividing a story like this can be.

Watching them all at first argue, unable to find common ground, shout over each other and push their own character’s agendas was extremely interesting for seeing just how easy it is to get so wrapped up in one’s own needs that you forget the consequences on everyone else. The participants did however, calm down enough during the first activity to put forward rational solutions to the myriad of problems before them. They created peace where the Aeneid had failed to do so and did their best to stop the bloodshed from getting worse.

Furthermore, when it was revealed that the situation had changed and now they had an even messier playing field to level, they had clearly learnt how to approach the situation from the earlier task. They did still disagree on a lot of points, but it did not take them long at all to critically assess, in the role of their characters, how peace may be reached in spite of all the problems. They took turns providing solutions, adjusting them to suit the needs of characters as the discussion went along – crucially they attempted to compromise, so that a good outcome could be reached for everyone and not just their own character. They very nearly reached a second verdict of peace. I am certain that if they had longer to work on compromises they would have found a way to make it work for everyone. Almost all of the characters wanted Turnus to be spared at the end, with the exception of the Evander group, who were still bitter about the death of Pallas, however it did seem that the approach the participants had to trying to make peace was having an impact on him. It certainly made for a wonderful moment when a participant, speaking as Amata, decided to address Evander parent to parent to try and stop the bloodshed. A brief silence took the room where everyone seemed, for a moment, to stop and truly agree on one key thing; that the cycle of violence had to end. They disagreed on exactly how it should end, but they did agree that it needed to.

The impact this has had on me, through all stages of development, has been an entirely positive one. I really appreciate how critically a task like this has made me think as a creator. In particular, how to guide discussion towards topics so that participants come to think of things themselves without set guidance has been a really interesting skill to gain. I loved how much it made me engage with the myth I was adapting, helping me to not just to appreciate my own perspective, or the characters’ perspective, of the Aeneid but also to approach the story afresh allowing others’ experience and preferences to affect and shape my connection with the epic.

I think it’s a wonderful thing to combine so many skills into one task. It was never just about looking at how the Aeneid could have ended differently. To name a few things, it incorporated considering a multitude of views, learning how to disseminate information on a complex topic in a simplified manner, and planning the timing and management of activities. All of these things allowed me to draw on creative aspects and devise a way to turn such a nuanced academic discussion into a roleplaying activity – which in itself is such an original and enlightening way to approach an age old topic. It also showed me how eager people are to participate once they feel confident they understand a story– making people who had no prior attachment to any of the characters get invested and really care about what they were doing, if only for a couple of hours, felt exceptionally rewarding to me.”

Linnie Serstobojeva, 3rd year Classical Studies and Myth and Voice student intern

I was extremely fortunate to have been one of the three interns for the Myth and voice Initiative this year, an experience which has taught me so much and allowed me to meet a wide variety of people from different walks of life. I was not sure what to expect when I first began the role, I assumed that I would be involved in some of the workshops, but now that I have both observed and led sessions with different groups of people, I am very proud and honoured to have been involved with the programme to such an extent. From the beginning of the experience, I was very excited as the initiative offered me a new set of skills with which to interact with myth. The creation of a community of storytellers provided a space in which ancient stories became a safe environment to explore complex thoughts and emotions. This was unlike any other experience in classics I had had before.

My first outing was a visit with Efi to a west London refugee centre in February, where I acted as an observer. This workshop was with a group of displaced people, and we focused on the myth of Demeter and Persephone, using poems from Rita Dove’s collection, Mother Love. What struck me initially was how unexpected their perspectives of what was happening in the texts were to me. I learned about this myth fairly early in my education, so I have always ‘known’ what is happening in retellings. These participants were far away from where they grew up, living in hotels, not doing what they always thought they would be doing. Their perspectives, free from the need to remain ‘true’ to the myth, highlighted for me the capacity of such distant stories to unlock people’s ability to speak in ways true to their emotions and lives. I found myself a number of times wanting to step in and ‘correct’ their assumptions, before I realised that I have no right to alter their interpretations of the myth. The most touching part of this workshop (and all the other workshops, too) was the final activity, which was fifteen minutes of freewriting. The group was provided with a few short prompts, and then they (along with those leading the workshop) were able to write however they wanted before being given the opportunity to share their work.

For example, one individual chose the prompt ‘Grief and Community’ and wrote about her husband and son who were still in the Ukraine while she was living in the UK. Her piece was an extremely moving and honest account of the brutalities of the war happening in her country, her awareness of her family there, and the lack of understanding and empathy people in the UK seem to show for the war. She particularly focused on the idea of shelter, which can mean different things depending on whether you’re living in Ukraine or the UK. In Ukraine it could mean some type of shelter from bombs and attacks, but here the UK could be shelter from this distant war, or something more meaningless, like a bus shelter.

This myth appeared especially relevant for these individuals, which was made clear through their writing at the end, and it was a real honour to be with them as they explored these retellings. The occasion was a great example of how something so ancient and so ‘other’ can act as an impactful prompt for the expression of emotions and perspectives of the here and now. It was great to witness what powerful meanings these myths acquired when approached by people who don’t have a prior relevant education, and especially by people enduring real hardship in their lives.

A couple of months later, in April, I designed and led a workshop to a creative writing class at Regent’s University, which was made up of students from a range of disciplines. Again, the focus was on the myth of Demeter and Persephone, and we looked at two poems from two contemporary authors. As I was leading this workshop, rather than observing it, it was a very different experience for me. I was not able to sit back and take in the experience as much as I had done previously, as I had to focus on getting through the tasks I had planned. However, the group very quickly eased my nerves as they were very engaged and friendly.

There was a real sense of connection between this group of individuals and these stories of mother/daughter relationships, grief, and complex emotions. Participants seemed to find it easy to relate to the figure of Persephone, especially in Nikita Gill’s poem, more so than any connection with Demeter as a mother-figure. The participants were all young women, so this made sense, as opposed to the individuals at the refugee centre, some of which were parents, or didn’t identify as women. This made for an interesting contrast to our previous workshop. Once again, the freewriting made for a fascinating experience. Almost all the participants discussed their own relationships with their mothers, and as a few of them were international students, they were already physically quite far from their families, which made it even more impactful for them to discuss that relationship here. In resonance with the poem I had chosen from Nikita Gill’s collection Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters for us to explore, there was a lot of sadness and frustration towards these mother-figures in the free writing, especially when the writings dealt with idealised mothers and the difficulty of realising that one’s mother is a flawed human, just like the rest of us.

Just like with the refugee centre, I was in awe of the vulnerability and bravery shown by the participants to show their inner thoughts to myself and Efi, as two strangers joining their space for the first time, and I think that really is the power of these kinds of stories. They resonate so deeply within us, and I think that we all have this fantastic ability to communicate inner thoughts and feelings through stories such as the myth of Demeter and Persephone. The group seemed to enjoy the workshop, and I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to lead it.

For my final workshop as a Myth and Voice Intern, I led a session to a small group of Drama students at Royal Holloway, where the Myth and Voice programme is based. I altered this session slightly to align more with the broad drama and performing interests of the particular participants, so I featured a scriptwriting exercise along with the same tasks I had been using for the other groups. This session ran similarly to the previous one. The students were very engaged in the poems and produced some of the most detailed and longest pieces of work of all the workshops. The participants did not focus as much on the relationship between Demeter and Persephone as the previous group had, but when it came to the freewriting there was an intense focus on the relationship between families, and parent and child. There was an overarching fascination with nature across the pieces which were shared, which resonated fantastically with the original myth. Again, I appreciated the vulnerability of the students to share pieces of work which used the cover and inspiration from the mythical story to discuss relationships of personal interest to them, whatever these may be. They produced some fantastic pieces of work which I found very impactful. This freewriting activity has really made me realise the benefit of just writing with no format or aim in mind, and how cathartic it can be to release thoughts and feelings that you didn’t realise you have bottled up.

My most prominent feeling towards this whole experience is one of gratitude. I am very grateful to have been able to work with a wide variety of individuals from all different backgrounds and experiences, and to witness this variety of contemporary and creative responses to the myth, which juxtaposes with the research I have been doing on ‘professional’ artistic retellings. Each workshop has inspired and educated me in different ways, and further developed my knowledge and appreciation of the benefits of community storytelling. There was quite a difference between being an observer and leading the workshops, as the role of the observer allowed me to act as a participant myself, and this experience benefitted my own workshops as I could easily place myself in my participants’ shoes and consider what would be most enjoyable and impactful for them. In the short term these workshops will benefit my master’s thesis, but for the long term I believe they have transformed my understanding of the impact of these mythical stories in the communities around us. Each participant I have worked with during this internship provided me with a unique perspective on the myth of Demeter and Persephone, while also generously sharing a glimpse of how their own life experiences influenced their voice, and that will inspire me for a long time. I can only hope that everyone enjoyed these sessions as much as I did, and that they continue to see ancient myth as a vehicle for storytelling that they can be proudly call their own!

Jojo Hills, Masters by Research in Classical Reception and Myth and Voice student intern

‘Before securing the Myth and Voice internship, I had already had some experience with Myth and Voice workshops as a participant and observer, so I was pleased with the opportunity to create my own workshop exploring gender and identity using the myth of Teiresias. The Myth and Voice initiative allows for the creation of a space in which stories from antiquity can be used to explore contemporary concepts of self, identity, the world, and our place in it, which is one of the predominate reasons I study Classics.

Before and whilst creating my own workshop, I attended the workshops of the other two interns and a workshop run by Efi at a school in Oxford. This gave me the privilege of seeing three different people running workshops in their own ways, exploring the myths of Demeter and Persephone, the Aeneid, Phaethon, and Erysichthon.

The ways in which we understand and interpret texts vary considerably based on our own lived experiences, so I was interested to see how a group of sixth formers would respond to the challenges and questions raised by the short Ovidian account of how Teiresias became a prophet. In short, Jupiter and Juno are arguing over whether it is men or women who derive greater pleasure from sexual activity, with Jupiter arguing it is women and Juno arguing it is men. They decide to ask an independent party who has had sexual experience as both a man and woman, leading them to Teiresias. Teiresias is born a man but, after disrupting two sacred snakes, his sex is transformed into that of a biological woman. Seven years later, after coming across those same snakes again, Teiresias is transformed into a biological male.

After introductions, we first delved into an activity aiming to sharpen vocabulary for talking about biological sex and gender identity. With it, I wanted to ensure everyone could communicate as effectively and sensitively as possible. It also gave me a good insight into how comfortable the students were with terminology and their level of understanding before we began.

Then, using post-it notes, the students explored the way that traits, emotions and hobbies are gendered by contemporary Western society, with post-it notes such as ‘reading’ and ‘love’ being feminine and ‘rage’ and ‘depression’ being masculine. It was interesting to note that students agreed on rage being masculine but frustration being feminine, expressing that they viewed anger as being active and external for men and internalised or passive for women. Yet, after discussion, they concluded that every post-it note (besides yoga and netball) were gender neutral.

After this we explored the story of Teiresias and discussed first impressions and the implications the story has for a contemporary understanding of the transgender experience. When asked what would be one thing that a modern day Teiresias could do as a man that they cannot do as a woman, they all answered with a variant of the same thing: go for a run/walk/to the shops at night/in the dark; there was a sense that one’s sex and gender has a direct correlation with one’s physical safety.

After this, I brought another element into the story: Teiresias’ daughter, Manto. How, I asked them, would a girl’s relationship differ if her father became her mother, or her mother became her father? How might it feel to be the child of someone who transitions? These questions led to a creative exercise in empathy in which students were asked to write diary entries as Manto. Many of these entries explored confusion and fear, with Manto wishing things could go back to the way she was accustomed. One also noted the way that people might view Manto differently, believed that their father has left and that their mother has become a lesbian, exploring also the way the spousal relationship can shift when a partner transitions.

The advantages of this immersive storytelling surrounding Teiresias is that it gave students the time and space to practice empathy and challenge their own understandings of gender and gender fluidity in a safe and open environment. By using a tale from antiquity, it provided the space for imagination and enough distance that students were more willing to explore their own preconceptions. In particular, that Teiresias went from biologically male to female and back again gave scope for viewing gender in layers, and because they had a daughter, it gave the students a character whose perspective could be more easily accessible for them. By then sharing work, we were able to strengthen the community’s understanding as they listened to and learned from each other.

We finished by exploring ways that would allow this experience to have an impact on the wider school life. The group started planning a poster that will go up onto the Equality board with the goal to start conversations and encourage people who do not fit neatly into the gender binary to feel that the school community affirms them and loves and accepts them as they are.

Given that I had not met any of these students prior to the workshop, I was pleased that they were so willing to engage in discussion and listen to each other. It was a testimony to the way that stories can unite and create a community, no matter how fleeting, between people who may otherwise have nothing else in common. Their enthusiasm also helped remind me why I love doing what I do in the first place: because I believe in the power of storytelling.

Throughout my internship, be it facilitating my own workshop or observing and participating in the workshops of others, I have found that my skills of active listening and empathy (because I do believe that is a skill that can be honed) have been challenged and developed as a result. Furthermore, this experience has confirmed to me that Classics – which I have so often seen employed in the media and politics as a weapon against equality and diversity – can not only be used as an ally for these things but is a strong ally. Not only has this helped encourage me in my own research, which has the relationship of Classics, diversity and community at its heart, it has also given me a greater ability to speak about these things in my everyday discussions with the people around me, benefitting me not just professionally but also socially.’

Thomas Barrett, Classics PhD and Myth and Voice Intern