In this three-week short course, we’ll be looking at three dark academia texts that use classics to contribute to their atmosphere. We’ll start by examining a brief background to the genre, and how it creates the tension and secrecy that are key parts of it.

We’ll look at a text each week: firstly, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, one of the foremost dark academia texts which utilises ancient Greek as a way to convey secret and esoteric knowledge, as well as dangerous relationships; Mark Prins’s The Latinist, which draws directly upon the Daphne and Apollo myth as portrayed by Ovid, and whose plot both mirrors and subverts the myth; and finally Alex Michaelides’s The Maidens, which combines dark academia with detection, wrapping deadly charisma into a plot that draws heavily upon Euripides’ Bacchae.

Reading the novels is recommended but key extracts will be provided.  Kick start your summer classics reading!

The class will meet on Zoom on Wednesdays from at 18:00-19:30 (GMT+1). Dates for this course are 17th April, 24th April, and 1st May 2024.

Tutor: Dr Anactoria Clarke.