Eidolon: Eidolon makes the classics political and personal, feminist and fun

Eidolon makes the classics political and personal, feminist and fun.

Classics, as a discipline, could be more of these things, and we’re determined to make that happen. We publish on the main site about the ancient and modern world, pedagogy, pop culture, culture only classicists care about, issues in the field, etc., and occasionally on idle musings, our blog, about all sorts of nonsense and whimsy.

When we first launched in 2015, the fact that no equivalent publication existed gave us the freedom to make up the rules as we went along. We’ve come up with a few since then, and we’d like to share them with you as a new and improved Eidolon.

First, in the spirit of bringing politics into Classics, we’ll be clear about our own: we err on the progressive side, broadly defined but with the general sense of working from the margins and for the marginalized, encouraging cutting-edge scholarship, and tirelessly trying to improve whatever we’re doing. Feminism, also broadly defined (and inclusive!), is at the heart of our work, although that doesn’t necessarily restrict our content — indeed, the fact that “women’s topics” are seen as narrow while men’s topics are just “topics” is precisely part of the problem.

We welcome critique left and right, from the left and the right, and hope to encourage spirited debate. But make no mistake: we don’t believe that every opinion is equally valuable, and we don’t care about both sides, many sides, all sides, or backsides. “Objectivity” is often nothing more than a cover for upholding the status quo, and to hell with the status quo.

The logical extension of that is a commitment to opening up Classics to voices of all kinds at all levels in the field. The discourse has been monotonous for too long, and that’s not only unjust: it’s boring. We care about personal voices, we want to bring out idiosyncratic tones, volumes, pitches, cadences, and speeds in the articles that we publish.

We don’t want to eclipse the good work that the academy’s doing — we want to supplement it. We want to be just as intellectually rigorous, but we also want to take full advantage of the leeway to be freer and funnier than traditional scholarship.

Above all, we want to create a space where good ideas meet good writing. We believe in clarity, flair, and paying writers for their work; you can find our rates here.

Now have a read, have a think, and have a part in making Classics better.

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