Dr Joel Gordon, Our People, Classics

Teaching Fellow

Contact

Office 5N3, Arts Building
Email joel.gordon@otago.ac.nz

Academic qualifications

2019: PhD, University of Otago
2015: MA (Distinction), Victoria University of Wellington
2015: Graduate Diploma of Applied Theology, Carey Baptist College
2012: BA(Hons)(First Class), Victoria University of Wellington
2009: BMus, New Zealand School of Music

Background and research interests

A PhD graduate of Otago, Joel's thesis argued for a new methodology regarding the development of eschatological thought, in particular the inherent fluidity of topography (in both literary and real-world examples). Joel considers himself a socio-cultural historian who is interested in asking how ideas circulated in ancient Greece and how ordinary people made sense of the world around them.

Joel's other primary research area is reception studies: in particular, the presentation of heroes/gods in popular culture (with a specialisation in the media of film, television, comics, video and table-top games). He is also interested in exploring receptions of Hercules in New Zealand socio-cultural contexts (especially Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena:Warrior Princess).

Joel is also on the editorial team of New Classicists (an open access, peer-reviewed journal, affiliated with the Institute of Classical Studies) which specializes in working alongside postgraduate and early career researchers to get their work published for the first time.

New Classicists

Teaching

2023

GREK 112 Introductory Greek 2
GREK 211 Intermediate Greek
LATN 211 Intermediate Latin
CLAS 241 Alexander the Great
CLAS 345 Tales of Troy: from Homer to Hollywood

Areas of research supervision

Greek socio-cultural history (death & dying, eschatology, landscape studies, memory studies)
Homeric epic/Greek literature
Reception studies (film, television, comics, video games and table-top games; Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Publications

Gordon, J. (2024). 'Solving' the paradox of the Odyssean Ethiopians' twin dual localization: The narrative significance of literary spatiality. Mnemosyne, 77, 177-196. doi: 10.1163/1568525x-bja10194 Journal - Research Article

Gordon, J. A. (2024). Geographical reality or literary fantasy: The Tainaron nekuomanteion as a natural deathscape. Preternature, 13(1), 33-54. doi: 10.5325/preternature.13.1.0033 Journal - Research Article

Gordon, J. (2023, November). Reflections of ludic idiosyncracies within mobile games' representation(s) of antiquity. Verbal presentation at the Antiquity in Media Studies (AIMS) Annual Conference: The Mirror of Antiquity, [Online]. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Paprocki, M., Vandewalle, A., Gordon, J., Minniti, K., Jackson, B., & Anderson, D. S. (2023, June). Divinity and imagined antiquity in the Marvel cinematic universe. Verbal presentation at the Gods of Antiquity in Contemporary Popular Culture Seminar, [Online]. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gordon, J. (2023, March). Warhammer 40,000's use of antiquity. Verbal presentation at the Multiplay Science Fiction and Fantasy Gaming Conference, [Online]. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

2024

Journal - Research Article

Gordon, J. A. (2024). Geographical reality or literary fantasy: The Tainaron nekuomanteion as a natural deathscape. Preternature, 13(1), 33-54. doi: 10.5325/preternature.13.1.0033

2023

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Gordon, J. (2023). “In the grim darkness of the far future there is only…” Rome? Ancient Greece in Warhammer 40,000. Proceedings of the 44th Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) Annual Conference. (pp. 38-39). Retrieved from https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/events/active/uc-events/the-44th-conference-of-the-australasian-society-for-classical-studies.html

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gordon, J. (2023, March). Warhammer 40,000's use of antiquity. Verbal presentation at the Multiplay Science Fiction and Fantasy Gaming Conference, [Online].

2022

Journal - Research Article

Gordon, J. A. (2022). Reconsidering the Tartarean geography of the Iliad: Traces of a far-away Tartarus and the narrative significance of localisation. Antichthon, 56, 1-19. doi: 10.1017/ann.2022.5

Journal - Research Other

Gordon, J. (2022). [Review of the book Eschatology in antiquity: Forms and functions]. Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 6, 42. Retrieved from https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2022/2022.06.42

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gordon, J. (2022, November). Insular Greeks in the 'fluff' of Warhammer 40K. Verbal presentation at the Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Reception of the Ancient World (AMPRAW), [Hybrid].

Gordon, J. (2022, June). Multiple landscapes at the Tainaron nekuomanteion: Fact or fiction or something else altogether? Verbal presentation at the Imaginative Landscapes & Otherworlds Conference, [Online].

Other Research Output

Jackson, B., Gordon, J., Biascoechea, I., Paprocki, M., & Anderson, D. S. (2022, November). Myths & the MCU. Save Ancient Studies Association (SASA) Archaeogaming Live podcast, hosted by K. Minniti & A. Vandewalle. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7YS6bLlB2I

Gordon, J. (2022, September). 'Playing Hercules: A hero's journey through 40 years of video games. Classical Association of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Seminar].

Gordon, J. (2022, April). Geographical reality or eschatological fantasy? Analysing topographical inconsistencies at the Tainaron nekuomanteion. Classics Programme Research Seminar Series, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Department Seminar].

2021

Journal - Research Other

Gordon, J. (2021). [Review of the book New directions in the study of ancient geography]. Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 7, 9. Retrieved from https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2021/2021.07.09

Gordon, J. (2021). [Review of the book Homeric imagery and the natural environment]. Classical Journal, (April). Retrieved from https://cj.camws.org/sites/default/files/reviews/2021.04.02%20Gordon%20on%20Brockliss.pdf

2020

Chapter in Book - Research

Gordon, J. (2020). 'I am Hercules' in 2014: Rebooting and rationalizing a modern hero. In A. J. L. Blanshard & E. Stafford (Eds.), The modern Hercules: Images of the hero from the nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. (pp. 591-612). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: 10.1163/9789004440067_028

Gordon, J. (2020). Remembering in the real world: Katabasis and natural deathscapes. In M. Scherer & R. Falconer (Eds.), A quest for remembrance: The underworld in classical and modern literature. (pp. 40-60). New York, NY: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429342509

Journal - Research Other

Gordon, J. A. (2020). [Review of the book The gaze of Homer: Light and vision in the Iliad]. Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 4, 22. Retrieved from https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2020/2020.04.22

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Gordon, J. (2020). Dual localization in Homer's Odyssey: An Ethiopian case study. In D. Osland (Ed.), Proceedings of the 41st Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) Annual Conference. (pp. 36). Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/classics/ascs-2020.html

Other Research Output

Gordon, J. (2020). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S05E01, S05E22): Faith/Revelations by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/1023

Gordon, J. (2020). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S06E01, S06E08): Be Deviled/Full Circle by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/1022

Gordon, J. (2020). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S04E01, S04E22): Beanstalks and Bad Eggs / Reunions by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/1011

Gordon, J. (2020). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S03E01, S03E22): Mercenary / Atlantis by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/1010

2019

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Gordon, J. (2019). Landscape as a narrative tool in Homeric epic. Proceedings of the University of Otago Student Research Symposium: Te Wānaka Rakahau: Ākoka. Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/graduate-research

Other Research Output

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S02E01, S02E24) by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/889

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S01E01, S01E13) by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/888

Gordon, J. (2019). Young Hercules by Andrew Dettmann, Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Daniel Truly. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/829

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S00E05): Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/757

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S00E04): Hercules in the Underworld by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/755

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S00E03): Hercules and the Circle of Fire by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/754

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S00E02): Hercules and the Lost Kingdom by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/753

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S00: Season zero) by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/752

Gordon, J. (2019). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (series, S00E01): Hercules and the Amazon Women by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/751

Awarded Doctoral Degree

Gordon, J. A. (2019). "Opening up the world below": A new 'reading' of ancient Greek eschatological topography (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/9719

2018

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Gordon, J. (2018). Cartography vs. word painting: Eschatological topography and the Grove of Persephone. Proceedings of the 39th Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) Annual Meeting. (pp. 45). Retrieved from https://hapi.uq.edu.au

Other Research Output

Gordon, J. (2018). Young Hercules (series) by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/356

Gordon, J. (2018). Prisoner Zero (Series, season 1, 26 episodes) by Joshua Campbell, Jason Haigh-Ellery, Gary Russel. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/304

Gordon, J. (2018). Magi: Adventure of Sinbad [Magi: Sinbad no Bouken (マギシンドバッドの冒険)] (series, S01 E07-E08): Sinbad the Merchant [Shōnin Shindobaddo (商人シンドバッド)], Household Vessel [Kenzoku Ki (眷属器)] by Yoshikazu Miyao, Shinobu Ohtaka. Entry for Our Mythical Childhood Survey. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, UK. Retrieved from http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/351

2017

Journal - Research Article

Gordon, J. (2017). When Superman smote Zeus: Analysing violent deicide in popular culture. Classical Receptions Journal, 9(2), 211-236. doi: 10.1093/crj/clw008

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Gordon, J. (2017). Remembering the real world: Katabatic narratives and nekuomanteia, plutonia and charonia. Proceedings of 'A Quest for Remembrance': The Descent into the Classical Underworld. Retrieved from https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/research/conferences/questforremembrance

Gordon, J. (2017). “I am Hercules!”: Rebooting, rationalization and heroism in 2014. Proceedings of the Celebrating Hercules in the Modern World Conference. Retrieved from https://herculesproject.leeds.ac.uk

Gordon, J. (2017). 'Opening up' the underworld: Enlarging the study of ancient eschatology. Proceedings of the University of Otago Student Research Symposium: Te Wānaka Rakahau: Ākoka. (pp. 31). Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/graduate-research/scholarships/otago643219.html

Gordon, J. (2017). 'I am Hercules': Emerging trends in Hercules' filmic reception. Proceedings of the 38th Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) Annual Meeting. Retrieved from http;//www.ascs2017.wixsite.com/ascs2017/conference-details

Other Research Output

Gordon, J. (2017, March). Hell on earth: Katabatic deathscapes, topography and memory. Department of Classics Research Seminar, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Department Seminar].

Gordon, J. (2017, October). From contradiction to coherence: Underworld topography and the grove of Persephone. Classics and Ancient History Research Seminar, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. [Research Presentation].

2016

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Gordon, J. (2016). Who the hell is Hades? Hades’ reception within modern film. Proceedings of the 37th Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) Annual Conference. Retrieved from https://shaps.unimelb.edu.au/sites/shaps.unimelb.edu.au/files/Abstracts-ASCS37.pdf

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gordon, J. (2016, June). When audiences interfere with myth: Hades or ‘Hades-es’? Verbal presentation at the Department of Media, Film & Communication (MFCO) Early Career/Graduate Conference: Revisiting Audiences: Reception, Identity, Technology, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Other Research Output

Gordon, J. (2016, March). When Superman smote Zeus: Analysing violent deicide in popular culture. Department of Classics Research Seminar, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Department Seminar].

Gordon, J. (2016, September). When Hollywood gets it 'wrong': Hades, Disney and Percy Jackson. Classical Association of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Seminar].

2015

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gordon, J. (2015, July). Dying immortals(?): The interplay between classical gods and modern superheroes. Verbal presentation at the 9th Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Hellenic Or Roman Antiquities & Egyptology (AMPHORAE IX), Wellington, New Zealand.

Other Research Output

Gordon, J. (2015, November). When Hollywood 'tampers' with myth: Disney, Hades and one hell of a mess. Abbey College Research Talk Series, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Research Presentation].

Awarded Masters Degree

Gordon, J. (2015). Who the hell is Hades? An examination of Hades' reception within modern film (MA). Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10063/4462

2014

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gordon, J. (2014, November). Solving Hades’ identity crisis: Antiquity and modern mass culture working together. Verbal presentation at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Annual Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference (FASSGRAD), Hamilton, New Zealand.

Gordon, J. (2014, November). Solving Hades’ identity crisis: Establishing continuity between ancient and modern receptions. Verbal presentation at the 8th Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Hellenic Or Roman Antiquities & Egyptology (AMPHORAE VIII): Emerging Horizons: Material Culture, Text & Thought in Antiquity, Melbourne, Australia.

Other Research Output

Gordon, J. (2014, June). Hades and the hell of modern film. Classics Research Seminars, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. [Research Presentation].

Gordon, J. (2014, May). "You're Hades? I didn't expect you to look like this!" Problems of accuracy, divinity and myth within modern film. The Classical Association of Wellington, Inaugural Symposium, Wellington, New Zealand. [Public Seminar].