Koen Vacano, PhD
How antiquity shapes our world
I am a classicist and cultural historian working on classical reception, mythology, and the political appropriation of antiquity. My research explores epic stories from Homer to Hollywood, the ways ideas of “the classics” are constructed and politically mobilized, and how ancient myths shape current debates on identity, technology, and leadership.
My work focuses on how antiquity is continuously reinterpreted in modern culture and media – from popular franchises and cinema to political discourse and public debate. Drawing on critical ancient world studies and reception studies, I analyse how ancient myths, images, and narratives are reimagined in the present, and what this reveals about how we construct meaning from the past.
Photo: Martje de Vries
Epic Stories from Homer to Hollywood
Exploring how ancient story structures are used and reshaped in modern screenwriting, worldbuilding, and ideas of leadership.
Critically examining how ‘the classical’ is constructed, what it excludes, and how it is appropriated for cultural and political authority.
Constructing the Classics
Myths of the Modern World
Tracing how modern society uses ancient myths as symbols in debates on gender, technology, and psychology.
