Trojan War animated
Margaret Eaton
Issue date: 9/14/05 Section: News
Whether or not the Trojan War actually happened as Homer wrote down in his poems, it has inspired many books, movies and now cartoons with themes drawn from Homer's works.
Tom Sienkewicz, Monmouth College professor, was invited by Lee Brice and the history department to come to Western Illinois University and share his collection of cartoons - both humorous and political - with the students and community.
"This presentation tonight is part of the history department's continuing effort to highlight the importance of humanities in a well-rounded higher education," said Brice at the beginning of this 50-minute presentation.
Sienkewicz began with a series of cartoons about Leda, the woman Zeus fell in love with and disguised himself as a swan to be with.
"The humor of these cartoons works only when the viewer knows the story. I ask you to do more than chuckle at them. I ask you to consider and analyze what they are saying," Sienkewicz said.
He emphasized that Leda was the focus of almost all the cartoons and the very last cartoon of the series was the only one to mention Zeus. It also was the first of many political cartoons which used Trojan themes. This cartoon showed a group of small children sitting on the floor in front of a painting of Leda, the swan, and a small boy commenting, "So, Zeus was kind of like their President Bill Clinton?"
The next series of cartoons featured Helen of Troy and her fabled "face that launched a thousand ships.
"These cartoons are solely innocent puns and ship launching jokes with no political or social themes," said Sienkewicz of the series.
The next series, featuring Achilles and his weak ankles, was the first series to have many cartoons with a political slant. There were cartoons focusing on many prominent and not-so-prominent politicians of the 20th century including Adolf Hitler, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and former President George Bush.
The cartoons of this series also focused on social issues. One example was a cartoon where Achilles is lying on the floor and two men are standing near him saying to each other, "What happened to Achilles?" "No flu shot," alluding to last year's shortage of flu vaccines.
Tom Sienkewicz, Monmouth College professor, was invited by Lee Brice and the history department to come to Western Illinois University and share his collection of cartoons - both humorous and political - with the students and community.
"This presentation tonight is part of the history department's continuing effort to highlight the importance of humanities in a well-rounded higher education," said Brice at the beginning of this 50-minute presentation.
Sienkewicz began with a series of cartoons about Leda, the woman Zeus fell in love with and disguised himself as a swan to be with.
"The humor of these cartoons works only when the viewer knows the story. I ask you to do more than chuckle at them. I ask you to consider and analyze what they are saying," Sienkewicz said.
He emphasized that Leda was the focus of almost all the cartoons and the very last cartoon of the series was the only one to mention Zeus. It also was the first of many political cartoons which used Trojan themes. This cartoon showed a group of small children sitting on the floor in front of a painting of Leda, the swan, and a small boy commenting, "So, Zeus was kind of like their President Bill Clinton?"
The next series of cartoons featured Helen of Troy and her fabled "face that launched a thousand ships.
"These cartoons are solely innocent puns and ship launching jokes with no political or social themes," said Sienkewicz of the series.
The next series, featuring Achilles and his weak ankles, was the first series to have many cartoons with a political slant. There were cartoons focusing on many prominent and not-so-prominent politicians of the 20th century including Adolf Hitler, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and former President George Bush.
The cartoons of this series also focused on social issues. One example was a cartoon where Achilles is lying on the floor and two men are standing near him saying to each other, "What happened to Achilles?" "No flu shot," alluding to last year's shortage of flu vaccines.
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