Classically Romantic

What did Richard Wagner know about ancient Greece? More importantly, what did he think he knew? How did his attitudes shape the Ring cycle? Classically Romantic explores how Wagner's ideas about the past were shaped, not by the classical world itself, but by the Romantic Age's select view of antiquity.

Author Biography: Jeffrey L. Buller is a nationally recognized authority on classical literature and its influence on modern opera. He has published extensively on such topics as Greek tragedy, Latin pedagogy, Baroque music, and the careers of twentieth-century classical singers. Buller received his B.A. in classical and modern languages from the University of Notre Dame (1976), and both his M.A. (1977) and his Ph.D. (1981) in classics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. An administrator as well as a scholar, Buller chaired the Department of Classical Studies at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, for eight years before serving as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. Buller speaks frequently to professional groups on a variety of issues, including higher education administration, classical literature, and Wagner's Ring cycle.