The talk that I attended was Forging Family: Thetis, Hephaistos, and Queer Kinship in Homer’s Iliad by Hannah Silverblank. Professor Silverblank compared and contrasted the ways in which Zeus and Thetis formed pseudo-familial bonds throughout Hesiod’s Theogony and Homer’s Iliad. She said that while Zeus used reproductive manipulation to increase his power – she uses the word eugenicist, Thetis’s acts of care in the Illiad are more comparable to those of a kourotrophos, or a nurse. Professor Silverblank discussed the book The Power of Thetis by Laura Slatkin and about how Thetis is often hidden in the Illiad. Thetis expands her family beyond the nuclear and traditional structure of the family and treats feminity as a refuge.
This is exemplified in the way that she cares for Hephaestus after he is thrown from Mount Olympus. When he is practicing his skills as a smith, he parallels how they are forging familial bands. She also builds these maternal bonds with Achilles and Dionysus. Her power lies in her ability to form non-nuclear bonds and to subvert the divine nuclear family.
In contrast to Thetis’ maternal connections, Zeus forms military connections. Zeus uses reproductive manipulation and cuts off future threats. He marries off Thetis to a mortal to prevent her child from being extremely powerful. Additionally, he destroys Typhon because he was prophesied to become the new ruler of the universe: “And truly a thing past help would have happened on that day, and he would have come to reign over mortals and immortals, had not the father of men and gods been quick to perceive it” (Hes. Theog. 836-38). Overall, Zeus’ actions of destroying future threats are the opposite of Thetis’ familial building.
The questions and discussions that followed the talk were very interesting; many visitors and students had contributing connections and comparisons. While I was not able to follow every example, the overall discussion was intriguing and very insightful. Professor Silverblank answered questions very well and pulled people’s contributions into her ideas cohesively. Currently, she is working on a book project about the voices of monsters and then a book project about Hephaestus, in which I believe this work will be included. I really enjoyed the talk and I think that I learned a lot about the topic.