Who is the true hero of the Ring-A Case for Siegmund

Emma Popek, PhD, a member of the WSNC, will conduct this fascinating presentation on the eternally unresolved topic–who is the true hero of the Ring of the Nibelung–based on her detailed studies of the source, The Ring of the Nibelung, the poem, known as the libretto for the opera. Words matter in the Ring as much as the music. The words uttered by the key characters Siegmund, Wotan and Brunhilde coupled with some phycological insights establish a logical basis for a case for Siegmund. Emma Popek as a retired analytical chemist, an environmental technical and quality assurance manager, and an author of an internationally-acknowledged textbook on environmental data collection and analysis. In addition to music, her lifelong passion is Classical literature and history. In retirement she applied her analytical skills and the power of deduction to Classics and comparative literature. In 2021, she organized a Zoom conference, Symposium Peregrinum, for international Greco-Roman scholars where she gave a talk titled A Journey of a Hero—Achilles, Siegmund, and Choices They Make. The same year she gave a presentation to the Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest titled The Intersection of Classics and Late Romanticism—Homer, Ovid, and Richard Wagner. Emma is a the WSNC Board Member and Treasurer. Emma Popek, PhD, a member of the WSNC, will conduct this fascinating presentation on the eternally unresolved topic–who is the true hero of the Ring of the Nibelung–based on her detailed studies of the source, The Ring of the Nibelung, the poem, known as the libretto for the opera. Words matter in the Ring as much as the music. The words uttered by the key characters Siegmund, Wotan and Brunhilde coupled with some phycological insights establish a logical basis for a case for Siegmund. Emma Popek as a retired analytical chemist, an environmental technical and quality assurance manager, and an author of an internationally-acknowledged textbook on environmental data collection and analysis. In addition to music, her lifelong passion is Classical literature and history. In retirement she applied her analytical skills and the power of deduction to Classics and comparative literature. In 2021, she organized a Zoom conference, Symposium Peregrinum, for international Greco-Roman scholars where she gave a talk titled A Journey of a Hero—Achilles, Siegmund, and Choices They Make. The same year she gave a presentation to the Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest titled The Intersection of Classics and Late Romanticism—Homer, Ovid, and Richard Wagner. Emma is a the WSNC Board Member and Treasurer.