Boston Area Classics Calendar 2004/2005: #12 (11/12/04) This calendar appears weekly during term. Information about upcoming events and subscription requests should be sent to an address dedicated exclusively to this calendar: calclass(a)fas.harvard.edu. Please send information as plain text e-mail in the format shown below instead of as word-processor file attachments. NEW ITEMS AND CORRECTIONS RECEIVED BEFORE 5 P.M. ON WEDNESDAY WILL APPEAR IN THE CALENDAR WHICH IS SENT OUT ON FRIDAY OF THE SAME WEEK. Any items received after that time will appear in the Calendar issued the following week. Please circulate as widely as possible. PLEASE NOTE: * = new entry ** = alteration or addition to a former entry Jul. 21 - Nov. 28 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA An exhibit on "Games for the Gods: The Greek Athlete" See Appendix for details *Sat., Nov. 13, 3:00 p.m. TUFTS UNIVERSITY, Goddard Chapel, Medford, MA Memorial Service for Miriam S. Balmuth, Research Professor of Classics and Art History at Tufts University Speakers will include colleagues, students and friends from Tufts and across the country. There will also be an opportunity for those in attendance to share their own memories of Professor Balmuth. Reception to follow in the Coolidge Room, Ballou Hall Please contact David Proctor at david.proctor(a)tufts.edu for more information Mon., Nov. 15, 4:00 p.m. BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Department of Classical Studies, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 409, Boston, MA Kristina Milnor (Barnard College) "We came here desiring: class and canon in Pompeian literary graffiti" For more information, please contact Sal Sordillo, salvy(a)bu.edu, 617-353-2427 Mon., Nov. 15, 7:00 p.m. GREEK INSTITUTE OF BOSTON, 1038 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA Author/Lecture Series 2004 Jonathan Harrington (zoologist) "Classical Animals" (Part II) See Appendix for details Mon., Nov. 15, 8:00 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, Program in Ancient Studies, Salomon, 001, Providence, RI Kirk Lecture Series 2004-5: Writing History in the Ancient World Marc Brettler (Brandeis University) "The Historical Texts of the Bible and the Bible as History" Made possible by a generous gift of the Kirk Foundation and a contribution by the Charles K. Colver Lectureship Fund For further information: Maria Sokolova (401-863-1994, Maria_Sokolova(a)Brown.edu) Tues., Nov. 16, 12:00 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, Program in Ancient Studies, Annmary Brown Memorial, 21 Brown Street, Providence, RI Culture and Religion of the Ancient Mediterranean Colloquium Mary Rose D'Angelo (University of Notre Dame) "Roman Imperial Family Values and Ancient Jewish and Christian Sexual Politics" For more information: Michael Satlow (401-863-3911, Michael_Satlow(a)Brown.edu) Tues., Nov. 16, 4:00 p.m. BOSTON UNIVERSITY, CAS Building, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 222, Boston, MA Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy Alessandra Fussi (University of Pisa) "Gyges in Plato's Republic: Of What is He an Example?" For more information, contact David Roochnik (roochnik(a)bu.edu, 617-353-4579) Wed., Nov. 17, 4:00 p.m. BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 518, Boston, MA Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy Alfredo Ferrarin (University of Pisa) "Wisdom and Knowledge of Particulars: Nicomachean Ethics VI" For more information, contact David Roochnik (roochnik(a)bu.edu, 617-353-4579) Wed., Nov. 17, 4:30 p.m. AMHERST COLLEGE, Alumni House, Amherst, MA Sponsored by the Department of Classics "Lessons from Ancient History:" A Panel on Thucydides Alan Boegehold (Brown University), Paula Debnar (Mount Holyoke College), Barry Strauss (Cornell University) Made possible by a generous gift from the Lamont Fund For directions or information please contact swupton(a)amherst.edu Thurs., Nov. 18, 4:00 p.m. BOSTON UNIVERSITY, CAS Building, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 222, Boston, MA Alfredo Ferrarin (University of Pisa) Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy "Aristotle on Phantasia" For more information, contact David Roochnik (roochnik(a)bu.edu, 617-353-4579) Thurs., Nov. 18, 4:30 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, Department of Classics, 48 College Street, Room 102, Providence, RI Christina Kraus (Yale University) "Caesar's Account of the Battle of Massilia: Historiographical and Narratological Approaches" Fri., Nov. 19, 2 - 9:30 p.m. BOSTON UNIVERSITY, "The Castle," 225 Bay State Road, Boston, MA A conference sponsored by the Institute for the Classical Tradition and the Department of Classical Studies, with the support of the International Society for the Classical Tradition: "The Aesthetics of Power and the Classical Epic Tradition" (marking ten years of International Journal of the Classical Tradition) For details and registration information, see the conference website: www.bu.edu/ict/ijct/conf.html. For more information, contact the Institute for the Classical Tradition by telephone at (617) 353-7370, by fax at (617) 353-7369, or by email (isct(a)bu.edu). Sun. Nov. 21, 2:00 p.m. MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, Remis Auditorium, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA Dramatic Reading: Homer's *Iliad* Equity actors directed by David Muse (Shakespeare Theater, Washington D.C.) with commentary by Gregory Nagy (Harvard University) Reception following General admission $18; seniors, students, and MFA members $15 For further information or to purchase tickets, call 617-369-3306 or go to http://www.mfa.org Made possible by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) Mon., Nov. 29, 4:00 p.m. HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Humanities Center, Room 133, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA Seminar on Medieval Studies Ihor Sevcenko (Harvard University) "How to Edit the Life of a Ninth-Century Byzantine Emperor? Quandaries of a Byzantinist as Compared to the Quandaries of a Classical Philologist" Mon., Nov. 29, 8:00 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, Program in Ancient Studies, Salomon, 001, Providence, RI Kirk Lecture Series 2004-5: Writing History in the Ancient World Wai-Yee Li (Harvard University) "Guises of the historian in Early Chinese Historiography" Made possible by a generous gift of the Kirk Foundation and a contribution by the Charles K. Colver Lectureship Fund For further information: Maria Sokolova (401-863-1994, Maria_Sokolova(a)Brown.edu) *Wed., Dec. 1, 5:30-7:15 p.m. WELLESLEY COLLEGE, Jewett Auditorium, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA Sponsored by Wellesley College's Newhouse Center for the Humanities David Ferry (Wellesley College) "The Experience of Translating: A Reading, with Commentary" Response by Lawrence Rosenwald (Wellesley College) Reception to follow Mon., Dec. 6, 8:00-9:15 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, First Baptist Church of America, 75 North Main Street, Providence, RI Sponsored by the Department of Classics Latin Carol Celebration Free admission; open to the public Thurs., Dec. 9, 4:15 p.m. HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Humanities Center, Room 133, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA Seminar on the Civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome Renata Schlesier (Freie Universitaet, Berlin) "Dionysos in the Underworld: The Problem of the Bacchic Mysteries" *Tues., Dec. 14, 7:00 p.m. HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Divinity School, Sperry Hall, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA Sponsored by the Semitic Museum Mark Lehner (Giza Plateau Mapping Project) "Excavations at Giza 2004: The City of the Pyramids Expands" Reception preceding lecture at 6:15 at Semitic Museum, 2nd floor, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge For more information, call Dena Davis, 617 495-4631, davis4(a)fas.harvard.edu Wed., Feb. 9, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, Department of Classical Studies, 415 South Street, Shiffman 201, Waltham, MA The First Annual Jennifer Eastman Lecture in Classical Studies Gregory Nagy (Harvard University) "The Three Songs of Demodokos in *Odyssey* viii: A Reassessment" For further information: Janet Barry (781-736-2180 or JBarry(a)brandeis.edu) or Ann O. Koloski-Ostrow (781-736-2183 or aoko(a)brandeis.edu) Tues., Feb. 15, 12:00 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, Program in Ancient Studies, Annmary Brown Memorial, 21 Brown Street, Providence, RI Culture and Religion of the Ancient Mediterranean Colloquium Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, title TBA For more information: Michael Satlow (401-863-3911, Michael_Satlow(a)Brown.edu) Tues., March 15, 12:00 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, Program in Ancient Studies, Annmary Brown Memorial, 21 Brown Street, Providence, RI Culture and Religion of the Ancient Mediterranean Colloquium Kurt Raaflaub (Brown University) "De-orientalizing Prometheus: The Culture Hero in Mesopotamia and Greece" For more information: Michael Satlow (401-863-3911, Michael_Satlow(a)Brown.edu) Tues., April 19, 12:00 p.m. BROWN UNIVERSITY, Program in Ancient Studies, Annmary Brown Memorial, 21 Brown Street, Providence, RI Culture and Religion of the Ancient Mediterranean Colloquium Burkhard Meissner (Brown University) "Siege Warfare and Its Socio-Political Conditions: Near-Eastern Precedents, Classical Models, and Hellenistic Innovation" For more information: Michael Satlow (401-863-3911, Michael_Satlow(a)Brown.edu) Wheelchair access: to the Barker Center at Harvard via the ramp at the main entrance off Quincy Street, and from there along the same level (i.e. first floor) to the Humanities Center; to Boylston Hall at Harvard via the ramp to the basement at the main entrance in the Yard, and from there by the elevator to the W. S. Fong Auditorium (a.k.a. Boylston Auditorium) on the first floor; to Andover Hall at Harvard Divinity School via the sign-posted entrances, and from there along the same level (i.e. first floor) to the Sperry Room. There is regrettably no wheelchair access to the Semitic Museum at Harvard. APPENDIX: July 21 - November 28 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA "Games for the Gods: The Greek Athlete" As in the United States today, sports were a vital part of daily life in Ancient Greece. "Games for the Gods" will be held in conjunction with the celebration of the Olympic Games in Greece in the summer of 2004 for the first time since their revival in 1896. The Greek Games were the site for the creation of local heroes and the stage where the values of the society were played out. The MFA exhibit will focus on the origins of the games, the gods (Zeus, Herakles, Hermes) and the sanctuaries associated with them (Olympic Sanctuary model), and illustrate precisely the various athletic events, the prizes given, and the names and cities of the victors. We will also use ancient imagery and artifacts to illustrate various athletic contests (running, jumping, javelins, discus throwing, wrestling, boxing, horse racing and chariot racing). The exhibit will invite the public into the ancient gymnasium and illustrate the preparations for the games. Finally, statues of the victors and their actual prizes will be on view. We will make connections between ancient and contemporary games by juxtaposing video footage and photographs of today's athletes with the ancient artifacts depicting actual events. More than three quarters of the exhibition of 180 objects will be drawn from our own world-class collection, but there will be important loans from other US museums (Metropolitan, Los Angeles County, Princeton, Detroit, etc.) that will enrich our presentation with the most dramatic and illustrative objects. This is the most comprehensive and largest exhibition of its kind to be organized by an American museum on this topic. For more information please contact Dr. Christine Kondoleon (ckondoleon(a)mfa.org) or Dr. John Herrmann (jherrmann(a)mfa.org), Curators of Greek and Roman Art, Art of the Ancient World. Mon., Nov. 15, 7:00 p.m. GREEK INSTITUTE OF BOSTON, 1038 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA Author/Lecture Series 2004 Jonathan Harrington (zoologist) "Classical Animals" (Part II) The eastern Mediterranean is an ecologically diverse region with a wide variety of animals, many of which were described by Homer, Herodotus, Aristotle, and other ancient authors. Jonathan Harrington, biologist and author, will consider questions such as the following: Were there lions in ancient Greece? What did Herodotus learn about animals during his visit to Egypt? What did Aristotle know about elephants, fish, octopuses, and other animals? What is being done now in Greece to protect endangered species such as the monk seal and the bearded vulture (both described by Homer)? What use did later authors make of the legacy of Greek zoology? The lecture on November 15 will be devoted to the Ornithiaka of Dionysius of Philadelphia, a ancient poem about birds, and its illustrations in a sixth-century AD manuscript, the Vienna Dioscurides. For further information or directions call 617-547-4770 or see web site at www.thegreekinstitute.org.