Boston Area Classics Calendar
March 2022
Patrick Finglass (University of
Bristol)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?…
Fri., Mar. 18, 4:30 – 6:15 p.m.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY, CAS B18, 725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215
Topic TBA
Sponsored by the BU Center for the Humanities
Boston University: Myth & Religion In The Ancient
World<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.bu.edu_cl…
Patrick Finglass (University of
Bristol)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?…
Mon., Mar. 21, 5:15 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Barker 114, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
"Towards a new edition of Sappho: ordering the fragments of Book 1"
Book 1 of the ancient edition of Sappho consisted of all her poems in the sapphic metre.
We have quite a lot of evidence for this book (at least, compared to our evidence for all
her other books), and this paper looks at one important aspect of it in particular: the
order of the poems which it contained. It considers the question under two related
headings. First, how much do we actually know about the ordering? For instance, how sure
can we be that the famous ‘Ode to Aphrodite’ poem came first in the edition? (Surer than
is currently realised, it turns out.) Apart from that first poem, was alphabetical order
the rule, or were there further exceptions – and if so, on what basis, and to what effect?
Second, how should modern editors approach the issue of how to order the fragments? A
modern vulgate order has become established over the past century, and all other things
being equal, it is better not to disturb such an ordering without good reason – but are
all other things equal, and might there now be a good reason? Or to put it another way,
what could a better ordering of the fragments achieve? And if we do reorder, what do we do
with the fragments which cannot be firmly placed in any particular location within the
book? By considering these points, both theoretical and practical, we can (it is hoped)
become more attuned to the editorial shaping of the most-read book of the most-read female
writer in antiquity, and thus, perhaps, become better readers of the Sappho known to so
many generations across so many centuries throughout the ancient world.
Ellen Oliensis (UC
Berkeley)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar…
Tue., Mar. 22, 5:30 p.m.
BROWN UNIVERSITY, 85 Waterman St., Room 130, Providence, RI
"What's Past is Prologue: Plautus Menaechmi"
Michael C.J. Putnam Lecture
Free and open to the public.
This lecture will develop a close reading of Plautus' Menaechmi, demonstrating the
remarkable care with which this perennially popular comedy is constructed. The play will
emerge from this discussion as the comic counterpart, not in its content but in its form,
of Sophocles' Oedipus. As in Oedipus, the onstage action is determined by an
unrecognized past: everything the titular twins do and suffer in the course of the comedy
attests to a knowledge they don't know or can't admit that they possess. It is
by giving them the chance to work through their past that the comedy enables the twins to
achieve their "happy ending."
Ellen Oliensis is the Klio Distinguished Professor of Classical Languages and Literature
and Professor of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies and Comparative Literature at the
University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include Roman literature
(especially Ovid), translation, literary form, and psychoanalysis.
Named in honor of Professor Emeritus, Michael Putnam, and funded by the Putnam Flexible
Research Fund, the Putnam Lecture is an annual talk delivered by an invited scholar on a
topic related to the particular specialties of Professor Putnam.
[Ellen Oliensis (UC Berkeley)]
Ancient Studies Visitors Series: Andrew Bauer (Stanford
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Tue., Mar. 22, 6 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Sever 113, Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138 (and on Zoom)
Lecture: "Archives, Archaeology, and the Anthropocene: Reconciling Disparate
Epistemic Foundations in a Time of Precarity"
Zoom
link<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__hu-2Dmy.sharep…
Note from speaker: In this presentation I critically engage R.G. Collingwood’s provocation
that “archaeology is the methodology of history.” In distinction from typical definitions
of “text-aided archaeology,” which imply the use of documentary sources to contextualize
the archaeological record and aid interpretation of its content, I underscore the
importance of a complementary process of using the archaeological record to enrich
interpretations of epigraphical sources. Relying on inscriptional, archaeological, and
geological data from ancient and medieval southern India as source material, I illustrate
how the cultural significance of inscriptional records for ritual activities in the
interior Deccan was related to the shifting materialities of agricultural land use that
can be documented only archaeologically. When taken together, the disparate evidentiary
sources demonstrate how changes in land use and inscriptional practices articulated with
newly emergent social relationships and politicized conditions of precarity, both
challenging and complementing previous inscription-based historiography of the region.
Building on this case study, I highlight how treating documentary and archaeological
sources more equally within the same hermeneutic process can augment and diversify
environmental imaginaries needed to address the politics and publics of contemporary
climate change.
Ancient Studies at Harvard Visitors
Series<https://ancientstudies.harvard.edu/visitors-series>
[Ancient Studies Visitors Series: Andrew Bauer (Stanford University)]
Ilana Freedman (Harvard, Dept. of Comparative
Literature)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Fri., Mar. 25, 3 – 4 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY (Zoom)
"The Classical Past as Cultural Capital: Transcultural Perspectives"
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, "Cultural Politics: Interdisciplinary
Perspectives"<https://wcfia.harvard.edu/calendar/upcoming/seminars/…
harvard.zoom.us…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ha…
Respondent: Panagiotis Roilos
Alexander O'Hara (Harvard
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Mon., Mar. 28, 5:15 p.m.
MIT, Building E51, E51-095, Cambridge, MA
"The Irish at the Carolingian Court and the Europeanization of Europe"
Note: Attendees who are not members of the MIT Community on COVID Pass must contact
tranvoj@mit.edu<mailto:tranvoj@mit.edu> for a Tim Ticket. More info on COVID-19
protocol here:
covidapps.mit.edu…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__c…
MIT Ancient & Medieval Studies Colloquium Series
[Alexander O'Hara (Harvard University)]
April 2022
Aurelio Conference in Honor of Jeffrey
Henderson<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar…
Fri., Apr. 1, 2 p.m.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Barrister's Hall, BU School of Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue,
Boston, MA 02215 (behind Marsh Chapel)
Conference Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Reception Time: 6 p.m. EST
Dinner Time: 7:15 p.m. EST
The program for the 2022 Conference is as follows:
Lowell Edmunds, Rutgers University
'The Homeric Helen as Weaver and Spinner'
Helene Foley, Barnard College
‘Euripidaristophanizing’
Ralph Rosen, University of Pennsylvania
‘Greek Comedy and the Question of Seriousness: Some New Approaches’
Steven D. Smith, Hofstra University
‘A Maculate Muse in Byzantium: Four Epigrams by Agathias of Myrina (AP 9.642-644, 662)’
The conference is open to anyone interested and is free of charge. Registration in advance
of the conference is encouraged, with walk-ins welcome.
To attend the dinner, dinner registration and a small fee are required by March 25th,
2022. Dinner registration will open soon. For more information and to register for the
conference and/or dinner, please visit:
https://www.bu.edu/classics/news-events/aurelioconference/<https://urlde…
The Aurelio Conference is sponsored by the Boston University Center for the Humanities,
the Boston University Department of Classical Studies, and the William Goodwin Aurelio
Professorship.
Dan-el Padilla Peralta (Princeton
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Tue., Apr. 5, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Barker
Center, Thompson Room, 12 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA 02138 and Zoom
Du Bois Lecture Series (1 of 3)
Registration<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvar…
hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu…<https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/e…
Katherine Schwab (Fairfield
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Tue., Apr. 5, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
AMHERST COLLEGE, Fayerweather Hall 115, Amherst, MA 01002
Polychromy, New (and Old) Technologies, and the Parthenon Metopes
Dr. Katherine Schwab will speak on a selection of Parthenon metopes to analyze
technologies, past and present, to better understand the original compositions and their
polychromatic appearance. The original ninety-two carved marble panels displayed four
major mythological battles prominently positioned above the columns on all four sides of
the temple. Today we have a greatly altered impression due to their current state of
damage and location. From graphite drawings to Virtual Reality, we are in a position to
better understand these nearly life-sized compositions that formed the public face of
Athena’s temple on the Athenian Acropolis.
The event is sponsored by the Amherst College Department of Classics and the Lamont Fund.
COVID protocols: Attendees not participating in the Amherst College COVID testing program
will be required to show either proof of full COVID vaccination and proof of booster, or a
negative result from a test taken within 72 hours preceding the event. Indoor masking is
required.
www.amherst.edu…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ww…
Dan-el Padilla Peralta (Princeton
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Wed., Apr. 6, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Barker
Center, Thompson Room, 12 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA 02138 and Zoom
Du Bois Lecture Series (2 of 3)
Registration<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvar…
hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu…<https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/e…
Dan-el Padilla Peralta (Princeton
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Thu., Apr. 7, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, TBA,
Cambridge, MA 02138 and Zoom
Du Bois Lecture Series (3 of 3)
Registration<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvar…
hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu…<https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/e…
Christian Thomsen (University of
Copenhagen)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Tue., Apr. 12, 5:30 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Boylston 237, Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138 (and on Zoom)
TBA
Nate Aschenbrenner and Jake Ransohoff (Harvard
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Mon., Apr. 18, 5 – 7 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, TBD
Book launch for The Invention of Byzantium in Early Modern Europe.
John Duffy
Society<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/links/john-duffy-society>
Text Editing
Workshop<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?…
Thu., Apr. 21, 12 – 1:15 p.m.
Zoom
John Duffy
Society<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/links/john-duffy-society>
Rebecca Miller Ammerman (Colgate
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Thu., Apr. 21, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
AMHERST COLLEGE, Fayerweather Hall 115, Amherst, MA 01002
On Sacred Ground: Interpreting Votive Images at Metaponto in Southern Italy
The chora or territory lying beyond the walls of the urban center of Metaponto has been
the focus of pioneering archaeological fieldwork for more than half a century. Metaponto’s
chora may thus rightly boast to be the most thoroughly investigated of any city-state in
the ancient Greek world. This path-breaking research on the dynamic landscape of the
countryside forms the backdrop to Dr. Ammerman’s study of the statuettes and relief
plaques made of baked clay that generations of worshippers dedicated as votive offerings
at the rural sanctuary of Pantanello. Dr. Ammerman will illustrate the different angles
from which she has analyzed this large assemblage of figured terracottas in order to shed
light on the nature of the cult practiced at Pantanello and the concerns that worshippers
hoped would be addressed by the patron deity of the sanctuary to whom they made their
votive gift. Dr. Ammerman's Lecture is made possible by the Amherst College
Department of Classics and the Lamont Lecture Fund.
COVID protocols: Attendees not participating in the Amherst College COVID testing program
will be required to show either proof of full COVID vaccination and proof of booster, or a
negative result from a test taken within 72 hours preceding the event. Indoor masking is
required.
www.amherst.edu…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ww…
Text Editing
Workshop<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?…
Fri., Apr. 22, 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Zoom
John Duffy
Society<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/links/john-duffy-society>
View the entire calendar
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