Thursday, 18th January 2024, 7:30 p.m.

     Prof. Elizabeth Carney (Clemson University)

“The End of a Dynasty: Commemoration and Appropriation of the Aeacid Past”

Location: Columbia University Faculty House

Prof. Carney has kindly shared the abstract of the talk with us:

"Aeacid monarchy in Molossia/Epirus ended in an explosion of violence about 232 BCE, yet some Aeacids continued to celebrate their predecessors and, indirectly, themselves, even more than two centuries later. At Delphi and possibly at Olympia, Nereis, the last survivor of the immediate ruling family, with her husband, Gelon II, soon after the abolition of monarchy in Epirus, dedicated multiple statues of some of the last ruling Aeacids to Apollo.  The burials of at least three other members of the Aeacid clan, resident in Macedonia, clustered around the burial or tomb of Olympias in the region of Pydna, the site of her death. The name “Neoptolemus,” that of the son of Achilles and supposed founder of Molossian monarchy (and of several Epirote kings), appears in all three inscriptions, as does pride in Aeacid identity. Two of these inscriptions celebrate Olympias, but none mentions monarchy, either Epirote or Macedonian. This paper will examine the nature and apparent motivation of these post-monarchy memorials."

Thursday, 26th October 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Prof. Rosa Andújar (King's College London)

“Smelling the Gods in Greek Tragedy”

Location: Columbia University Faculty House

Prof. Andújar has kindly shared the abstract of the talk with us:

This paper examines divine fragrances in Greek tragedy. I focus on two moments in which characters claim to recognize the presence of a god through smell: the closing scene in Hippolytus in which the dying protagonist notes the apparition of Artemis (Eur. Hipp. 1391-3) and the moment preceding the parodos in Prometheus Bound, in which Prometheus becomes aware of the entrance of the chorus of Oceanids (Aesch. PV 115). I position the two scenes in relation to recent work on the cultural history of olfaction and the ways in which smell played a key role in establishing religious meaning and the experience of the divine. I argue that these scenes provide a unique insight into two crucial issues for the Greek dramatic stage: the ambiguously material tragic gods and the equally unstable materiality of the sense of smell. Not only do these two scenes draw attention to the fluctuating corporeality of the Greek gods, but they also illuminate the strangeness of relying on the ambiguous sense of smell as a primary means of recognition on the stage. As I contend, these two scenes furthermore enable us to rethink the general “smellscape” of ancient Greek drama and the ways in which tragic aromas and stenches differed from those found in satyr play and Old comedy. In a genre so heavily invested in visual and aural spectacle, it is easy to overlook the manner in which smell contributed to the experience of fifth-century Athenian theatre.

The evening will begin with drinks at 5:45 PM at the Faculty House (location TBA on the screens in the lounge), followed by dinner at 6:15 PM.

Please confirm by October 18th (midday) if you will be attending any of these events in person by emailing our Rapporteur José Antonio Cancino Alfaro (jc5502@columbia.edu).

We hope to see many of you!

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Folch

Joel Lidov

Thursday, September 21, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

     Prof. Matthew Leigh (University of Oxford)

“Declamatory Fictions and the Crimen Maiestatis - Seneca, Controuersiae 9.2”

Location: Columbia University Faculty House

Prof. Leigh has kindly shared the abstract of the talk with us:

“In 184 B.C., the censors M. Porcius Cato and L. Valerius Flaccus expelled from the senate seven of its members, of whom the most famous was L. Quinctius Flamininus. The accusation against Flamininus was that, while serving as consul for the year 192 B.C. and campaigning in the province of Gaul, he personally slew with a sword a Boian deserter who had reached his quarters while he was in his cups. This he did to compensate his prostitute lover Philippus who had quit Rome with him just before the gladiatorial games and complained to Flamininus that he had missed the entertainment. Livy 39.42-43 records this episode and cites the principal sources for subsequent versions of the story. In Controversiae 9.2, Flamininus stands trial under the statute'maiestatis laesae sit actio'. This paper asks the following questions of the Senecan exercise: (i) Is there any historical basis for an actual trial of Flamininus under the lex maiestatis? (ii) What does it mean for declaimers operating at different points in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius to try the case by application of the crimen maiestatis? (iii) What perspective on the different iterations of this exercise and on those credited with contributing to it is offered to Seneca as he gathers together his material at the very end of the reign of Tiberius and published it at the start of that of Gaius?”

We hope to see many of you there!

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Folch

Joel Lidov