RADCLIFFE G. EDMONDS III

530 Old Lancaster Road, Haverford, PA 19041

(610) 520-2422

redmonds@brynmawr.edu

http://www.brynmawr.edu/classics/redmonds

 

Education:

University of Chicago: Classical Languages and Literatures  M.A. 12/94, Ph.D.  6/99.

Yale University:   Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude with distinction, 6/92.

 

Dissertation:   (Advisors: Christopher Faraone, Bruce Lincoln, Martha Nussbaum )

A Path Neither Simple Nor Single:  The Use of Myth in Plato, Aristophanes, and the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets 

 

Academic Honors:

Center for Hellenic Studies Fellowship, 2007-2008

Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship, 2004-2005

Dissertation Fellowship, Chicago Humanities Institute, 1998-9
(now the Franke Institute for the Humanities)

Junior Fellowship, Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion, 1997-8
(now the Martin Marty Center)

National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, Isthmia Excavation Project, 1995

University of Chicago Century Fellowship, 1993-1997 

Phi Beta Kappa, Yale University, 1991

 

Research and Teaching Interests:

Greek mythology, religions of the ancient Greek and Roman world, Greek philosophy, Greek social and intellectual history, ancient magic, eros in Greek culture, Plato and Platonic philosophy, Homeric and Hesiodic poetry, choral lyric poetry.

 

Publications:

Books

Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

The Orphic Gold Tablets and Greek Religion: Further Along the Path, editor and contributing article and introduction for a collection of new and previously published articles on the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets (forthcoming Cambridge University Press).

 

Articles

"Tearing Apart the Zagreus Myth:  A Few Disparaging Remarks on Orphism and Original Sin," Classical Antiquity  18.1 (1999), pp. 35-73. 

"Socrates the Beautiful: Role Reversal and Midwifery in Plato's Symposium,"  Transactions of the American Philological Association 130 (2000), pp. 261-285.

"Did the Mithraists Inhale?  - A Technique for Theurgic Ascent in the Mithras Liturgy, the Chaldaean Oracles, and some Mithraic Frescoes," Ancient World 32.1 (2000), pp. 10-24.

"Who in Hell is Heracles?  Dionysos' Disastrous Disguise in Aristophanes' Frogs," in Initiation in Ancient Greek Rituals and Narratives:  New Critical Perspectives, eds. Dodds & Faraone, Routledge 2003, pp. 181-200.

"At the Seizure of the Moon:  The Absence of the Moon in the Mithras Liturgy," in Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, eds. Noegel, Walker, & Brannon, Penn State University Press, 2003, pp. 223-239.

"Faces of the Moon: Cosmology, Genesis, and the Mithras Liturgy," in Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions, eds. Ra'anan S. Boustan & Annette Yoshiko Reed, Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 275-295.

"To Sit in Solemn Silence? Thronosis in Ritual, Myth, and Iconography," American Journal of Philology 127.3 (2006), pp. 347-366.

"Extra-ordinary People: Mystai and Magoi, Magicians and Orphics in the Derveni Papyrus," Classical Philology 103 (2008), pp. 16-39.

"Recycling Laertes' Shroud:  More on Orphism and Original Sin," (published online at the Center for Hellenic Studies: http://chs.harvard.edu/chs/redmonds).

"Who are you?  Mythic Narrative and Identity in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets," in Cults of Magna Grecia, ed. Patricia Johnston & Giovanni Casadio, (forthcoming).

"The Children of Earth and Starry Heaven:  The Meaning and Function of the Formula in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets," in Orfeo y el orfismo: nuevas perspectivas, ed. Alberto Bernabˇ, (forthcoming).

"Whip Scars on the Naked Soul: Myth and Elenchos in Plato's Gorgias" (forthcoming in Platonic Myths: Status, Uses, and Functions, (Brill) ed. Collobert, Destrˇe & Gonzalez).

"Sacred Scripture or Oracles for the Dead?  The Semiotic Situation of the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets," in The Orphic Gold Tablets and Greek Religion (forthcoming).

"Persephone and ¹οινή: Recompense for the Powers of the Underworld in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets and Pindar fr. 133," in Graf, Fritz, ed., Ritual Texts for the Afterlife, (forthcoming).

"The Bright Cypress of the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets: Direction and Illumination in Myths of the Underworld," in Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek & Roman Mythology and Religion, (forthcoming).

"Orphic Mythology" in Blackwell Companion to Classical Mythology (forthcoming).

 

 

Reviews:

Felton, D., Haunted Greece and Rome in Archaeology Odyssey, March/April 2000, pp. 56-58.

Brisson, Luc, Plato the Mythmaker in Journal of the History of Religions 40.2 (2000), pp. 179-182.

Luck, Georg, Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (01.01.01).

Morgan, Kathryn A., Myth and Philosophy from the pre-Socratics to Plato, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (01.06.18).

Ogden, Daniel, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds. A Sourcebook, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (03.07.01).

Detienne, Marcel, The Writing of Orpheus, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (04.07.54).

Bernabˇ, Albertus (ed.), Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta. Poetae Epici Graeci. Pars II. Fasc. 1 in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (04.12.29).

Graf, Fritz, and Johnston, Sarah Iles, Ritual Texts for the Afterlife. Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (07.10.35).

 

Reviews of book proposals for Routledge Press (12/02), Blackwell Press (11/02), Focus Press (06/07).

Reviews of articles for Classical Antiquity, Classical Journal, and American Journal of Philology.

 

 

Projects:

"A Curious Concoction:  Tradition and Innovation in Olympiodorus' Creation of Mankind" (under consideration at American Journal of Philology).

 

Redefining Ancient Orphism (book in progress).

 

Presentations:

"Dismembering Dionysos in the Polis," presented at Perceptions of Polis-Religion: Inside/Outside - A Symposium in Memory of Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, University of Reading, July 5, 2008.

"Whip Scars on the Naked Soul: Myth and Elenchos in Plato's Gorgias," presented at Uses, Functions, and Status of Platonic Myths, University of Ottawa, May 30, 2008.

"Orphic Mythology:  Redefining Ancient Orphism," presented at University of Virginia, February 21, 2008.

"The Bright Cypress of the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets: Direction and Illumination in Myths of the Underworld," presented at Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek & Roman Mythology and Religion, University of Patras, Greece, July 7, 2007.

"That Old Titanic Nature: Orphism and Plato Laws 701bc," presented at the American Philological Association Meeting, San Diego, January 2007.

"Extra-ordinary People: Mystai and Magoi, Magicians and Orphics in the Derveni Papyrus," presented at Swarthmore College, September 26, 2006, and at UCLA, May 21, 2007.

"Persephone and ¹οινή: Recompense for the powers of the Underworld in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets and Pindar fr. 133," presented at Ritual Texts for the Afterlife:  A Gold Tablets Conference, Ohio State University, April 28-30, 2006.

"A Curious Concoction:  Tradition and Innovation in Olympiodorus' Creation of Mankind" presented at the American Philological Association Meeting, Montreal, January 2006.

"Sacred Scripture or Oracles for the Dead?  The Semiotic Situation of the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets," presented at Classical Association of the Middle West and South Centennial Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri, April 2004 and Orfeo y el orfismo: nuevas perspectivas, Mallorca, Spain, February, 2005.

"Who are you? Mythic Narrative and Identity in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets," presented at the Ohio State University Classics Colloquium, May 2004, Bryn Mawr Classics Colloquium, November 2004, and Bowdoin College, November 2005.

"Of Your Blessed Race: Mythic Narrative and Identity in the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets," presented at the Vergilian Society's Symposium Cumanum "The Cults of Magna Graecia," June 2002, and at "Religion-Philosophy-Poetry: Rethinking Early Greek Hexametrical Texts," Franke Institute for the Humanities, University of Chicago, November 2002.

"Pure from the pure and the sheep from the goats: 'Orphism', 'Magic', and the (re)constructions of ancient Greek religion," presented at American Philological Association 133rd Annual Meeting, 1/02.

"To Sit in Solemn Silence? Thronosis in Ritual, Myth, and Iconography," presented at American Philological Association 132nd Annual Meeting, 1/01.

"Who in Hell is Heracles?  Dionysos' Disastrous Disguise in Aristophanes' Frogs," presented at "Beyond Initiation: Transitions and Power in Ancient Rituals and Narratives," at University of Chicago, March 23-25, 2000, at Classical Association of Middle West and South 2000 Annual Meeting, April, 2000, and at the University of Pennsylvania Classics Colloquium, September 20, 2001.

"At the Seizure of the Moon:  The Absence of the Moon in the Mithras Liturgy," presented at "Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World," at the University of Washington,   March 3-5, 2000 and at "In Heaven as it is on Earth" at Princeton University, January 14-15, 2001.

"Whip Scars on the Naked Soul:  Myth and Elenchos in Plato's Gorgias," Ancient Philosophy Workshop,  University of Chicago, 1/99, and CAMWS 1999 Annual Meeting, 4/99.

"Did the Mithraists Inhale?  - A Technique for Theurgic Ascent in the Mithras Liturgy, the Chaldaean Oracles, and some Mithraic Frescoes,"   APA 1997 Annual Meeting, Special Panel on Theurgy, 12/97.

"Roads Not Taken:  Explorations of the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets": co-organized a conference of graduate student and faculty speakers at the Chicago Humanities Institute,  12/97.

"Tearing Apart the Zagreus Myth:  A Few Disparaging Remarks on Orphism and Original Sin," Workshop on Ancient Societies, University of Chicago, 5/97. 

"Socrates the Beautiful: Role Reversal and Midwifery in Plato's Symposium,"  Workshop on Rhetoric and Poetics, University of Chicago 4/97.

"Genitive Confusions in Plato's Symposium (199d2-7)," APA 1996 annual meeting, 12/96.

"The Married and the Dead: Mythic Problems and Ritual Solutions in the Transitions of Marriage and Death in Ancient Greece," Ancient Societies Workshop, University of Chicago, 5/95.

 

 

Teaching Experience:

 

Bryn Mawr College, Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies

 

Associate Professor, 2007-present

 

Assistant Professor, 2001-2007

Spring 2007

Attic Tragedy and Comedy:  Greek 202

Interpreting Mythology: Classical Studies 375

Fall 2006

Herodotus:  Greek 101

Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World:  Classical Studies 212

Ancient Magic:  Classical Studies 645

Spring 2006

Eros in Ancient Greek Culture:  Classical Studies 209

Sex & the City - Rhetoric & Gender in the Attic Orators: Classical Studies 639

Fall 2005

Ancient Greece:  Classical Studies/History 205

Plato & Thucydides:  Greek 201

Herodotus:  Greek 101

Spring 2004:

Reading Greek for the Golden Age: Greek 017

Interpreting Mythology:  Classical Studies 675

Ancient Greece:  Classical Studies/History 205

Fall 2003: 

Reading Greek for the Golden Age: Greek 016

Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World:  Classical Studies 212

Spring 2003:

Reading Greek for the Golden Age: Greek 017

Interpreting Mythology:  Classical Studies 275

Plato's Phaedrus:  Greek 644

Fall 2002: 

Reading Greek for the Golden Age: Greek 016

Plato & Thucydides:  Greek 201

Spring 2002:

Reading Greek for the Golden Age:  Greek 017

Eros in Ancient Greek Culture:  Classical Studies 209

Fall 2001:

Ancient Greece:  History 205

Plato & Thucydides:  Greek 201

Ancient Magic:  Classical Studies 645

 

Visiting Assistant Professor, 2000-2001

Spring 2001:

Homer:  Greek 104

Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World:  Classical Studies 212

Fall 2000:

Ancient Greece:  History 205

Plato & Thucydides:  Greek 201

Platonic Myth: Greek 644

 

Creighton University,  Department of Classical & Near Eastern Studies

Visiting Assistant Professor, 1999-2000

Spring 2000:  Latin 102, World Literature I, Greek 215: Euripides Bacchai

Fall 1999:  Latin 101, Latin 102, Classical Epic 321

 

University of Chicago:

The College

Winter 1998 - Teaching Assistant for Latin 112

Fall 1997 - Humanities 120:  Greek Thought and Literature

Graham School of General Studies

Greek History and Civilization - Fall 1997

Greek Mythology - Summer 1997

 

 

Theses Supervised:

"Plato and Anthropology:  An Interpretation of Laws 3," Stephen Foy, M.A. Greek, June 2001.

"Early Byzantine Pilgrimage Art: Image and Experience," Joelle Collins, M.A. History of Art, June 2002 (second reader).

"The Pelinna Tablets Revisited," Feyo Schuddeboom, M.A. Classical & Near Eastern Archaeology, June 2003.

"Rhetorical Strategies in the Homeric, Orphic, and Magical Hymns," Michelle Domondon, M.A. Greek, June 2003.

"The Representation of Aphrodite in the Erotic spells of the Magical Papyri," Yasmin Mathew, M.A. Greek, June 2003.

"Brides, Prostitutes, and the Iunx:  Symbols of Eros," JoAnn Luhrs, M.A. Classical Studies, June 2003.

"The Modern Interpretations of the Dorian Invasion," Andrea Guzzetti, M.A. Classical & Near Eastern Archaeology, December 2005 (second reader).

"The Language of Prayer in the Greek Magical Papyri,"  Andrew Mihailoff, M.A., Classical Studies, December 2007.

 

"Tales of Terror and Fear in the Liminal Creature:  A Look at Petronius' Cena Trimalchionis, Apuleius' Metamorphoses, and Pliny's Letter 7.27," Christine Walsh, Senior Thesis 2002.

"The Fruits of Passage:  Dissecting the Pomegranate and the Search for Identity in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter," Jamie Gorman, Senior Thesis 2003.

"Lamenting Nympholepsy," Rianna Ouellette, Senior Thesis 2004.

"Mothers of Invention:  Constructions of Dionysos in the Orphic Hymns Examined through Genealogy and Epithets," Lila Garrott, Senior Thesis 2004.

"An Illumination of the Treatise of Aristarchus of Samos," Katherine Northrup (Ursinus College), Honors Thesis in Classics and Mathematics 2004 (outside reader).

"Medea:  Barbarian or Divine?" Tiffany Stenglein, Senior Thesis 2006.

"From Prehistory to the Olympics: The origin and evolution of the footrace in Greece," Will McGuire, Senior Thesis 2006 (second reader).

"Helen and her Husbands," Elizabeth Deacon, Senior Thesis 2007.

"Defending the Lysis: Reciprocity in Friendship and Desire," Molly Higgins-Biddle, Senior Thesis 2007.

"What Do You Do with a Failure?  The Use of Alcibiades in the Platonic Dialogues," Colin Yarbrough, Senior Thesis 2007.

"Apuleius Retold: Retelling in C. S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces," Lauren Zimmerman, Senior Thesis 2007 (second reader).

 

Committees and Service:

Joint Curricular Work Group 2008

Curriuculum Committee 2008-

Outside Chair of Dissertation for Newel Brown, Russian Department, 2003-4.

Outside Chair of Dissertation for Christopher Lorah, Department of Clinical & Developmental Psychology, 2005-6.

Outside Chair of Dissertation for Katie Janicka, Russian Department, 2006-

Preliminary Examination Committee, Andrea Guzzetti, Department of Classical & Near Eastern Archaeology, 2007.

Undergraduate Admissions Committee, 2002/3, 2003-6

Hanna Holborn Gray Fellowship Selection Committee 2003/4

Flexner Lecture Selection Committee 2005-6

Committee on Faculty Awards & Grants 2006-7

Convener, Ancient Religions Luncheon, 2001-

Coordinator, Classics Colloquium, 2002/3, 2005/6, 2006/7

Faculty Sponsor:  May Day Greek Play 2002-

Bryn Mawr Classical Review, Editorial Board 2002-; Associate Editor for Religion 2006-