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:
Phi
Beta Kappa, Yale University, 1991
University
of Chicago Century Fellowship, 1993-1997
National
Endowment for the Humanities Grant, Isthmia Excavation Project, 1995
Junior Fellowship, Institute for the Advanced
Study of Religion, 1997-8
(now the Martin Marty Center)
Dissertation Fellowship, Chicago Humanities
Institute, 1998-9
(now the Franke Institute for the Humanities)
Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship,
2004-2005
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, Homeric and Hesiodic poetry, choral lyric poetry.
Publications:
Books
Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes,
and the ÔOrphicÕ Gold Tablets,
Cambridge University Press, 2004.
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.
"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
BernabŽ, (forthcoming).
"Extra-ordinary People: Mystai and Magoi,
Magicians and Orphics in the Derveni Papyrus," (forthcoming in Classical
Philology).
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).
BernabŽ, Albertus (ed.), Orphicorum
et Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta. Poetae Epici Graeci. Pars II.
Fasc. 1 in Bryn
Mawr Classical Review
(04.12.29).
Reviews of book proposals for Routledge Press
(12/02) and Blackwell Press (11/02).
Reviews of articles for Classical Antiquity,
Classical Journal, and American
Journal of Philology.
Projects:
"Recycling Laertes' Shroud: More on Orphism and Original Sin,"
(under review at Classical Antiquity).
"Whip Scars on the Naked Soul: Myth and Elenchos in Plato's Gorgias,"
(in progress).
Further Along the Path: Recent Approaches to
the ÔOrphicÕ Gold Tablets, editor
and contributing article and introduction for a collection of new and
previously published articles on the ÔOrphicÕ Gold Tablets (manuscript under review at Cambridge
University Press).
Redefining Ancient Orphism (book in preparation).
Presentations:
"Persephone and POINH:
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 ÒBeyond Initiation: Transitions and Power in Ancient Rituals and
Narratives,Ó 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
Assistant
Professor, 2001-present
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).
"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).
Committees and
Service:
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.
Undergraduate
Admissions Committee, 2002/3, 2003-6
Hanna
Holborn Gray Fellowship Selection Committee 2003/4
Flexner
Lecture Selection Committee 2005-6
Convener,
Ancient Religions Luncheon, 2001-
Coordinator,
Classics Colloquium, 2002/3, 2005/6
Faculty
Sponsor: May Day Greek Play 2002-
Bryn
Mawr Classical Review, Editorial Board 2002-; Associate Editor for Religion
2006-