Research
Interests:
My research interests center on Greek social and intellectual history,
with particular focus on mythology, religion, and Platonic philosophy.
I have recently published on eros and midwifery in Plato, on Orphism
and the mysterious gold tablets, and on magical techniques in the “Mithras Liturgy”, and my study of the journey to the underworld
in the Greek mythic tradition, with special attention to Aristophanes'
Frogs, Plato's Phaedo, and the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets, is forthcoming
from Cambridge University Press. My current research interests include
the history of myth interpretation and the marginal categories of
magic and Orphism within Greek religion.
Courses:
Platonic Myth - Fall 2000 CSTS 644
Ancient Magic - Fall 2001 CSTS 645
Plato's Phaedrus - Spring 2003 CSTS 644
Interpreting Mythology – Spring 2004 CSTS 675
Recent Publications:
“Tearing Apart the Zagreus Myth: A Few Disparaging Remarks on
Orphism and Original Sin,” in Classical Antiquity 18.1
(1999), pp. 35-73.
“Socrates the Beautiful: Role Reversal and Midwifery in Plato’s
Symposium,” TAPA 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,”
in Ancient World 32.1 (2000), pp. 10-24.
“Who in Hell is Heracles? Dionysos’ Disastrous Disguise
in Aristophanes’ Frogs,” in Beyond Initiation:
Transitions and Power in Ancient Rituals and Narratives. (Forthcoming)
“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. (Forthcoming)
Myths of the Underworld Journey in Plato, Aristophanes, and the
‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets: A Path Neither Simple Nor Single
(forthcoming Cambridge University Press).
Personal Statement:
I love teaching in the atmosphere of Bryn Mawr: the small community of earnest and eager graduate and undergraduate students, the faculty's mix of disciplines and perspectives, the fantastic resources for research, not to mention the idyllic setting and beautiful traditions that surround us all. My research and teaching interests center on Greek social and intellectual history, with particular focus on mythology, religion, and Platonic philosophy. I enjoy the opportunity to teach courses on some of the less familiar aspects of ancient Greek culture, such as ancient Greek ideas of sexuality, magic, and mystery cults, as well as courses on the language, mythology, and history of ancient Greece. From my research, I have recently published on eros and midwifery in Plato, on Orphism and the mysterious gold tablets, and on magical techniques in the "Mithras Liturgy", and my study of the journey to the underworld in the Greek mythic tradition, Myths of the Underworld Journey: Aristophanes, Plato, and the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets, has just been published by Cambridge University Press. My current research interests include the history of myth interpretation and the marginal categories of magic and Orphism within Greek religion, and I am working on a study entitled, Redefining Ancient Orphism. Orphism was taken by 19th-century scholars to be a particular, ancient Greek religious tradition, with a doctrine of original sin and a focus on practices of purification to expiate it, but I argue that we can't understand ancient Greek religion using modern Christian models; we can only make sense of the evidence within the dynamics of ancient polytheism. To the extent that 'Orphism' existed, it was not a coherent movement but a label given to a variety of religious practices that deliberately departed from the norm, elaborating on and altering traditional myths and rituals in innovative ways, while appealing to the authority of tradition by invoking the name of Orpheus, the greatest of poets. In addition to scholarship here, I have been enjoying directing the Greek Plays on May Day, playing on the intramural softball team, and singing with the Bryn Mawr/Haverford Renaissance Choir.
Graduate
Group Home
Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences
