[Usyd_Classics_Events] Fwd: CCANESA/CAH Research Seminar - Thursday 7 May

[Ben Brown]

Dear Friends,

We were delighted to see so many of you at our first session of the Classics and Ancient History online research seminars last Thursday.  Thank you so much to everyone who helped get this up and running, and especially to Natalie Mendes, for providing such a fascinating presentation of her PhD research!

Our modified schedule of fortnightly seminars will continue next Thursday the 7th of May at 4 for 4:15pm with:

Robert Cowan (University of Sydney)
‘‘The third lifecycle of Philokleon in Aristophanes’ Wasps.’’

Abstract:
The mutability of Philokleon’s generational identity—both absolute and relative to his son Bdelykleon—in Aristophanes’ Wasps is well established. Critics routinely write of his ‘rejuvenation’ in the second half of the play, and it is in the scene with the flute-girl, Dardanis, that the old man most explicitly plays the part of an irresponsible youth waiting for his son (in the role of father) to die. However, inversions and perversions of generational identity pervade the whole play. Even before Philokleon has undergone his liberating transformation at the symposion, the educational roles of father and son are reversed as Bdelykleon schools him in the proper way to behave in polite society. More subtly and extensively, Angus Bowie has shown how the three agones in which Philokleon (unsuccessfully) engages during the first half of the play correspond to the three stages of an Athenian male citizen’s life: ephebeia, maturity in the hoplite phalanx, and old age in the jury.

However, critics have not observed that Philokleon goes through another, parallel journey from youth through maturity to old age in the three ‘iambic scenes’ where he is confronted by the victims of his outrageous behaviour on his way home from the symposion. Moreover, unlike the three defeats in Bowie’s agones, which successively strip him of his three identities, his victories in the iambic scenes enable him to inhabit the roles of neanias, anêr, and gerôn simultaneously. This paper will show how Aristophanes constructs this third lifecycle (counting his literal maturation before the play’s action begins) before considering its implications for the wider characterization of Philokleon and in particular the final scene.

Please register your interest for this free series here if you have not already done so:
https://sophi-events.sydney.edu.au/calendar/cah-7-may-2020/
Registered attendees will receive Zoom event details and any pre-circulating materials by email 24 hours prior to the event – please be sure to register by this time.

We very much look forward to seeing you as we bring our research community together in this new online space! For any further information or questions, please contact us at ccanesa.general at sydney.edu.au<mailto:ccanesa.general at sydney.edu.au>



 

A Note on Zoom and Protocols for Participation
Zoom is a video conferencing app – a bit like Skype or Facetime.

To be ready to join the Zoom online seminar, download Zoom onto your computer: you can download a free version of Zoom here: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/x4LgCVARKgCzVVWmtGpTJs?domain=zoom.us

Once you’ve signed up on the Zoom site, you’ll have the option to do a practice meeting there. If you’re new to Zoom and feeling overwhelmed, the CCANESA Program officers, Emma Barlow and Louise Pryke, will be happy to try and help – please reach out sooner rather than later! (ccanesa.general at sydney.edu.au<mailto:ccanesa.general at sydney.edu.au>)

Please don't worry if you don’t have your own Zoom account – just click on the invitation link to each seminar, and then follow the steps.

Our seminars will begin promptly at 4.15pm. We please ask you to enter the meeting from 4pm onward to assist with managing the virtual space and to ensure prompt commencement of the paper.

An extra note on recording of seminars
As part of a School initiative to preserve our online content for potential future use, we intend to record our seminars. If you would not like to be inadvertently recorded, please turn off your video and microphone after joining the meeting.

All very best, Ben

DR BEN BROWN
Classics and Ancient History
School Undergraduate Curriculum Coordinator (SOPHI)
Research Seminar Coordinator (CAH)
School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI)
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY NSW 2006
Ph.: 9351 8983; Office: Main Quad J6.07
E benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au<mailto:benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au> | W https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/KE3qCWLVXkUN11MZux_VFa?domain=sydney.edu.au

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