[Usyd_Classics_Events] Critical Antiquities Workshop and Classics Research Seminar: Prof Mirko Canevaro May 16

[Ben Brown]

Dear All,

You are warmly invited this week on Thursday May 16th to join us for a double bill with Prof. Mirko Canevaro (University of Edinburgh and R.D. Milns Visiting Professor, University of Queensland). Prof. Canevaro will be speaking twice on interrelated topics emerging from his recent research:


  *   in the morning at the Critical Antiquities Workshop and
  *   in the afternoon in the Classics and Ancient History Research Seminar Series.

Here are the details of each session (if you need further information, please email me: benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au):

1. Critical Antiquities Workshop 0930-1100 (9.30am, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, time).
The event will be in a hybrid format broadcast (live and on Zoom) from the School of Humanities Common Room (Rm 822, Brennan-MacCallum Building, University of Sydney). To register, please sign up for the Critical Antiquities Network mailing list to receive Zoom links and CAN announcements: https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/sOxHCgZ0N1iPwDqw8INFofd?domain=signup.e2ma.net

The hybris of the downtrodden: honour and social control in ancient Greek society (and today).

Abstract:
The paradigmatic form of hybris in the Greek sources (consistently with how the concept is conceptualised in modern psychology and business studies) had to do with the self-assertion of the rich and powerful, which resulted in their disrespecting their subordinates in arrogating to themselves claims to respect they were not entitled to. This paper looks at the flipside of this scenario, because hybris, as the arrogating of timē to which one has no right, can also proceed in Greek thought in the opposite direction: from the bottom up. The concept of timē, that is, can accommodate also instances of individuals of subordinate status overstepping the remit of their position in the social hierarchy and arrogating to themselves prerogatives that are reserved for those higher up in the social ladder. While denouncing the hybris of the powerful has egalitarian implications – it defends the right to equal respect (or at least to some respect) of those who are disrespected – denouncing the hybris of the downtrodden towards their superiors is a tool for maintaining and reproducing a social hierarchy by grounding it on an allegedly shared (yet heavily asymmetrical) recognition order.
2. Classics and Ancient History Research Seminar Series 1600-1730 (4pm, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, time).
The event will be in a hybrid format broadcast (live and on Zoom) from the Boardroom of the V. Gordon Childe Centre (formerly CCANESA) in the Madsen Building. Zoom link: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/85192829117<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/2euQCjZ1N7ilGVYGgcRCBHM?domain=t.e2ma.net>

Recognition and Imbalances of Power: Honour Relations and Slaves’ Claims vis-à-vis Their Masters

Abstract
This paper explores whether slaves possess "honour" and can form autonomous subjectivities through reciprocal relations of mutual respect. Drawing on recent contributions in moral and political philosophy and social psychology by scholars like Charles Taylor, Stephen Darwall, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Axel Honneth, it examines the complex dynamics of dignity, value, and recognition within the inherently unequal master-slave relationship. Despite the extreme power imbalances, evidence from ancient texts (e.g., Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle) suggests that masters and slaves' interactions were framed in terms of timê, raising questions about the potential for mutual recognition to either enable agency or further entrench slaves' subjugation. The paper critically engages with the notion of "ideological recognition," as discussed by Louis Althusser, to assess whether recognition dynamics serve to empower or disempower within asymmetrical power structures. Through analysis of literary, epigraphical, and historiographical sources, including New Comedy, lead tablets, inscriptions, and the works of Diodorus Siculus, the study proposes that when a master employs honour and philotimia to motivate a slave, he inadvertently subscribes to a normative order beyond his control, potentially allowing the slave to demand justice or recognize their own oppression.

For the Critical Antiquities Workshop Paper here is the time in other locations:
Los Angeles/Vancouver: Wednesday, May 15, 4:30-6pm
Mexico City: Wednesday, May 15, 5:30-7pm
Chicago: Wednesday, May 15, 6:30-8pm
New York: Wednesday, May 15, 7:30-9pm
Santiago/Buenos Aires/Rio de Janeiro: Wednesday, May 15, 8:30-10pm
Dublin/Belfast/London: Thursday, May 16, 12:30-2am
Paris/Berlin/Rome: Thursday, May 16, 1:30-3am
Johannesburg/Athens/Cairo: Thursday, May 16, 2:30-4am
Beijing/Singapore/Perth: Thursday, May 16, 7:30-9am
Tokyo: Thursday, May 16, 8:30-10am
Darwin/Adelaide: Thursday, May 16, 9:00-10:30am

All best, Ben

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