University College London, 11-13 September 2013

This conference has as its objective to give new impetus to the study of Greek literary epigrams.

Although considerable progress has been made in our appreciation of the development, features, and quality of the genre in the Hellenistic period, intense scholarly focus on Hellenistic epigram has led to an under-appreciation of the later epigrammatic material, from the Roman to the Byzantine period.

This conference will investigate the changes that literary epigram underwent over the centuries, its interrelationship with other Greek literary genres and with the visual arts, as well as the factors which influenced its development through the centuries.

Call for Papers

Abstracts (up to one page A4), along with the interested participant’s
personal data (name, affiliation, email) should be sent until the 30th of March 2013 via email to the following address: [email protected].

Confirmed speakers:

Prof. Silvia Barbantani (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

Prof. Peter Bing (Emory)

Prof. Joseph W. Day (Wabash College)

Prof. Marco Fantuzzi (Columbia)

Dr.Lucia Floridi (Milan)

Dr. Valentina Garulli (Bologna)

Prof. Kathryn Gutzwiller (Cincinnati)

Prof. Annette Harder (Groningen)

Dr. Regina Hoeschele (Toronto)

Prof. Richard Hunter (Cambridge)

Prof. Irmgard Maennlein-Robert (Tübingen)

Dr. Doris Meyer (Strasbourg)

Dr. Andrej Petrovic (Durham)

The conference will address the following topics: Contextualisation of literary epigrams of different periods within their religious, political, and geographical milieu; Cross-fertilisation between different epigrammatic subgenres; Poetic rivalry and imitation; Intertextuality; Poetic voice in different epigrammatists and subgenres; Development of poetic topoi within the genre; Mythic and other narrative modes; Interrelation between epigrams and inscriptions; Epigrams and patronage; Epigrams and iconography; Epigrams, anthologies, and performative context

Conference organisers: Chris Carey, Ivana Petrovic, and Maria Kanellou