seen on the Classicists list:

HERCULES: A HERO FOR ALL AGES
International Conference, University of Leeds 24-6th June 2013

The conference aims to explore the potential for a large-scale project on
the reception of the ancient Greek hero Herakles in post-classical
culture. The idea arises from the recent monograph Herakles in
Routledge’s Gods and Heroes in the Ancient World series by Emma Stafford
(University of Leeds), the final chapter of which sketches Herakles-
Hercules’ development from late antiquity to the present day.

The conference will make use of the main Leeds campus’ excellent
facilities, including the Yorkshire Bank Lecture Theatre and comfortable
overnight accommodation in Storm Jameson Court. It will bring together
scholars from a wide range of disciplines – including medieval and later
European history, art history, literature, drama and music – with a view
not only to scoping the extent of Hercules’ significance as a cultural
figure, but also to provoking discussion of methodological approaches
which might inform a bigger project.

Speakers already include: Karl Galinsky (Texas), Edith Hall (KCL), Pat
Simons (Michigan), Matt Dillon (New England), Philip Ford (Cambridge),
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (Edinburgh), Kathleen Riley (Sydney), Paula James
(OU), Kim Shahabudin (Reading), Susan Deacy (Roehampton), Greta Hawes
(Bristol).

Contemporary writers and artists: Several practitioners will be talking
about their Hercules-related work, including: Marian Maguire (print-maker,
The Labours of Herakles), Helen Eastman (director Hercules, Chester
20120), George Rodosthenous (director Heracles’ Wife, Leeds 2010).

CALL FOR PAPERS

Proposals for papers on any aspect of the post-classical Herakles-Hercules
are welcome, for example in the following areas:

* Hercules’ appropriation by Christianity
* Hercules’ emergence in Renaissance literature and art as the type of
virtue in general, and eloquence in particular
* Hercules’ role as political emblem from the fourteenth to eighteenth
centuries, especially in various northern Italian city-states and at the
Burgundian court
* Hercules’ particular relevance to France, as supposed forefather of the
French people, role-model for kings from François I to Louis XV, and
paradoxical hero of the Revolution;
* Herculean themes in music from sixteenth-century opera to nineteenth-
century symphonic poems
* the re-working of tragedies by Sophokles and Euripides, especially on
the themes of Herakles’ death at his wife’s hands and of the frenzied
slaying of his own children, for twentieth- and twenty-first-century
audiences
* Hercules’ role in film and as a comic-book hero.

If you are interested in offering a paper, you should first e-mail Emma
Stafford (e.j.stafford AT leeds.ac.uk) indicating the general area you might
explore. A title and short abstract (c.250 words) will then be required
by 1st October 2012.

We added the following to the Classical Conference Calendar (see tab above):

Calls for Papers:

• The Decapolis: History and Archaeology (UOxford … deadline not specified but the conference is in July 2013)
• Conflict in the Peloponnese (deadline October 1o)
• Change and Identity in Ritual and Poetry (UTSA … deadline Oct 31)

Conferences:

• Revenge and Gender (Bristol), September 5-6
• Associations in Context (Copenhagen), October 11-13 (info to come?)
• Ancient Cosmologies (St Andrews), November 2-4
• The Sound of Latin (Oxford), November 8
• AMPRAW (Birmingham), December 10-11 (registration by Oct 31)
• ACL Institute (Memphis), June 27-29

Seen on the Classicists list:

Conference: The Sound of Latin
Jesus College, Oxford (Ship Street Conference Centre)
Thursday 8 November, 2-6 p.m.

The Oxford Classics Faculty is giving advance notice of this conference, which will take place on November 8. Further details will be sent round in October. The title is self-explanatory.

Armand D’Angour, Jesus College, Oxford: Phonemic variations in Latin verse

Wolfgang de Melo, Wolfson College, Oxford: Laws of early Latin versification and why Plautus abides by them

Roland Mayer, King’s College, London: Ictus and Accent: to beat or not to beat

Llewelyn Morgan, Brasenose College, Oxford: ‘An almost unlimited range of effects’: the nature and force of ‘elision’

James Morwood, Wadham College, Oxford: Hidden Quantities in Latin: how to recognize them and why they matter

John Penney, Wolfson College, Oxford: Spoken Latin and Latin Verse

Ian McAuslan will read a passage of Latin poetry.
All are welcome.

Not sure how many folks are looking at the Classical Conference Calendar I set up (click the tab above), but there are quite a few things listed there now. Just reviewing them, however, it seems to be rather Eurocentric (specifically uk-centric), and I’m putting out an appeal to the various departments in North America that have Calls for Papers and/or Conferences (not single lectures) to please ensure to send your Calls for Papers and/or Conference announcements to the APA blog or (even better) directly to me. Ideally, the information exists on a website somewhere, but we can post things if the facilities don’t otherwise exist. With the European contribution, Classics looks very vibrant from a conference point of view … could be even better.

Outside of that, I’m pondering the logistics of a weekly sort of ‘recently added to the calendar’ type post …

Seen on the Classicists list:

THE MUSICAL STRUCTURE OF PLATO’S DIALOGUES
A COLLOQUIUM AT THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS
UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
July 5th 2012, 1-5pm

In collaboration with the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester

Jay Kennedy’s new book *The Musical Structure of Plato’s Dialogues* has stirred much scholarly interest. The *Bryn Mawr Classical Review* recently described the work as ‘a ground-breaking study of Plato’s dialogues’ presenting ‘an entirely new way of thinking about Plato’.

The Classics Department at the University of Leeds, with the support of the Centre for the History of Science, Tecnhology and Medicine at the University of Manchester, is pleased to announce a one-day colloquium on July 5th 2012 to allow closer analysis of Dr Kennedy’s radically new and controversial approach.

Dr Kennedy (Manchester) will outline the evidence for the book’s main claims and summarize recent responses by classicists, philosophers, and historians of ancient music. Structured dialogue will investigate the method and its implications for interpreting the composition and structures of Plato’s texts and, more broadly, for classical philosophy, literature, and music. Leading interlocutors will be Dr Elizabeth Pender (Leeds), Professor Malcolm Heath (Leeds), and Professor Dominic Scott (Virginia). But most of the programme will consist of round-table discussion and enquiry built upon a progressive set of themes and questions. The Ancient Greek text will be the primary focus but translations will also be made available. Key dialogues will be *Euthyphro* and *Cleitophon*.

Through the Renaissance it was common to view Plato as a symbolic or allegorical writer. His ancient followers maintained that Plato, using symbols, concealed within his dialogues a Pythagorean philosophy. Dr Kennedy argues that a regular pattern of musical symbols in the *Symposium* and *Euthyphro* form a well-known, ancient scale. These and other symbols carry philosophical content that corroborates ancient views of Plato and promises to challenge much recent scholarship. Kennedy’s *Apeiron* (2010) article introducing his approach is available online at: http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/jay.kennedy)

To reserve a place, or for further information, please contact: Dr Elizabeth Pender (e.e.pender AT leeds.ac.uk). Since selected study materials will be provided for participants, advance booking is essential.

Folks might also check out some Kennedy-related posts at rc via: Kennedy on Strauss on Plato