April 1, 2009, The Rouman Lecture
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The John C. Rouman Classical Lecture Series at the University of New Hampshire is pleased to announce a lecture for Spring 2009
The Unknown Narcissus:
Mirrors in Byzantium
by Stratis Papaioannou
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 7:30 PM
DeMerritt 240
University of New Hampshire, Durham
The myth of Narcissus is often regarded as an early, premodern, image of what was to become the hallmark of modernity—the discovery of the individual through an act of self-reflection. While the western history of (self-)mirroring is quite well-known, the post-classical Greek history of mirrors and narratives about mirroring has remained unstudied. This paper will attempt to map the cultural history of mirrors in the medieval world of Byzantium, and its hesitant, though often surprisingly modern discovery of the self.
Stratis Papaioannou is William A. Dyer, Jr. Assistant Professor in the Humanities and Dumbarton Oaks Assistant Professor of Byzantine Studies at Brown University. He has studied Greek literature at the University of Athens, Greece, and Byzantine history at the University of Vienna. He works on post-classical Greek literary and cultural history. Currently, he is preparing a book-length study on medieval Greek autobiography.
The Rouman Lecture Series has for over a decade brought lecturers to the University of New Hampshire to speak on topics related to the classical world and Hellenic culture. We hope you will join us as Professor Papaioannou becomes the latest in that distinguished list of extraordinary speakers.