Telling Bodies: A Conference on Corporeal Classical Reception

What happens if we centre the body in classical reception studies? What tales does the body tell? And what tales are told about the body?

In investigating narratives of embodiment and embodied narratives, we start from two assumptions. First, we take it that the body is no object: it participates in meaning-making. Second, a classic is no mere object either: for one thing, it comes into being through embodied practice.

The conference will focus on four areas of exploration in particular: definitions of the body and the classical (What is a body? What is a classic?); embodied cognition and the practice of reception (How does the body participate in classical reception?); classifying bodies and the classical body (How do bodies differ? How do differences relate to values, identities, and standards?); and bodily entanglements in worldmaking (How bounded are bodies? How can ancient narratives help us conceive of human bodies and the environment as an entangled, continuous process?).

This year’s A. G. Leventis Conference, held under the auspices of the A. G. Leventis Visiting Professorship in Greek, and forming part of Edinburgh’s biennial series of international conferences on Hellenic studies, will take place 13-16 November 2025.

For more information and to book your place, please see the conference site.

Join us for a dance performance

On Friday 14 November at the Adam House Basement Theatre, the conference will host “Martha Graham & Greek Myth: Clytemnestra,” an original performance that combines classical philology, visual art and modern dance, and includes excerpts from the Greek-themed dances of the revolutionary 20th century American artist and choreographer Martha Graham.

List of performers:

Concept/ Production / Presentation: Nina Papathanasopoulou, Ph.D., Professor of Classical Studies

Choreography/Restaging: Penny Diamantopoulou, Graham Technique and Repertory Instructor

Dancers: Konstantinos Argyriou Evangeloudis, Stavros Ikbal, Vassia Kolliou, Marianna Papakonstantinou, Mara Tsourma

This is an open event

If you are attending the Leventis Conference, please sign up for this event through ePay.

If you are not attending the Leventis Conference, you can book your free tickets via Eventbrite.