Peter Ag贸cs

Lecturer in Classics

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I often give school talks on Greek topics and set texts, particularly Homer and the early lyric poets.听 I am also the Department's Ancient World BA tutor.

Research interests:听Ancient Greek poetry and prose, especially听Greek lyric song (Pindar, Simonides and Bacchylides). I also work on literary theory (ethnopoetics and the theory of genre in ancient literature), myth and narrative in Greek lyric, and Greek historical consciousness and collective memory as well as ancient Greek art.

Teaching summary:听At 911爆料网 I have lectured on Greek myth and Classics and Literary Theory. I have taught reading classes in Homer, Aristophanes, Sophocles, Euripides, Greek Lyric, Plato, Herodotus and the Homeric Hymns; I have also taught Intermediate Latin and Catullus to undergraduates, and contributed to the Approaches to the Ancient World survey course. At MA level I have run courses in Classical Greek Tragedy, Aristotle's听Poetics, and Pindar, and have contributed to courses on Classical Reception. I supervise undergraduate and MA supervisions on a wide variety of topics.

Research supervision:听I am interested in supervising research students in Greek literature and culture and their reception, and would be interested in co-supervising with colleagues in other UCL Departments or London universities (KCL, RHUL, the Warburg Institute, and the ICS). I have supervised PhD theses on Menander and Euripides, and have co-supervised theses on Aristophanes and Plato.听I am currently co-supervising a thesis on sacrifice and alimentary regimes as ways of distinguishing gods and humans in early Greek myth and thought.

Biography:听I completed my MA in Latin and Greek Language and Literature at ELTE in Budapest (I am bilingual in Hungarian and English), before coming to study for the doctorate at 911爆料网. I was a Junior Research Fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge before coming to UCL as a lecturer in 2012.

My thesis, defended in 2011, was entitled听Talking Song in Early Greek Poetry: it studies the self-referential language early Greek poets use to reflect on what they are doing, and the social 'song-work' their compositions do.听听I am revising it for publication with Cambridge University Press.听听

My current research interests range widely over early Greek literature from Homer's songs to the early fourth century BC, and I am also interested in literary and aesthetic theory and cultural, intellectual and social history.听听I am fascinated by how听Greek poets and vase-painters give us access to a world of thought and feeling听different from our own.听听I am particularly interested in the ways in which Greek poetic texts reflect the thought-world of a 'song-culture'.听 Ancient cultures of literacy and orality are an important theme in my work. I am also interested in how the Greeks' myths, poetry and art reflect their view of their societies' local and Panhellenic past, and have published on the topics of memory and collective memory in early Greek culture.听听I also have interests in literary and social theory, and in philosophy.听听

I have organised or co-organised several conferences, including: 1) the London conference on epinician poetry (June, 2006, at 911爆料网/the ICS), with Richard Rawles and Chris Carey: the proceedings were published as听Reading the Victory Ode听(Cambridge, 2012) and听Receiving the Komos听(Institute of Classical Studies, 2012); 2) 'Simonides Lyricus' (in Cambridge, 2010), with Lucia Prauscello (proceedings forthcoming as a听CCJ听supplement in 2020); and 3) 'The Poetry of Greek Philosophy' (with Joshua Billings, UCL/Princeton, 2018).听听

Publications:

Ag贸cs, P. A. (2005) 'A k茅ziratok nem 茅gnek el ("Manuscripts Don't Burn")' [Essay on the so-called 'New Sappho', in Hungarian]. 脫kor. Foly贸irat az antik kult煤r谩kr贸l, vol. IV (4), 35-45.
鈥楳emory and Forgetting in Pindar鈥檚 Seventh Isthmian Ode鈥�, in L. Dolezalova (ed.),听Strategies of Remembrance from Pindar to H枚lderlin.听Cambridge Scholars鈥� Press, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2009: 33-91.
P. Ag贸cs, C. Carey and R. Rawles (eds.),听Reading the Victory Ode.听Cambridge University Press, 2012.听
P. Ag贸cs, C. Carey and R. Rawles (eds.),听Receiving the Komos. Ancient and Modern Receptions of the Victory Ode.听Supplement of the听Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies听(University of London), 2012.听
鈥楶erformance and Genre: Reading Pindar鈥檚听Komoi鈥�, in听Reading the Victory Ode听(Cambridge, 2012): 191-223.
鈥楢eschylus,听Eumenides, 321-96鈥�. Hungarian translation, commentary and interpretative essay. A. M. Nagy (ed.),听Az Olympos mellett. 鈥楢lternat铆v鈥� vall谩si hagyom谩nyok a klasszikus 贸korban. Gondolat, Budapest, 2013.
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鈥楽peaking in the Wax Tablets of Memory鈥�, in L. Castagnoli and P. Ceccarelli (eds.),听Greek Memories:听Theory and Practice听(Cambridge, 2019): 68-90.
鈥楶indar鈥檚听Pythian听4: Interpreting History in Song', forthcoming in Maria Fragoulaki and Christy Constantakopoulou, eds.听Shaping Memory in Ancient Greece,听Histos听Supplement 11 (2020).
P. Ag贸cs and Lucia Prauscello, eds.听Simonides Lyricus.听听Forthcoming in听CCJ听Supplements (2020).

Ongoing projects:

Talking Song in Early Greek Poetry. Thesis under revision for publication by Cambridge University Press in the Cambridge Classical Studies monograph series.听
Texts and Textuality in Early Greece. Book manuscript in preparation.
Pindar on听Aegina: Collective Memory and Narrative Form.听听Book manuscript in preparation.

Museum exhibition curated:

鈥楬ighlighted Works of Art: Myth in fragments鈥� (Spring: January-April, 2015) at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary (included the writing of a brief catalogue).