Greek and Roman Studies

Welcome to our second Faculty Publication Spotlight where we showcase recent publications from our Greek and Roman Studies faculty! The first publication that we are highlighting is Professor Yukai Li’s recent article titled, “Helpless Spectators in the Odyssey and the Cinematic Image of Time.”

Read the abstract below!

“The Odyssey presents a striking series of situations in which the protagonist is reduced to the status of a helpless spectator, watching the action unfold but unable to act. These situations include a number of episodes in the apologoi, as well as Odysseus constrained by his disguise on Ithaca. I argue that the significance of this series can be brought out through comparison with Deleuze’s philosophy of cinema, which turns precisely on the point at which protagonists in film change from actors who can affect their situations to viewers who can only watch. By examining the construction of the “action-image” from its ontological foundations in Bergson’s concepts of image and movement, we see how Homeric poetics presents alternatives to subject-centered and action-oriented narrative. Further, through Deleuze’s analyses of how time becomes visible when cinematic action is inhibited, we find parallel processes underlying the Odyssey’s helpless spectators. Finally, the connection between helplessness, spectatorship, and time offers—with help from Adorno’s notion of “epic naïveté”—an explanation of the power of the formulaic phrase “for a little, not for very long” (μίνυνθά περ, οὔ τι μάλα δήν, Od. 22.473), which ends the episode in which Odysseus’s maidservants are hanged.”

Check out the full article which is linked in the Linktree in our bio! 🏛️🏺📜

The Corvus Journal of Classics and Ancient History has published its most recent volume for the 2025 year! Corvus allows undergraduate students to collaborate and produce a professional journal that showcases fantastic undergraduate work and research in the field of Classics.

Go check out the newest volume, linked in our bio, to read interesting and exemplary work produced by undergraduate students studying at Carleton University and abroad!

Join us in congratulating the editors and contributors that made this volume of Corvus happen! Well done! 👏👏👏

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Please join us in congratulating one of our GRS students, Brianne Morris, on receiving the Provost Scholar Award! This award is given to exceptional undergraduate students who exemplify student engagement in the areas of community engagement, international learning experience, immersive learning, and/or undergraduate research.

Swipe to read what Brianne has to say about this fantastic accomplishment!

Visit the link in our bio to read more about Brianne and her accomplishment! Congratulations, Brianne! 🏛️🏺📜

Survey of Roman Civilization offers a taste of all things Roman and gives a good base for students wishing to take future courses on Roman history, art, and archaeology! 📜🏛️🏺

Register and find out more information about CLCV 1003 on Carleton Central!

This course runs online asynchronously during the Early Summer Term (May-June)!

Hear ye, hear ye! The College of the Humanities is pleased to invite all GRS, BHums, and RELI students, faculty, and staff to this year’s end of term Pizza Feast!

Join us on April 2nd at 11:30am in Paterson Hall outside of Room 303 and enjoy a glorious spread of pizza! Have an allergy or dietary restriction? We have you covered with gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian pizza options available for you!

School can be hard, so congratulations on a successful term! You are nearly finished!

On Sunday, April 13th, the Greek and Roman Studies program is hosting a film night!! Join us to celebrate the end of Winter Term with a screening of The Eagle (2011)! Fresh popcorn will be provided, and registration is not required! All are welcome to attend, so bring friends!

The movie will begin at 6:30 pm sharp in Paterson Hall room 303!

Be there or be square!

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O Rome(o), Rome(o), wherefore art thou Rome(o)? Right here! Learn everything you need to know about Ancient Rome this summer in CLCV 1003: Survey of Roman Civilization! Warfare, religion, politics— Rome has it all, and we cover it all in this amazing survey course!

Swipe through this post for more information and register on Carleton Central!

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Beware the Ides of March! Today is March 15, marking the Ides of March and the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE 🗡️🗡️.

But that was over two thousand years ago, so why are people still wary of this day? Swipe through this post to find out!

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Beware the Ides of March! Today is March 15, marking the Ides of March and the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE 🗡️🗡️.

But that was over two thousand years ago, so why are people still wary of this day? Swipe through this post to find out!

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Attention everyone! We have BIG NEWS!! Carleton University’s first Archaeology Lab has opened! With funding received from a CFI-JELF grant by Carleton University’s X-Lab, the Cultural Heritage Informatics Collaboratory has is now up and running!

The lab spaces are not yet fully set up, but researchers have begun using the spaces to do fantastic archaeological work on materials recovered from here in Canada — “It’s been a long process, but today we started examining the archaeological materials recovered from the homestead of Philemon Wright near Leamy Lake in Hull (Gatineau), courtesy of the NCC.”

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates from Carleton’s new archaeology lab! Visit the Linktree in our bio to read more more about the new archaeology lab and other ongoing digital humanities research here at Carleton 🏛️🏺📜

📖Book Release📖! Thanasis Fotiou, retired Associate Professor of Classics at Carleton, has recently published his book titled, “Hitler’s Hunting Squad in Southern Europe.” You can read the a description of the book in the post or below ⬇️⬇️⬇️!

Scan the QR code in the post if you are interested in reading the book! Or, the link is also in our bio’s Linktree : )

“Thanasis Fotiou is a native son of Marathousa Greece one of the villages in Northern Greece targeted by the N**i War criminal Fritz Schubert in 1944. A graduate of Aristotle University of Salonica followed by a PhD in Classics from the University of Cincinnati, he became an associate professor of Classics at Carleton University in Ottawa Canada, spending his life teaching undergraduate and graduate students in his adopted country. His memories of near death at the hands of the N**i occupiers at age ten continued to haunt him into his retirement years and led him to piece together the real events of this period from extensive hours of survivor testimonies and long forgotten government documents. The last voices of a brutal period in Greek history cannot be forgotten.”

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In celebration of International Greek Language Day, Dr. Shane Hawkins will be presenting a lecture this Wednesday titled, “The Old is New Again: The Recently Discovered Papyrus of Euripides”

The lecture will take place at 6:00PM on Wednesday, February 12 (this week!) in Paterson Hall, Room 303! A reception will follow the lecture. We hope to see you there for an amazing evening of new discoveries!

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