Profile

Research Interests: Classical Literature, especially of the Roman Empire Women in the Classical World Classical Mythology

Current Projects: Recently completed PhD entitled ‘Virgo to Virago: Medea in the Silver Age’

Marking and moderating the Cambridge Latin Course graded certificate tests for local secondary schools.

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Research

PhD thesis ‘Virgo to Virago: Medea in the Silver Age’

My recently completed thesis considers the portrayal of the mythological figure of Medea in Silver Age Latin literature. Episodes from her life are treated substantially in works by three authors of the period, Ovid, Seneca and Valerius Flaccus, who have different approaches to this ambiguous and fascinating character, according to genre and context. Nevertheless similarities in treatment can be discerned, and I explore these and their relevance. I especially consider how far Medea, who eventually emerges as a notorious witch and murderer, and whose less reputable actions overshadow these literary depictions, has a claim for sympathy and admiration in these works. Throughout this detailed character study, I also take into consideration the particular features of Silver Age literature, striving for excess and a tendency towards rhetoric, as well as the influence of other important Greek and Roman models on these accounts.

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Teaching

Beginners’ Latin (CL311 and CL349).

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