Dr Nicolò Benzi

Lecturer in Classical and Archaeological Studies
Email
n.benzi@kent.ac.uk
Dr Nicolò Benzi

About

Dr Nicolò Benzi is Lecturer in Classical and Archaeological Studies. After a BA in Electronic Engineering, he took a BA and an MA in Philosophy at the University of Bologna. He completed a PhD in Classics at Durham University and then was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Trinity Plato Centre at Trinity College Dublin. Before coming to Kent, he taught at UCL, Manchester, Winchester, and Nottingham. 
Nicolò is deeply committed to outreach, as he firmly believes that Classical studies play a key role in the understanding of our world, society and culture. In 2017 he created the UCL Summer School in Ancient Philosophy, which he has directed ever since.  

Research interests

Nicolò’s research focuses on the relationship between ancient Greek philosophy and its cultural context, with particular emphasis on literature. He investigates the complex interactions between philosophy, epic, lyric, and drama by situating these genres within the agonistic contexts of their production and reception.
His monograph, Rivals in Wisdom: Early Greek Philosophical Poetry and the Invention of Philosophy (LUP, 2026), examines how early Greek philosopher-poets critically engaged with the wisdom and poetic traditions of Archaic Greece, contributing to the emergence of philosophy as a distinct intellectual practise. He is also co-editor, with Dr Paola Bassino (Winchester), of Sophistic Views of the Epic Past from the Classical to the Imperial Age (Bloomsbury, 2021)m which analyses the ways in which the Sophists appropriated and reinterpreted the epic tradition to advance their own intellectual agendas. In addition, he has published articles and chapters on early Greek Philosophy and its relationship with literature.

Teaching

Nicolò teaches courses on ancient Greek language and literature, ancient history, and ancient philosophy.
Examples include:
  • CLAS4000: Power and Persuasion: The Classical World
  • CLAS4006: Beginners Ancient Languages 1
  • CLAS4007: Beginners Ancient Languages 2
  • CLAS5013: Intermediate Ancient Languages 1
  • CLAS5014: Intermediate Ancient Languages 2
  • CLAS6017: Advanced Topics in Classical Studies
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