PART I
Unai Iriarte (Harvard University) - Archaic Greek Tyrannies. Some reflections of a political phenomenon (c. VIII - VI BC)
In Archaic Greece there were numerous tyrannies, i.e. political regimes in which power was vested in a single person who obtained the rule of a city-state (polis) by illegitimate means. This political system has traditionally been considered a “transitional phenomenon”. However, a close look at this Greek past reveals that, unfortunately, one-man rule tended to be the norm rather than the exception. In this talk we will discuss the archaic Greek tyrannies, and their tyrants, who they were, how they acted and what we know about them today.
PART II
Ramón Soneira-Martínez (Austrian Archaeological Institute at Vienna) – Does anyone say there are gods in heaven? A relational study of atheism in classical Athens (c. V-IV BC)
The study of irreligious positions has gained enormous interest in recent decades. From the theories and methodologies of Religious Studies, the study of atheism has generated new approaches that seek to relate unbelief to the religious context in which it is generated. In this paper, the study of atheistic positions is approached from a transhistorical perspective. The main idea is to analyse those vestiges of atheism that developed in Athens during the late fifth and early fourth centuries BCE. For this purpose, a relational analysis will be developed that not only aims to contextualise the unbelieving positions but also seeks to understand the emergence of atheistic theories as part of the debates to establish a proper relationship with the world. From Protagoras to Plato, we will focus on the most relevant textual evidence for the study of atheism in classical Greece.
Organized by: Unai Iriarte Asarta (RCCHU Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of the Classics at Harvard University)
Speakers: Unai Iriarte (Harvard University); Ramón Soneira-Martínez (Austrian Archaeological Institute at Vienna)
Sponsors: RCCHU Harvard University; University of Seville; Austrian Archaeological Institute at Vienna
LOCATION:RCCHU Conference Room, 26 Trowbridge St. and over Zoom STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20230202T210000Z DTEND:20230202T230000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR