When
Where
Come join us on various Wednesdays this Spring semester for the History Lunch Lecture Symposium. We will gather in Chávez 406a to learn more about our colleagues' scholarship. Additional details will be posted here a week before the event.
Open to the University community!
For those of you who are unable to attend in person, please use the following Zoom link: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/82733203379
Title of the forthcoming book being discussed: Cleon Ascendant. Pylos, Power, and the Perversion of Athenian Democracy.
Abstract: The radical demagogue Cleon destabilized democracy in Athens significantly during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War. Because both of his contemporary literary sources, the historian Thucydides and the comic poet Aristophanes, loathe him, he has not been thought well of by modern scholars. Nor should he be. They were likely right about his character. However, this has meant his actions, for good or ill, were eclipsed in the historical record because of his unsavory reputation. Cleon brought about big changes in Athens and our team, comprising of an art historian, and epigrapher, along with myself, have closely examined all types of the primary evidence. We then created a fresh narrative that pushes against many long-held beliefs about this time period while remaining, sadly, extremely pertinent right now.
