On Knowing and Not Knowing Trauma in Ancient Greek

Friday, November 12, 2021 - 9:30am to 11:00am

Smith Warehouse, Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4, C105

Event Contact

Rogers, Sarah
919-668-2401

Speaker(s): 
Erika Weiberg

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Please join the Franklin Humanities Institute for its Friday morning series, tgiFHI! tgiFHI gives Duke faculty in the humanities, interpretative social sciences and arts the opportunity to present their current research to their departmental (and interdepartmental) colleagues, students, and other interlocutors in their fields.

Talk description:

Trauma is a Greek word, but how we talk about trauma today is not how the ancient Greeks understood it. Ancient Greek writers used the word trauma to refer to physical wounds, not psychological ones. Yet they also used a diverse array of terms to describe emotional pain for which there are no precise equivalents in English. Hopping from Greek tragedy to ancient Greek medical writing to historiography, this talk asks if the ancient Greeks had a concept of psychological trauma and examines how that concept might intersect with our own.

Speaker bio

Erika L. Weiberg is Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Classical Studies and Theater Studies at Duke University. She is currently completing a book manuscript for Oxford University Press on women’s trauma in Greek homecoming plays, titled Seeing Women’s Wounds: Trauma and Homecoming in Greek Tragedy. They have also published numerous articles and chapters on Greek tragedy, Ovid, and Anne Carson. 

Duke University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions, please contact Sarah Rogers at sarah.rogers@duke.edu in advance of your participation or visit. Requests should be made at least one week before the event in question.

Headshot of Erika Weiberg, smiling, with blazer
Friday, November 12, 2021 - 9:30am to 11:00am
Sponsor
Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI)
Event Co-Sponsors
Classical Studies, Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Theater Studies