Research areas

CLASSICS

Reconstructing the lost autographs of ancient authors
Transmission of ancient texts; textual criticism and its intersection with interpretation; editorial technique.

Epigraphy 

Depiction, study, commentary, and edition of Greek and Latin inscriptions.

Papyrology

Reading, editing and interpreting papyrus texts from Graeco-Roman Egypt; the contributions of literary papyri to Greek literary history and textual criticism; literary papyri and the ancient book; documentary papyri as sources for Hellenistic and Roman history; the Greek language and the papyri.

Historiography 

Research on Greek historiography focuses on the study of prose texts from various sub-genres with their particular characteristics. Textual interpretation is based on the analysis of ideology, the exploration of genre boundaries, the identification of narrative techniques, stylistic choices, communicative aims and persuasion strategies, and is cross-fertilized with knowledge stemming from the disciplines of history and archaeology.

Drama 

Research on Greek Drama extends from historical and philological questions to theoretical issues concerning the constitution of the main dramatic genres. Based on the text of tragic and comic poets, a further object of study are individual and collective reception as a result of cognitive processing and emotional responses to the dramatic phenomenon.

Ancient Greek scholarship

The development of scholarship on language and literature in Greek antiquity. Grammarians,  lexicographers and scholiasts.

Latin epic poetry

Intertextuality and intratextuality in Latin epic poetry; matters of literary succession and imitation; symbolism, allegory and political propaganda in Latin epic poems; means of character portrayal and literary depiction in Latin epic poetry.

Roman verse satire

Literary criticism and generic interfaces in Roman verse satire; the language and the style of the Roman satirists; the social, moral, political and philosophical views of the four representative authors of Roman verse satire and the way in which these views are reflected in their works.

Latin rhetoric

Analysis and interpretation of Latin rhetorical speeches; rhetorical strategies for praise and invective; stylistic variations between rhetorical speeches and the factors that determine their occurrence; the influence of poetry on Roman rhetoric and vice versa.

Neronian and Flavian literature

The literary developments during the Neronian and the Flavian period in contrast to the literature of the earlier periods (especially in contrast to the Augustan period); matters of generic enrichment in the Imperial Age; philosophical influence on the literature of the period; ideological, political and cultural views in relation to the social and literary developments of the time.

Ancient epigrammatic poetry

Analysis and interpretation of the multifaceted epigrammatic production from classical to late antiquity; the influence of different cultural contexts on epigrammatic compositions; the interaction of literary epigram with other literary genres as well as inscriptions.

Ancient epistolography

The broad field of ancient letter writing, both for literary and pragmatic purposes; the flexibility of the epistolary genre and the dynamic interaction of letters with other genres; strategies of communication and networking in antiquity.

Late antique poetry

Continuation of classical education and innovative changes in late antique poetry; the impact of changed historical, religious and cultural contexts on the poetic production.