Introduction

Authors

  • Paolo Cesaretti Università degli studi di Bergamo
  • Ioannis M. Konstantakos Università Nazionale “Capodistria” di Atene
  • Cecilia Nobili Università degli studi di Bergamo

Keywords:

Symposium, Plato, Theatre, Scorates, Diotima

Abstract

A theatrical experience featuring the staging of Plato's Symposium at the University of Bergamo provides an opportunity to reflect on this text and its elements of "theatricality," on the resonance it continues to manifest in European culture after centuries, and on the symposium itself as a cornerstone institution of Greco-Roman culture and beyond. The collection of contributions gathered in this volume, authored by scholars from various disciplines, offers a new perspective on the symposium in its broader dimensions—ritual, diachronic, and geographically widespread—and echoes the voices of Socrates and Diotima, not only in theater but also in art, literature, and philosophy.

Author Biographies

Paolo Cesaretti, Università degli studi di Bergamo

Paolo Cesaretti is Associate Professor of Byzantine Civilisation
at the University of Bergamo. The age of Justinian, with particular reference to the work of Procopius of Caesarea; relations between Byzantium and the West; philological studies (Eustatius of Thessalonica above all) and hagiographic studies (especially on the 10th century) are at the centre of his research, evidenced by more than 100 critical editions, excavation texts, monographs, articles and curatorships that have appeared in Italy and abroad. He has also published volumes of narrative non fiction, award-winning and translated into several foreign languages, dedicated to moments and figures in Byzantine history. He has also developed a wealth of publications on topical publishing and cultural issues.

Ioannis M. Konstantakos, Università Nazionale “Capodistria” di Atene

Ioannis M. Konstantakos is Professor of Greek Literature at the National University of Koper in Athens, where he also directed the postgraduate and doctoral programme in Classical Studies. A member of various international committees of studies and academies, a regular contributor to various scientific periodicals and the Athens Review of Books, his main areas of research are Greek and Roman comedy, ancient historiography, ancient fiction, mythology, the popular tradition of the ancient world and Near Eastern literatures. He has published dozens of studies on these topics and received major awards. His other monographs and edited works on the ancient world and its reception extend into the 20th century.

Cecilia Nobili, Università degli studi di Bergamo

Cecilia Nobili is Associate Professor of Greek Language and Literature at the University of Bergamo, where she coordinates the research group ‘Ant.Class. Studies and research on the Greek, Roman and Byzantine world'. Her scientific production is mainly devoted to archaic Greek poetry, in particular the interrelation between epic and lyric, visuality in literary texts, symposial literature, women in poetry and local traditions. He also works on the Greek novel and agonistic epigrams. His most recent publications include the volume edited with R. Saccenti, Filosofia e convivialità. Dall’antichità al Medioevo, Mimesis 2023 and Voci di donne nell’epica. Personaggi e modelli poetici femminili nell’Iliade e nell’Odissea, Carocci 2023.

 

Published

16-12-2024

How to Cite

Cesaretti, P., Konstantakos, I. M. ., & Nobili, C. (2024). Introduction. Elephant & Castle, (34), 2–9. Retrieved from https://elephantandcastle.unibg.it/index.php/eac/article/view/553

Issue

No. 34 (2024): Eros and other demons or The Peripeteia of the Symposium: from Plato to the 20th Century

Section

Editoriale

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Elephant & Castle

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