We are pleased to invite you to a keynote lecture delivered by Nancy Worman of Barnard College, Columbia University, followed by a response from Julia Pfefferkorn of Universität Trier and chaired by André Rehbinder.
Sponsored by Columbia University, the Stanley Cockey Lodge, the Danish Institute at Athens, and the Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Foundation, the event explores two central themes of the conference: style and aesthetic experience.
Worman's talk examines the bodily features that underpin so much ancient thinking about both style and aesthetic experience, focusing particularly on breath and voice.
The discussion begins with the Muses "singing into" the poet's ear, the Sirens chanting stories that lure and elude male control, the Pythia breathing in the earth's vapors and exhaling prophecy, and the Sibyl vibrating forth verses in her cave. This ghostly source—the breath behind the voice—also surfaces in modern theorizing that takes inspiration from ancient literary theory.
The lecture will explore the broad reach of these dynamics in poetry and later prose, with particular attention to one of the most elaborate and influential clusters of their aesthetic associations: Plato's use of the Muses, Sirens, cicadas, satyrs, and other divine, creaturely, and material voices, including those associated with the aulos, to situate and characterize Socrates' style and persuasive effects.
Recognizing that these figures occupy sites of origin in ancient stories about poetic production and religious rites, Plato sought to give Socrates a singular vocal profile—one that harnessed this breathy, oracular power in the service of philosophy and, ultimately, his own singular written style.
📅 October 23
⏰ 5:00 PM EEST — Doors open at 4:30 PM
📍 Danish Institute at Athens — Chairefontos 14, Athens 105 58
Seats are limited. Please RSVP in advance to secure your place.
The lecture will be conducted in English.
