2023 Leventis Conference - 'The fabric of Hellenism'

Confirmed speakers 

Professor Bowie's biography

“I was born and grew up in Coupar Angus, Perthshire (my parents hailed from Perth and Dundee respectively), and I never lived in a city or south of the Tay until I attended Fettes College, Edinburgh (1953-8) where my last year was predominantly devoted to piping. From 1958-62 I read for Honour Moderations in Greek and Latin languages and literature, then for the Final Honour School of ‘Literae Humaniores’, at Pembroke College, Oxford, benefiting greatly from Godfrey Bond’s excellent tuition, from University lectures by many gifted scholars, and from the seminars of Eric Dodds and Eduard Fraenkel.

“I spend my first graduate year as a Harmsworth Senior Scholar at Merton College, Oxford, exploring the Greek literature of the imperial period and attending Ronald Syme’s seminars. From 1963 to 1965 I was Woodhouse Junior Research Fellow, St John's College, Oxford, where I learned much from my supervisor A. N. Sherwin-White and even more from Donald Russell. Owing to my election to a Craven Fellowship I sacrificed two of my St John’s terms to spend the winter semester of 1963-4 in Göttingen, chiefly to work with Alfred Heuss, and two mind-opening months of spring 1964 at the British School at Rome.

“From 1965 to 2007 I was E. P. Warren Praelector in Classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and from 1968 a CUF Lecturer in Greek and Latin Language and Literature at Oxford. In 1996 Oxford gave me the title of Reader in Classical Languages and Literature, in 2004 that of Professor of Classical Languages and Literature.

“At Corpus I was privileged to teach some 400 undergraduates from Corpus and many from other Colleges. I was Dean from 1967‑73 (the events of 1968 made that an interesting year for a Dean who was also editor of ‘The Oxford Magazine’) and Senior Tutor from 1981‑4. From 1993-6 I was founding Director of Corpus Christi College Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity, whose brief included the enhancement of the Corpus Wednesday seminars started by John Bramble in the late 1970s and the sponsoring of day-conferences, both of which have resulted in several collective books. I supervised numerous doctoral theses, chiefly but not solely for Oxford, and examined (or was on the committee for) many doctorates.

“From February to March 2001 I was Professeur Invité at the École Normale Supérieure, rue d’Ulm, Paris; from April to May 2001 Seymour Reader at Ormond College, Melbourne University. On retirement from Corpus and Oxford I was Bonsall Visiting Professor at Stanford University from April to June 2008; a visitor at the University of Washington, Seattle, from January to March 2009; and from January to April 2010 Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Since 2020 I have been a Visiting Professor at the University of Crete.

From 1977 to 1983 I was editor of the ‘Journal of Hellenic Studies’, in the 1990s I joined ‘Hypomnemata’’s editorial board, and I have served on the advisory board of ‘Ancient Narrative’ since its first number and first supplementary volume in 2002.

“My interest in the ancient Greek novels developed when I started work on the Greek culture of the Roman Empire in 1962. It is still very strong, and I have attended every ICAN (‘International Conference on the Ancient Novel’) from the first in Bangor, North Wales in 1976 (hosted by Bryan Reardon) to the fifth in Houston in 2015, missing only the most recent (Ghent 2023). I participated regularly in the ‘Groningen Colloquia on the Novel’, their successor RICAN (‘Rethymno International Conference on the Ancient Novel’), and Bernard Pouderon’s novel conferences in Tours.

“My interest in early Greek lyric, elegiac and iambic poetry began with Godfrey Bond’s lectures and tutorials, but it was only in 2007/8 that I played a leading role in establishing the Network for the study of archaic and classical song. I hosted its first meeting (Oxford 2008): since then ‘core group’ meetings and conferences open to all scholars have alternated biennially, the most recent open meeting (‘What makes a poet?’) being in Barcelona (July 2023).

“Since marrying Lucia Athanassaki (2007) I have progressively lived more in Greece than Oxfordshire (where I have two sons and two grandchildren), a choice sealed by Covid in 2020.”