The Conference is under the auspices of the Rectorate of University of Patras
Please note that the use of mask / face-covering is strongly recommended when inside and/or wherever crowded
MONDAY 27th JUNE 2022
17.30-18.00: Registration & Coffee
18.00: Opening address and welcoming notes by the Rector of University of Patras, Professor Christos Bouras, and Professor Menelaos Christopoulos (Director of the Centre for the Study of Myth & Religion in Greek & Roman Antiquity)
I. MYSTERIES AND RITUAL
18.30-20.00: 1st Session
18.30-18.50: Peter Meineck (New York University): “The Mystery of Catharsis: A Cognitive Approach”
18.50-19.10: Giuseppe Zanetto (University of Milan): “Liturgical Eros”: Sacred Space as a Space for Love
19.10-19.30: Caitlin Yool (University of Aberdeen): “The Greek Mysteries: Magic, Pharmaka and Ekstasis”
19.30-20.00: Discussion
20.00: Welcome cocktail party on campus (“Park of Peace”)
TUESDAY 28th JUNE 2022
Please note that the use of mask / face-covering is strongly recommended when inside and/or wherever crowded
10.00-11.20: 2nd Session
10.00-10.20: Alessandra Giannuzzi (Catholic University of Sacred Heart): “Μονοκρήπιδες: the symbol of the barefoot”
10.20-10.40: Ariadne Gkartziou-Tatti (University of Ioannina): “Oath-rituals and peace treaties on the Athenian dionysiac stage”
10.40-11.00: Flora P. Manakidou (Democritus University of Thrace): “Rätsel über Rätsel: Pandora, Kekropides and the “race of women” in Attic Mysteries”
11.00-11.20: Discussion
11.20-11.40: Coffee break
11.40-13.00: 3rd Session
11.40-12.00: Olga Levaniouk (University of Washington): “Mystery Cows”
12.00-12.20: Elo-Mall Toomet (University of Tartu): “The mysteries of arrival and absence in the cults of the Argive plain”
12.20-12.40: Natasha Bershadsky (Harvard University): “The mysteries of the Kabeiroi: following a thread between ritual and myth”
12.40-13.00: Discussion
18.30-19.50: 4th Session
18.30-18.50: Bartłomiej Bednarek (University of Warsaw): “Some overlooked Orphic grave monuments and gems”
18.50-19.10: Efthymia Kafritsa (University of Athens): “Ἔρως as mystic initiation”
II. TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
19.10-19.30: Richard Seaford (University of Exeter): “Mystic initiation and the Parmenidean One”
19.30-19.50: Discussion
WEDNESDAY 29th JUNE 2022
Please note that the use of mask / face-covering is strongly recommended when inside and/or wherever crowded
10.00-11.20: 5th Session
10.00-10.20: Jordi Redondo Sanchez (University of València): “Literary evidence for gender crossing in the ancient Greek rituals”
10.20-10.40: Smaro Nikolaidou Arambatzi (Democritus University of Thrace): “Paizein in Hades: Blissful afterlife in Pindar’s fr. 129 and the chorus’ parodos in Aristophanes’ Frogs”
10.40-11.00: Athina Papachrysostomou (University of Patras): “Mystery Cults in Greek Comic Fragments”
11.00-11.20: Discussion
11.20-11.40: Coffee break
11.40-13.00: 6th Session
11.40-12.00: Vasia Kousoulini (University of Patras): “Dionysian Choreia as a Multisensory Experience in Ancient Greek Theater”
III. GODS AND RITUAL
12.00-12.20: Andrea Sánchez i Bernet (University of València): “Chthonic symbology of Ares in classical sources”
12.20-12.40: Menelaos Christopoulos (University of Patras): “Dionysus’ Katabasis and the Mysteries of Lerna”
12.40-13.00: Discussion
18.30-19.50: 7th Session
18.30-18.50: Ronald Blankenborg (Radboud University): “‘How to become a god’: Menelaus’ previewed deification in the Odyssey”
18.50-19.10: Katerina Ntotsika (University of Patras): “Time as a God in Proclus’ Elements of Theology”
IV. ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
19.10-19.30: Alice Clinch (Cornell University): “Epiphanic Encounters at Eleusis”
19.30-19.50: Discussion
THURSDAY 30th JUNE 2022
Please note that the use of mask / face-covering is strongly recommended when inside and/or wherever crowded
10.00-11.20: 8th Session
10.00-10.20: Claudia Luschetti (Karl-Franzens University of Graz & University of Tübingen): “The Gods of Eleusis in Plato’s Noetic Mythology. On Phaidon 61b sequ. and 78b-81a”
10.20-10.40: Mattia De Poli (Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna): “Aeschylus and the Eleusinian mysteries: Further sources for a ‘famous’ accusation?”
10.40-11.00: Eleni Fassa (Democritus University of Thrace): “Internationalizing the Mysteries? The Eumolpid Timotheos between Athens and Alexandria”
11.00-11.20: Discussion
11.20-11.40: Coffee break
11.40-13.00: 9th Session
11.40-12.00: Charles Smith (University of Oxford): “‘Perfect Hosts’: Xenia at the Eleusinian Mysteries”
12.00-12.20: Francesco Buè (École Pratique des Hautes Études of Paris & THEMAM Nanterre): “Comparing Eleusinian and Epinician Elements in the Pindaric Poetry”
V. ROME & LATE ANTIQUITY
12.20-12.40: George W. M. Harrison (Carleton University): “Rome’s Embrace of Herakles”
12.40-13.00: Discussion
18.00-19.40: 10th Session
18.00-18.20: Katherine Perkins (University of Cambridge): “Mystery cults in 1st Century A.D. Corinth and Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians”
18.20-18.40: Marios Koutsoukos (University of Liverpool): “Visions of the ‘Mithras Liturgy’: The role of self-initiation in Graeco-Egyptian ceremonial magic and Neoplatonic theurgy”
18.40-19.00: Chiara Di Serio (University of Cyprus): “Julian and the Statue of the Mother of the Gods”
19.00-19.20: Philip Bosman (Stellenbosch University): “Julian the sacrificer”
19.20-20.00: Discussion – Closing remarks
20.30: Farewell cocktail party on campus (“Park of Peace”)
Please note that the use of mask / face-covering is strongly recommended when inside and/or wherever crowded
FRIDAY 1st JULY 2022
Optional visit to Nafpaktos (departure from Patras at 10 am, return to Patras at 3 pm)
Departure