2024/2025 Lecture Series Event – A History of Air: The First Centuries
The Vanderbilt Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies is excited to Benjamin Folit-Weinberg, Associate Professor in the Department of Classics at The Ohio State University, to present A History of Air: The First Centuries as part of the Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies 2024/2025 Lecture Series. This lecture will be held on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at 4:10pm in Divinity School G-29, The Space. A reception will follow the talk.
Air is all around us, all the time, and we need it to survive, but unless we can’t get enough of it or something goes wrong with it, few things are easier to take for granted. Like all concepts, however, the concept of air has a history, and exploring this history – that is, making the invisible visible – pays surprising dividends. Examining the role of aēr (the precursor to our “air”) in Homer and the Milesians, this talk will explore what aēr tells us about Homeric poetics, how characters in Homer interact with their world, and the early Greek relationship to what we now call matter.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies and is free and open to the public.
