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News > Alumni > FIGURING DEATH IN CLASSICAL ATHENS

FIGURING DEATH IN CLASSICAL ATHENS

Emily Clifford held the Tower Fellowship during her time as a Junior Research Fellow in Classics from 2020 to 2024. Her new book, Figuring Death in Classical Athens, will be published in March.
26 Feb 2025
Alumni
Figuring Death in Classical Athens: Visual and Literary Explorations cover image
Figuring Death in Classical Athens: Visual and Literary Explorations cover image

Figuring Death in Classical Athens puts art and literature in conversation to explore how ancient Athenians grappled with the uncertainties of death. How did objects and texts generate thinking about what death is and might be like? Were Athenians aware of the imaginative frameworks that underpinned their thinking? Did they worry not just about death, but whether they could figure it out?

Death in the ancient world has long been a subject of interest. Studies abound that examine its social and ideological dimensions, funerary practices, and changing attitudes and beliefs. This book takes a fresh approach, cutting across sub-disciplines (art, text, philosophy, and so on) to build a picture of how ancient art and literature got their audiences thinking—thinking not just about death but about its knowability. Whether in the theatre, at the symposium, or on the Acropolis, representations of death challenged Athenians by presenting problems of exteriority (how can the living know what dying might be like?) and particularity (can one person's experience hold for another? is death truly a 'leveller'?).

Emily Clifford, Figuring Death in Classical Athens: Visual and Literary Explorations (2025, OUP).

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