Attention: You are using an outdated browser, device or you do not have the latest version of JavaScript downloaded and so this website may not work as expected. Please download the latest software or switch device to avoid further issues.

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).

SIMILAR STORIES

Professor Stuart Shanker’s (1978, Philosophy) Reframed presents a comprehensive exploration of self-regulation, grounded in cutting-edge neuroscience, to help individuals thrive an… More...

Poet Professor Anthony Vahni Capildeo FRSL (1991, English) will be in conversation with Professor Will Ghosh, Tutor in E… More...

After a career in public service including time as an advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo in the years leading to in… More...

'No Time' is Kieron Winn’s (1987, English) second collection of poems, which explores how the malleability of early life… More...

Dr Craig-McFeely (1976, Physiological sciences) hosted a 500th anniversary garden lunch party for alumni friends at thei… More...

Have your say