Lecture

Forum Antiquum Lecture Spring 2023: Who reads Martial’s epigrams? The gender gap in reading Roman literature

• Meike Rühl (University of Osnabrück)

Date

Thursday 4 May 2023

Time

15:30 hour

Serie

Forum Antiquum Lectures Series Spring 2023

Address

Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden

Room

123

When we think of readers of Roman literature, we tend to think of noble men spending their otium reading, since Roman literature was not only written by male authors, but also mostly addressed to male readers. This lecture will question the gender gap in Roman literature: Was Roman literature really written entirely without female readers in mind? Or do we simply need to change the way we look at Roman authors and readers?

Meike Rühl is Maria Goeppert Mayer Professor of Latin Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Osnabrück. Her research focuses on the rather marginal and underestimated genres of Roman literature such as letters and occasional poetry. She is also an expert on the contextualisation of Roman literature in cultural and social history.

Registration for the lecture is not necessary, but if you would like to join us for dinner please let us know as soon as possible by sending an e-mail to [e-mail].

Feel free to join us for drinks after the lecture at De Keyzer [Kaiserstraat 2-4, 2311 GR Leiden].