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Open Lecture: Women’s Festivals in the Hellenistic Period:
An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Thesmophoria and the Adonia
Location: Mezzanine Level, The Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Date: THURSDAY 14/6/2018 @ 7:00pm
Presenter: Dr. Kate McLardy Language of Presentation: English | R.M.L.G.*: 0 (No knowledge of Greek Required).
Entry: FREE
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Synopsis
In this talk, I will present an overview of my research into the Thesmophoria and the Adonia, two women’s festivals from ancient Greece. The Thesmophoria was a festival that was held in honour of Demeter Thesmophoros and her daughter Persephone, while the Adonia was a festival in honour of Adonis, the short-lived consort of Aphrodite. Past research has been largely preoccupied with reconstructing a general pattern for the festival; contrary to this, I argue that the festivals must be viewed in their local contexts which allows us to observe considerable variation to their structure and meaning(s).
Thus, I consider both the evolution of these festivals over time and place and, crucially, the impact that these festivals would have had on the women who celebrated them. I contend that it is important to recognise that rituals such as these were multifaceted and cannot be fully explained under a single paradigm; instead, an interdisciplinary approach is required in order to reconstruct and interpret these festivals in a manner which brings us closer to how they really worked within their actual historical contexts.
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Bio
I am Dr. Kate McLardy. I recently completed my PhD at Monash University in Melbourne. Although I am a Classicist, my MA was in Ancient History and I did honours in Egyptology as well as Classics. This sparked my interest in interdisciplinary methods of examining the Classical evidence. My research focuses on two women’s festivals called the Thesmophoria and the Adonia. I am particularly interested in refining the reconstructions of these festivals and in considering the role of local variation, both in contextualising the festivals and how this impacts on our ability to reconstruct such festivals. My research draws from a number of different disciplines in order to shed new light on these festivals by considering them from different perspectives.
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Sponsors
We thank this lecture's donor: Theodore Sklavos and Family in mem. of Eleni Sklavos. During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice. You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722. We also thank the following corporate sponsors:
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* Recommended Minimum Level of Greek in order to enjoy this Event, on a scale of 0 to 5.
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The Greek Community of Melbourne is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Non-Profits Commission ABN 14004258360
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