Helen V. Lovatt is Professor of Classics at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. She is known in particular for her work on Latin epic literature especially from the

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

period.

Career

Lovatt read Classics at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, where she was awarded her PhD in 2000 with a dissertation on ''Games and realities in Statius, 'Thebaid 6'.'' Lovatt lectured at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

before moving to a Junior Research Fellowship at

Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall. In 2008, following a donation of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, it was renamed Murray Edwar ...

. In 2003 Lovatt joined the department of Classics at the

. Lovatt delivered her inaugural lecture as Professor of Classics, ''Epic Journeys'', on 15 February 2017. Lovatt's PhD work on the athletic games in

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

' ''Thebaid'' was published as ''Statius and Epic Games: Sport, Politics and Poetics in the'' Thebaid (Cambridge University Press, 2005). In the book, Lovatt interpreted Statius' work as a microcosm of the whole epic tradition. More recently, Lovatt has worked on the epic tradition in both Latin and Greek literature, publishing a book on vision in epic from

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis ( grc-gre, Νόννος ὁ Πανοπολίτης, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century CE) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebai ...

, ''The Epic Gaze: Vision, Gender and Narrative in Ancient Epic'' (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and a co-edited work ''Epic Visions'' (Cambridge University Press, 2013) with Caroline Vout which resulted from a conference in Nottingham in 2003. Lovatt currently works on classical reception, particularly in detective and children's literature, resulting in her co-edited volume ''Classical Reception and Children's Literature: Greece, Rome and Childhood Transformation'' (I. B. Tauris, 2018) with Owen Hodkinson following a conference on the subject at the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...

in 2009.

Selected publications

* (2018) ed. with Owen Hodkinson ''Classical Reception and Children's Literature: Greece, Rome and Childhood Transformation'' (I. B. Tauris) *(2016) Flavian Spectacle: Paradox and Wonder. ''In:'' ZISSOS, A., ed., A Companion to the Flavian Age of Imperial Rome Blackwell. 361–75. *(2015) Following after Valerius: Argonautic moments in Statius’ Thebaid. ''In:'' DOMINIK, W.J., GERVAIS, K. and NEWLANDS, C., eds., Brill's Companion to Statius Brill. 408–24. * (2013) ''The epic gaze: vision, gender and narrative in ancient epic'' (Cambridge University Press). * (2013) ed. with Caroline Vout ''Epic visions: visuality in Greek and Latin epic and its reception'' (Cambridge University Press). *(2007) Statius, Orpheus, and the post-Augustan vates. ''Arethusa'', ''40''(2), 145–163. *(2006) The female gaze in Flavian epic: looking out from the walls in Valerius Flaccus and Statius. In Nauta, Ruurd Robijn; Dam, Harm-Jan Van; Smolenaars, Johannes Jacobus Louis (eds.) ''Flavian Poetry'' (pp. 59–78). BRILL. * (2005)
Statius and epic games: sport, politics and poetics in the Thebaid
' (Cambridge University Press). *(2001) Mad about Winning: Epic, War and Madness in the Games of Statius' Thebaid. ''Materiali e discussioni per l'analisi dei testi classici'', (46), 103–120. *(1999) Competing Endings: Re-Reading the End of the Thebaid Through Lucan. ''Ramus'', ''28''(2), 126–151.

References

External links

Ovid and the Argonauts: Heroides, Metamorphoses and Maffeo Vegio's Vellus Aureum
- lecture delivered to the

Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those intereste ...

3 June 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovatt, Helen British classical scholars Women classical scholars Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Nottingham Year of birth missing (living people)