Patricia Elizabeth Easterling,
FBA (née Fairfax; born 11 March 1934) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
classical scholar
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, recognised as a particular expert on the work of
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
. She was
Regius Professor of Greek at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
from 1994 to 2001. She was the 36th person and the first — and, so far, only — woman to hold the post.
Life and career
Born in
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
, Easterling attended
Witton Park High School
Witton Park Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in the west of Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
Witton Park is for children aged 11–16. It is within the boundary of Witton Country Park, to the west of Blackburn. A levels are ...
(originally called Blackburn High School for Girls) before
graduating with
first class honours
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
and distinction in Classics at
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...
in 1955. After an initial spell lecturing at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
(1957–1958), Easterling taught within the Cambridge Classics
Faculty as a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of
Newnham College
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...
until 1987 when she took up the position of
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. In 1987, she also became an
Honorary Fellow
Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...
of
Newnham College
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...
. She gave the inaugural
Housman Lecture at University College London on 14 June 2005.
Easterling was the first woman to chair the
Council of University Classical Departments
The Council of University Classical Departments (CUCD), founded in 1969, is the association of university departments in the United Kingdom in which Classics (the study of Greek and Roman antiquity) and related subjects are taught and researched. A ...
. In 1994, she returned to Cambridge and Newnham as the 36th
Regius Professor of Greek, the first (and so far only) woman to hold that post since its endowment by
Henry VIII.
In 1998, Easterling was elected a
Fellow of the British Academy
Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are:
# Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom
# C ...
, and in 2013 was made ''associé étranger de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'' at the Institut de France, and Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. She was the first Chair of the Management Committee of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon Project, and is a patron of the charity 'Classics for All'.
On 22 January 2000, Easterling received an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from the Faculty of Languages at
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. She has also been awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
(1999),
Royal Holloway
Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...
(University of London) and
Ioannina, and has been an Honorary Fellow of University College London since 1997.
Academic interests
Easterling works mainly on
Greek literature
Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today.
Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving writte ...
, particularly
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
; she also studies the survival and
reception
Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to:
Astrology
* Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...
of ancient drama. She has had a long association with the
Joint Association of Classical Teachers
The Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT) was a UK organisation for the encouragement of the teaching of Classics in schools and universities. It was merged into the Classical Association with effect from 2 January 2015. The JACT Summer ...
and with its Greek Summer School at
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928. ...
in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, giving lectures there on an occasional basis.
Easterling has been a General Editor of the ''Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics'' series since its foundation over thirty years ago, and has published an edition within this series of
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
’
''Trachiniae'' (1982).
Publications
Books
*
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
:
Trachiniae, edited, Cambridge, 1982
Greek Religion and Society edited with J. V. Muir, 1984
The Cambridge History of Classical Literature General editor with E. J. Kenney
The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy Editor, 1997
* ''Greek Scripts: An Illustrated Introduction'', edited with
Carol Handley (Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 2001)
Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession edited with Edith Hall, 2002
* ''Sophocles: Electra and Other Plays'' (Penguin, 2008)
Articles
* 'Constructing the Heroic' in Christopher Pelling, Greek Tragedy and the Historian, Oxford, 1997: 21–37
* 'The Infanticide in Euripides' Medea', Yale Classical Studies 25 (1977): 177–191
* "From Repertoire to Canon." in Easterling, P. E. (ed.) ''Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy'', 1997, pp. 211–227.
* "Narrative on the Greek Tragic Stage." ''Defining Greek Narrative'', 2014, pp. 226–240.
References
External links
Cambridge University databasePicture of P. E. Easterling New Hellenic Society 1991
Sophocles and the Greek Tragic Tradition Essays in honour of P. E. Easterling on her 75th birthday. Cambridge University Press 2009
British Academy fellowship entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Easterling, Pat
1934 births
Academics of University College London
Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge
Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge
English classical scholars
Fellows of the British Academy
Living people
Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics
Regius Professors of Greek (Cambridge)
Women classical scholars
Presidents of the Classical Association