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Ruth Scodel is an American
Classics scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient ...
, and the D.R. Shackleton-Bailey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Latin at the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. She specialises in
ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...
, with particular interests in
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 ...
,
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
and
Greek Tragedy Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy. Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...
. Her research has been influenced by
narrative theory A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
, cognitive approaches, and
politeness theory Politeness theory, proposed by Penelope Brown and Stephen C. Levinson, centers on the notion of politeness, construed as efforts on redressing the affronts to a person's self-esteems or effectively claiming positive social values in social int ...
.


Career

Ruth Scodel studied at
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
(
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
1973). She was awarded her PhD by
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
(1978), with a PhD thesis entitled ''The Trojan Trilogy of
Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
''. From 1978–83 she was an assistant professor at Harvard University, and an associate professor from 1984–5. Scodel joined the faculty of
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1984, where she became Professor of Greek and Latin in 1987. In 2005 Scodel was elected the D.R. Shackleton Bailey Professor of Greek Language and Literature. Scodel was the seventh A. G. Leventis Professor in Greek at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in 2011–12, and under these auspices held the conference 'What's Greek about Ancient Greek Narrative' from 27–30 October 2011. Among other prizes for teaching and mentoring, Scodel won the Michigan Humanities Award (1997–98) and the Gildersleeve Prize (1998). She has been active in service to the
Society for Classical Studies The Society for Classical Studies (SCS), formerly known as the American Philological Association (APA) is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization founded in 1869. It is the preemine ...
(formerly the American Philological Association) - she was
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the Society in 2007, and has served on the Editorial Board for Monographs (1982–5), as Vice President for Publications (1996-9), and on the Nominating Committee (2008–14). She was honoured in 2018 with the "APA/SCS Distinguished Service Award", in recognition of the service to this organisation which she had carried out throughout her career. Scodel was president of the
Classical Association of the Middle West and South The Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) is a professional organization for classicists and non-classicists at all levels of instruction which promotes the Classics through the broad scope of its annual meeting, through its pub ...
from 2014–5. In 2017 Scodel was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by
Eta Sigma Phi Eta Sigma Phi () is a collegiate honor society for the study of Classics. It grew out of a local undergraduate classical club founded by a group of students in the Department of Greek at the University of Chicago in 1914. This organization late ...
, the national Classics honorary society.


Research

Scodel's research focuses on
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 ...
,
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
and
Greek tragedy Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy. Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...
, and is particularly significant in her innovative applications of theoretical approaches such as
narrative theory A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
to ancient literature. She has also written more introductory works such as her ''Introduction to Greek Tragedy'', which was well received. In 1998 Scodel's article “Bardic Performance and Oral Tradition in Homer,” won the Gildersleeve Prize (''
American Journal of Philology The ''American Journal of Philology'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1880 by the classical scholar Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve and published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. It covers the field of philology, and related areas ...
''), for work described as "an important contribution not only to the reading of Homer but also to narratological theory".


Selected works

Single-authored books * ''The Trojan Trilogy of Euripides.'' Hypomnemata 60. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1980. * ''Credible Impossibilities: Conventions and Strategies of Verisimilitude in Homer and Greek Tragedy.'' Beiträge zur Altertumswisssenschaft 122. Suttgart: Teubner. 1999. * ''Listening to Homer.'' Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press. 2002. * ''Epic Facework: Self-presentation and Social Interaction in Homer.'' Classical Press of Wales. 2008. * ''An Introduction to Greek Tragedy.'' New York: Cambridge University Press. 2010. Co-edited volumes * ''Theater and Society in the Classical World.'' University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor 1993. * ''Defining Greek Narrative,'' with Douglas Cairns. Edinburgh University Press, 2014. * ''Between Orality and Literacy: Communication and Adaptation in Antiquity.'' Brill, Leiden, 2014.


References


External links


Personal Webpage

Faculty Webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scodel, Ruth Living people American classical scholars Women classical scholars Scholars of ancient Greek literature University of Michigan faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni Harvard University alumni 1952 births