Not just fun and games : exploring ludic elements in Greek and Latin literature

This dissertation explores how Greek and Roman authors use board games and games of chance to answer complex questions about humanity and the relation of the self to the cosmos. I isolate literary topoi rooted in gaming imagery and survey them across a broad diachronic and generic expanse to reveal the application of ludic themes as an important conceptual tool. Specifically, I demonstrate how authors employ gaming imagery to engage in ongoing discussions about the nature of the universe and human behavior; I trace these ludic themes in passages often overlooked as mere metaphor and shape them into an analytical framework that spans major genres from the 8th century BCE to the early 1st century CE.Includes bibliographical references

Jouer dans l’Antiquité: identité et multiculturalité: Dossier thématique

Une approche pluridisciplinaire, croisant données archéologiques, écrites et iconographiques permet de saisir les modes de circulation des jeux en Méditerranée antique. Ce dossier ouvre plusieurs pistes de recherche sur les enjeux identitaires, réels ou imaginaires de la culture ludique antique dans la longue durée, de l’Égypte pharaonique à la fin de l’Antiquité.Abstract A pluridisciplinary approach, crossing archaeological, written and iconographic sources allows us to grasp the modes of circulation of play and games in the ancient Mediterranean. This special issue opens several avenues of research on the identity issues, real or imaginary, conveyed by ancient play culture, from pharaonic Egypt to the end of Antiquity

Medieval Material Culture: Explorations of Play, Performance and Biographical Trajectories

My ten publications submitted here are offered for validation as a PhD by Publication. They represent a sample of my on-going research into elements of the medieval material culture of Scotland, set in a European context. The main body of evidence on which they draw is the archaeology (both excavated material and stray finds) of the medieval burgh of Perth. This material comprises a vital element of the archaeological collections of Perth Museum & Art Gallery, where I have been based for 22 years as the curator of the archaeology collections. This collection not only provided many of the key strands of evidence I have explored but also the wider inspiration to look at further examples and contrasts from Scotland and Europe. The submitted papers explore this evidence through three overlapping or entangled contexts – medieval Perth, medieval Scotland and medieval Europe –and through three overlapping themes: play, performance (encompassing belief and magic) and biographical trajectories. This work (which also connects to other published research of mine, including Hall 2001a-b; 2003; 2005c-e; 2006; 2011a; 2012a; 2013a and b; 2014a; 2015a-b; 2016b; 2017 and forthcoming a and b) is underpinned by the recognition that museum collections of medieval material culture exist as trace elements of biographical trajectories and that they are always amenable to fresh understanding. Their preservation in museum collections creates the facility to study both neglected objects, for example the general run of board game kit discussed in Publications 1 and 3, and objects which might seem to be fully known, for example the Lewis chessmen or medieval coinage discussed in Publications 4 and 10 respectively. The following synopsis of these publications outlines their themes and issues in the context of the wider debates to which they contribute. The discussion focuses upon the contribution that my publications have sought to make to the key, overlapping and interwoven themes that are their focus: play and performance (Publications 1, 2, 3 and 4, published respectively as Hall 2007; 2016a; 2014b and 2014c), sacrality, magic and performance with particular respect to the town and country debate (Publications 5, 6 and 7, published respectively as Hall 2011b; 2005a and 2005b) and biographical trajectories and performance (Publications 8, 9 and10, published respectively as Hall 2012b; 2014d and 2012c)

Playthings in Early Modernity: Party Games, Word Games, Mind Games

Why do we play games—with and upon each other as well as ourselves? When are winners also losers, and vice-versa? How and to what end do we stretch the spaces of play? What happens when players go ‘out of bounds,’ or when games go ‘too far’? Moreover, what happens when we push the parameters of inquiry: when we play with traditional narratives of ludic culture, when we re-write the rules? An innovative volume of fifteen interdisciplinary essays at the nexus of material culture, performance studies, and game theory, Playthings in Early Modernity emphasizes the rules of the game(s) as well as the breaking of those rules. Thus, the titular ‘plaything’ is understood as both an object and a person, and play, in the early modern world, is treated not merely as a pastime, a leisurely pursuit, but as a pivotal part of daily life, a strategic psychosocial endeavor

On Wargaming

Wargames are as old as civilization—and perhaps older. In his informative and entertaining Public Broadcasting series Connections, James Burke argued that the first invention, the one that enabled all later inventions, was the plow. It allowed agriculture, and as agriculture permitted denser populations, the frequency of inventions increased, due either to “connecting” with new applications or combining with other inventions to create one that was greater than the sum of its parts.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/usnwc-newport-papers/1043/thumbnail.jp

Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution for the year ending June 30, 1896. Report of the U. S. National Museum. Pt.2

Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution. 1 July. HD 352 (pts. 1 and 2), 54-2, v72-73, 1909p. [3548-3549] Research related to the American Indian

Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves

Seneca's Characters addresses one of the most enduring and least theorised elements of literature: fictional character and its relationship to actual, human selfhood. Where does the boundary between character and person lie? While the characters we encounter in texts are obviously not 'real' people, they still possess person-like qualities that stimulate our attention and engagement. How is this relationship formulated in contexts of theatrical performance, where characters are set in motion by actual people, actual bodies and voices? This book addresses such questions by focusing on issues of coherence, imitation, appearance and autonomous action. It argues for the plays' sophisticated treatment of character, their acknowledgement of its purely fictional ontology alongside deep – and often dark – appreciation of its quasi-human qualities. Seneca's Characters offers a fresh perspective on the playwright's powerful tragic aesthetics that will stimulate scholars and students alike

Morphogrammata / The lettered Art of Optatian. Figuring Cultural Transformations in the Age of Constantine

This volume explores one of the most complex, multifaceted and momentous of all western cultural transformations: the refashioning of the Roman principate under the emperor Constantine in the early fourth century AD. It does so through the kaleidoscopic lens of one of antiquity’s most fascinating (and maligned) artists, Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius. Optatian’s experiments with word and image are little known among classicists. But, as contributors to this volume argue, his ‘morphogrammatic’ creations uniquely reflect, figure and shape the cultural dynamics of the fourth century. This is the first edited book dedicated to Optatian’s picture-poems and their various historical contexts. By bringing together different disciplinary perspectives (including ancient history, classical philology, art history, theology, philosophy and media studies), the volume demonstrates how Optatian gave form to the various political, intellectual and cultural currents of his age. At the same time, contributors champion Optatian as a uniquely creative artist – and one who anticipated some of our most pressing literary critical, art historical and philosophical concerns today