Aelius Aristides, Philostratus and the Smyrna earthquake of 178 CE
Eco-Humanities Research Group
Prof Jason König (School of Classics, University of St Andrews, and Co-director of the St Andrews Centre for Ancient Environmental Studies)
Thursday 2nd March 2023 4.00-5.15pm GMT (1600-1715), Via Zoom
"The goal in this lecture is to ask what we can gain from bringing ancient responses to environmental damage into dialogue with their modern equivalents. I start by looking at some similarities and differences between ancient and modern representations of ecological grief. To what extent are modern versions of that phenomenon anticipated in the literatures of classical antiquity? How far can we use that comparison to shed new light on both ancient and modern conceptions? How far can we reconstruct ancient experiences of ecological grief, and are there ways in which that process can act as a resource for environmental thinking in the present? As a case study for those questions I look at the work of the second-century CE Greek orator Aelius Aristides and especially his responses to the Smyrna earthquake of 178 CE, and at Philostratus’ famous depiction of the emperor Marcus Aurelius’ grief on hearing news of the destruction of the city." Jason König is Professor of Greek at the University of St Andrews, and co-director of the St Andrews Centre for Ancient Environmental Studies. He works broadly on the literatures and cultures of the Roman empire, and on the history and representation of human-environment relations in classical antiquity. His books include The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (Princeton University Press, 2022).