AUSTRALASIAN

SOCIETY FOR
CLASSICAL STUDIES

th
29 Conference and
General Meeting
27th January – 31st January 2008

PROGRAMME AND ABSTRACTS

Department of Classics
University of Canterbury
Christchurch
New Zealand
ASCS 29 Programme and Abstracts

MONDAY, January 28
1:00pm – 2:30pm Lunch Break

Tour of the Logie Collection, University of Canterbury (tour - 45 minutes)

Participants need to register in the morning (25 people max)
Bus service from and to Hotel provided. The University has several cafes,
maps provided

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDITORS OF JOURNALS MEETING (lunch provided)

(Chair: William Dominik) CANTERBURY 3

2:30 pm – 4:30 pm SECOND SESSION FOR THE READING OF PAPERS

Section 5: AUGUSTAN POETRY Section 6: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY AND MEDICINE

Chair: Marcus Wilson (University of Auckland) Chair: Dougal Blyth (University of Auckland)

1. Shade and Shadows in Virgil’s Supertext
William J. Dominik (University of Otago)
2. Interlocking Word Order in Virgil
Lidnsay Zoch (University of Melboune)
3. The Significance of Beginnings
Fran Alexis (University of Tasmania)
4. Beating Time: Metrical Strategies in the
Narratives of Ovid’s Fasti.
Anne Gosling (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
CANTERBURY 1
Section 7: ANCIENT HISTORIOGRAPHY I
Chair: Edwin Judge (Macquarie University)
1. Follow the Leader: Justice and Leadership
according to Plato and Isocrates
Yair Schlein (The Open University of Israel)
2. Lucian's Zeus Refuted and Cynic tradition
Philip Bosman (University of South Africa)
3. Pythagorean Placita on the Substance of
Sperm, Embryology and Foetal Development
Kristen Szumyn (Macquarie University)
4. What were Celsus’ Fibulae?
John Ratcliffe (University of Queensland)
OTAGO
Section 8: GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Chair: Patrick O’Sullivan (University of Canterbury)

1. Comanus of Naucratis and Comanus of 1. Fire and the Monster: the Defeat of Typhoeus
Alexandria Mary Carver (University of Canterbury)
Paul McKechnie (Macquarie University)

2. Livy the Augustan historian (in honour of 2. Between Delos and Delphi Comes Hermes
Edwin Judge) Arlene Allan (University of Otago)
Ronald Ridley (University of Melbourne)

3. The Proem to Plutarch’s Lives of Demetrius 3. Is Hera a Mother Goddess?

and Antony Alisa Bowden (University of Auckland)
Hannah Mitchell (University of Sydney)

4. Narrative, Moralism and Dialectics: The 4. Archilochus’ Telephus: anti-hero’s anti-hero

Sources behind Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus John Whitehorne (University of Queensland)
Jonathan Hastie (University of Sydney)

SOUTHLAND MARLBOROUGH
Section 9: MODERN RECEPTION OF CLASSICS
Chair: Tom Stevenson (University of Queensland)

1. Barbarians on the Berlin Wall: A History of the Discipline of ‘Germanic’ Antiquity from the
Fifteenth century to the Present Day
Timothy Scott (Macquarie University)

2. Cornford Mythistoricus
Greg Horsley (University of New England) BOARDROOM

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ASCS 29 Programme and Abstracts
TUESDAY, January 29
1:00 pm – 2:30pm Lunch Break
Tour of the Logie Collection, University of Canterbury (45 minutes)
Participants need to register in the morning (25 people max)
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ASCS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING (lunch provided)
Chair: John Penwill
2:30 pm – 4:30 pm FIFTH SESSION FOR THE READING OF PAPERS
Section 20: SOCRATES, SOPHISTRY AND
SCEPTICISM II
Panel sponsored by the Australasian Society of
Ancient Philosophy
Chair: Dirk Baltzly (Monash University)
1. The Examined Life: Extracts from a Neo-
Socratic Argument
Joe Mintoff (University of Newcastle)
2. A Sceptical Socrates in Plato?
Dougal Blyth (University of Auckland)
3. Polemo's Academy, Platonic Dubia, and the
Origins of the Sceptic Socrates
Harold Tarrant (University of Newcastle)
4. Art, Seriously: Plato's Laws 667b-669b
Rick Benitez (University of Sydney)
CANTERBURY 1
Section 22: FASHIONING IMAGES OF POWER
Chair: Peter Keegan (Macquarie University)
1. Augustus: the Perpetual Triumphator
Sarah Midford (University of Melbourne)
2. Germanicus Caesar and the Senatus
Consultum de Gnaeo Pisone Patre
Andrew Stiles (University of Sydney)
3. Caracalla’s Parthian War and the Ghost of
Alexander
Emma Strugnell (University of Melbourne)
4. Emperors Roman and Barbarian
Caillan Davenport (Brasenose College, Oxford)
MARLBOROUGH
Section 24: CICERO: ORATORY, SOCIETY AND EMOTIONS
Chair: Enrica Sciarrino (University of Canterbury)
1. Cicero’s Rhetorical Strategy in Pro Archia
Jon Hall (University of Otago)
2. A Grief Observed: Cicero on Remembering Tullia
Han Baltussen (University of Adelaide)
3. Epistulae and Limits of Friendship
Jennifer Manley (University of Queensland)
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Conference Foyer
CANTERBURY 3
Section 21: MOTIFS ON GREEK POTTERY
Chair: Diana Burton (Victoria University of
Wellington)
1. Botanic Food Motifs of the Late Bronze Age
Cycladic Islands
Marcia Nugent (University of Melbourne)
2. Some Myths in Vase-painting Analysis
Anne Mackay (University of Auckland)
3. 'Black-figure Wedding Scenes: An Example of
the "Synoptic" Technique
Miriam Bissett (University of Auckland)
4. Combination Corslet or Cuirass: Some
Questions Arising from a Close Study of the
Images of the Shoulder-piece Corslet on
Athenian Red-figure ceramics.
Karl Hart (Otago University)
OTAGO
Section 23: POST-AUGUSTAN POETRY
Chair: William Dominik (University of Otago)
1. A Hawk, Some Doves and an Eagle: Silius
Italicus, Punica 4.101-42, 445-79
Frances Mills (La Trobe University)
2. The Rehabilitation of Hercules in Silius Italicus’
Punica
Matt Matthias (University of Otago)
3. Persius and the Disease of Midas’ Barber
Satire 1: The Last Shot at a Cure
Lazar Maric (Macquarie University)
SOUTHLAND
BOARDROOM
ASCS 29 Programme and Abstracts

WEDNESDAY, January 30

2:30 pm – 4:00 pm EIGHTH SESSION FOR THE READING OF PAPERS

Section 32: POWER IN THE HELLENISTIC Section 33: APPRECIATION or DEPRECIATION?

WORLD THE VALUE OF CLASSICS IN AUSTRALASIA
Chair: Gary Morrison (University of Canterbury) Chair: John Penwill (La Trobe University)

1. Marcus Antonius: Neos Dionysos? 1. Answering on Behalf of Classics

Lauren Horne (Macquarie University) Tom Stevenson (University of Queensland)
(10 minutes)

2. Wine into Nectar: the Symposium and Ruler

Cult 2. Politicising Classics
Lara O’Sullivan (University of Western Australia) William Dominik (University of Otago)
(10 minutes)

3. Aristotelian Dynasty
John Walsh (University of Otago) 3. Trying to Meet Expectations
Elizabeth Minchin (Australian National University)
(10 minutes)

4. Classics as a Disciplined Practice in a

Restructuring University
Enrica Sciarrino (University of Canterbury)
(10 minutes)
OTAGO CANTERBURY 1
Section 34: EVERYDAY LIFE
Chair: Alison Griffith (University of Canterbury)

1. Clocks in Classical Greece: ‘Sundials’ Before the Sundial

Robert Hannah (University of Otago)

2. Is That a spintria in Your pocket, or Are You Just Pleased to See Me?
Geoffrey Fishburn (University of New South Wales)

3. Lead Pipes and Lavatories

Frank Sear (University of Melbourne)
SOUTHLAND

4:00 pm – 4:30 pm NINTH SESSION FOR THE READING OF PAPERS

Section 35: Keynote Speaker Conference Paper

Chair: Graham Zanker (University of Canterbury)

The Second Temple of Aphaia on Aegina: A Victory Monument for the Persian Wars?
Andrew Stewart (University of California at Berkeley)
CANTERBURY 2

4:30 pm - 5:00 pm Afternoon Tea Conference Foyer

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm ASCS GENERAL MEETING

Chair: John Penwill (La Trobe University) CANTERBURY 2

7:30 pm onwards CONFERENCE DINNER

Busses will depart from Rydges Hotel at 7:00pm
Venue: Riccarton House at Deans’ Bush
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ASCS 29 Programme and Abstracts

Presenter/Chair Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Diana Burton (Victoria University of Wellington) Section 17 Chair,
Diana.Burton@vuw.ac.nz Section 21

Paul Burton (University of Tasmania) Section 3 Chair,

Paul.Burton@utas.edu.au Section 30

Mary Carver (University of Canterbury) Section 8

hmc22@student.canterbury.ac.nz

Malcolm Choat (Macquarie University) Chair, and

mchoat@hmn.mq.edu.au Section 16

K.O. Chong-Gossard (University of Melbourne) Chair, Section 25

koc@unimelb.edu.au Section 18

Caillan Davenport (Brasenose College, Oxford) Section 22

caillan.davenport@bnc.ox.ac.uk

John Davidson (Victoria University of Wellington) Section 2 Chair,

john.davidson@vuw.ac.nz Section 14

Abigail Dawson (University of Auckland) Section 17

adaw010@ec.auckland.ac.nz

Judy K. Deuling (Victoria University of Wellington) Section 27

Judy.Deuling@vuw.ac.nz

Sonia Dimitriadis (Australian National University) Section 18

sonia.dimitriadis@anu.edu.au

Robin Dixon (University of Sydney) Section 28

buzzsawbob@hotmail.com

William J. Dominik (University of Otago) Section 5 Chair, Section 33

william.dominik@stonebow.otago.ac.nz Section 23

Jasper F. Donelan (Victoria University of Section 28

Wellington)
jasperdonelan@hotmail.com

Geoffrey D. Dunn ( Australian Catholic University) Section 29

g.dunn@mcauley.acu.edu.au

Trevor V. Evans (Mcquarie University) Chair, and

Trevor.Evans@humn.mq.edu.au Section 16

Geoffrey Fishburn (University of New South Section 34

Wales)
G.Fishburn@unsw.edu.au

Kristal Flemming (University of Melbourne) Section 13

k.flemming@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au

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ASCS 29 Programme and Abstracts
Spatial Characteristics of the Plautine Stage
Robin Dixon (University of Sydney)
buzzsawbob@hotmail.com

Established wisdom holds that the Roman dramatic stage featured three stage buildings on the scaenae
frons, each with its own double door for entrances and exits, and this model of stage design has been
supported by excavations of the permanent stone theatres constructed after the first century BCE. However,
very limited evidence exists for the spatial characteristics of the earlier semi-permanent or temporary stages,
those stages actually used during Plautus’ lifetime for performance of his works. This paper considers this
limited source material, particularly the playscripts themselves, in an attempt to reconstruct the spatial
characteristics of the Plautine stage.

Shade and Shadows in Virgil’s Supertext

William J. Dominik (University of Otago)
william.dominik@stonebow.otago.ac.nz

In Vergil’s Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid shade and shadows assume an important role in the politicisation
of the text. The shade that hangs over the landscape in the opening lines of the Eclogues is extended to
other uses throughout the Vergilian text, which reveals umbra ambiguously as a setting suitable not only for
song but also as a potentially lethal place. Using the images of shade and shadows, the Vergilian supertext
narrates a tale that is consistent with the themes of the destruction of the natural environment and the
intrusion of the politico-military and urban worlds.

Ambivalence as a Narrative Device in Sophocles’ Antigone

Jasper F. Donelan (Victoria University of Wellington)
jasperdonelan@hotmail.com

Ambivalence does not feature as one of Aristotle’s criteria for the production of an effective tragedy. This
paper argues, however, that much of the success of Sophocles’ Antigone is due to the ambivalent nature of
the play’s female protagonist. During the prologue, Sophocles encourages his audience to assess Antigone
negatively. This is achieved by accentuating detracting aspects of the protagonist’s character, largely
through the foil that is Ismene, but also through Antigone’s own volatility and the prologue’s unconventional
setting. As the play progresses, the audience must attempt to reconcile Antigone’s presentation in the
prologue with the tragedy’s outcome and the apparent divine sanctioning of the protagonist’s defiant act.
The pleasure derived from watching/reading this tragedy is therefore the resolution of these inconsistencies,
or at least attempt at resolution, which the audience/reader must undergo.

The Political and Literary Careers of Flavius Mallius Theodorus

Geoffrey D. Dunn ( Australian Catholic University)
g.dunn@mcauley.acu.edu.au

Mallius (or Manlius) Theodorus was praetorian prefect for Italy from 397 to 399 and consul in the West in
399. He had earlier been praetorian prefect for Gaul in the early 380s, before the fall of Gratian, but was in
retirement throughout the reign of Theodosius I, when he lived in Milan engaged in philosophical and literary
pursuits, including corresponding with Symmachus. While only one of his works, De metris survives, he was
a friend of Augustine and his Neoplatonism influenced the future bishop, although Augustine would revise his
views about his former mentor in later life. He is also the subject of a panegyric by Claudian on the occasion
of his consulship. This paper seeks to investigate Theodorus’ careers in order to evaluate afresh the role of
high-status Christians both within Christianity and the wider world of late antiquity. Although much of
Claudian’s panegyric focuses on the fact that Theodorus came out of political retirement in the reign of
Honorius, the questions of why he was asked and why he agreed to do so will be considered.

Bad Greek and Bilingualism in the Zenon Archive

Trevor V. Evans (Mcquarie University)
Trevor.Evans@humn.mq.edu.au

This paper analyses evidence from the papyrus texts of the third century BC Zenon Archive for language
contact in Ptolemaic Egypt. The purpose is to reassess the nature of the 'ungrammatical' or 'bad' Greek

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