Staff Profile:Dr Emma Aston
- Name:
- Dr Emma Aston
- Job Title:
- Head of Department
- Responsibilities:
Lecturer in Ancient History; Department Director of Academic Tutoring
UG Teaching
I teach on a wide range of topics, including: Greek Religion; ancient Macedon between Alexander I and Alexander III ('The Great'); the Greeks and the natural world. I also teach Latin and Greek.
PGT TeachingI am currently running an MA Special Option called 'Embodying Gods', about the depiction of divinity in ancient Greek cult and thought.
- Areas of Interest:
- I have previously worked chiefly within the area of ancient religion, my book on Greek animal hybrid deities has been recently published, and I am also editing some of the unpublished writings of Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, on animals in Greek myth and cult. My current monograph project, however, is on the history and culture of Thessaly in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, with a particular focus on relations between Thessalian and non-Thessalian communities. I spent a term as a Fellow of the British School at Athens working on research for this book and have also travelled extensively in the area. With its rich and much-exploited plains, Thessaly also allows me to work further on another long-standing area of interest: the Greeks' relationship with the natural world, both actual (through agriculture and animal husbandry) and imaginary (through myth).
- Research groups / Centres:
Research interests
I have a longstanding interest in Greek religion, especially the depiction of deities in part-animal form, which was the subject of my 2011 book Mixanthrôpoi: Animal-Human Hybrid Deities in Greek Religion (Liège).
My current main area of research, however, is Thessaly in northern Greece.
Current projects
I am working on a book on the culture and identity of Thessaly from the 7th to the 2nd century BC. I am also editing an unpublished monograph by the late scholar of Greek religion and myth, Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood.
Postgraduate supervision
I am especially interested in supervising doctoral projects on northern Greece, Greek religion, and ancient attitudes towards the natural world.
- Current PGR projects
I am second supervisor to a PhD student working on the depiction of animal skins in ancient art.
- Recently Completed
I was second supervisor to a PhD student who recently completed a PhD on the distribution of Haimonian lekythoi in central and northern Greece.
I have also been both an internal and an external PhD examiner.- Publications:
-
YNumber of items: 14.
2020
- Aston, E. (2020) Horses in Thessalian religion. In: Monsters and Animals in Ancient Culture and Religion. Taylor & Francis. (In Press)
2019
- Aston, E. (2019) ‘ἐμήδισαν προθύμως οὐδ᾽ ἔτι ἐνδοιαστῶς’: Thessalian medism and its repercussions. Hermathena. ISSN 0018-0750 (In Press)
2018
- Aston, E. (2018) Thermopylae 480 BCE: geography and landscape. In: Heuser, B. and Leoussi, A. (eds.) Famous Battles and How They Shaped the Modern World: From Troy to Courtrai 1200 BC - 1302 AD. Pen and Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley. ISBN 9781473893733
- Aston, E. and Kerr, J. (2018) Battlefield and racetrack: the changing role of horses in Thessalian society. Historia, 67 (1). pp. 2-35. ISSN 0118-2311 doi: https://doi.org/10.25162/HISTORIA-2018-0001
2017
- Aston, E. (2017) Centaurs and Lapiths in the landscape of Thessaly. In: Hawes, G. (ed.) Myths on the map: the storied landscapes of ancient Greece. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198744771
2014
- Aston, E. M. M. (2014) Part-animal gods. In: Campbell, G. L. (ed.) Oxford handbook of animals in classical thought and life. Oxford University Press, pp. 366-383. ISBN 9780199589425
2013
- Aston, E. (2013) Thessaly and Macedon at Delphi. Electrum: journal of ancient history, 19. pp. 41-60. ISSN 2084-3909 doi: https://doi.org/10.4467/20843909EL.12.002.0743
2012
- Aston, E. (2012) 'Friends in High Places: The Stereotype of Dangerous Thessalian Hospitality in the Later Classical Period.’. Phoenix, 66 (3-4). pp. 247-271. ISSN 0031-8299
- Aston, E. (2012) Friends in high places: the stereotype of dangerous Thessalian hospitality in the later Classical period. Phoenix, 66 (3-4). pp. 247-271. ISSN 0031-8299
2011
- Aston, E. (2011) Mixanthropoi: animal-human hybrid deities in Greek religion. Supplément, 25. Kernos (Centre International d'Etude de la Religion Grecque Antique), Liege, pp383. ISBN 9782960071788
2009
- Aston, E. (2009) Thetis and Cheiron in Thessaly. Kernos, 22. pp. 83-107. ISSN 0776-3824
2008
- Aston, E. (2008) Hybrid statues in ancient Greece: animal, human, god. In: Alexandridis, A. , Wild, M. and Winkler-Horacek, L. (eds.) Mensch und Tier in der Antike: Grenzziehung und Grenzüberschreitung. Reichert, Wiesbaden, pp. 481-502. ISBN 9783895005831
2006
- Aston, E. (2006) The absence of Chiron. Classical Quarterly, 56 (2). pp. 349-362. ISSN 0009-8388 doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009838806000371
2004
- Aston, E. (2004) Asclepius and the legacy of Thessaly. Classical Quarterly, 54 (1). pp. 18-32. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/cq/54.1.18
