Center for Hellenic Studies

10/28/2026

If you're a teacher in the DMV, or know someone who is, consider joining us on Saturday, 11/14 for a workshop on teaching the Odyssey!

Capitalizing on the Odyssey’s recent visibility and its prominence in cultural discourse, this workshop is intended as an opportunity to explore and collect strategies and resources for teaching Homer’s Odyssey as a versatile text ripe for interdisciplinary study and engagement.

Saturday, November 14. The Center for Hellenic Studies invites local middle school and high school educators to participate in a day-long pedagogy workshop centered around Homer’s Odyssey and its historic reception.

10/27/2026

https://current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/what-aristotle-can-teach-us-about-navigating-life-ai

The multidisciplinary conversations Aristotle had with students at his Lyceum thousands of years ago might be useful today in thinking about humanity’s relationship with AI. At least, so says annual conference in Greece that brings together scientists, technologists, humanists, and civic leaders.

10/20/2026

Since its release in July, Christopher Nolan’s IMAX film The Odyssey has made as big a splash as any film in recent memory, drawing large crowds to theaters and eliciting vociferous debate among pundits. What are we to make of Nolan’s reworking of this Homeric epic? How does his version adapt the ancient story and shape the narrative through cinematic techniques? What does the film and its reception tell us about our own time and its relationship to the past?

Since its release in July, Christopher Nolan’s IMAX film The Odysse...

10/16/2026

Join us the evening of November 2 for a conversation on the smash-hit games Hades and Hades II, featuring two leading scholars on the reception of the ancient world in video games.

Monday, November 2. Join us for a conversation on the smash-hit games Hades and Hades II, featuring two leading scholars on the reception of the ancient world in video games.

10/16/2026

A little over 2 weeks left until applications close! Apply today

Apply now! The Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) offers four postdoctoral fellowship opportunities for the 2027-28 academic year. These programs encourage and support research of the highest quality on topics related to the ancient Greek world.

10/09/2026

Anne Carson, CHS Fellow 1983-84, was just awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

10/05/2026

https://youtu.be/3tHemiUP8BM?si=bfYmh65EEG1lg_yi

This discussion between current CHS Director, Naomi Weiss, and Homeric scholar and former CHS Director, Gregory Nagy, examines Nolan’s adaption of The Odyssey and the epic’s continuing endurance and relevancy.

Interested in learning more?

The CHS is co-sponsoring a conversation on Nolan’s Odyssey on Harvard’s main campus in Cambridge, MA. Please join us on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 6:00 p.m., for Odysseus Returns: Reflections on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, a conversation between Harvard faculty David Elmer, Emily Greenwood, and Jie Lin, moderated by Robin Kelsey.

Since its release in July, Christopher Nolan’s IMAX film The Odyssey has made as big a splash as any film in recent memory, drawing large crowds to theaters and eliciting vociferous debate among pundits. What are we to make of Nolan’s reworking of this Homeric epic? How does his version adapt the ancient story and shape the narrative through cinematic techniques? What does the film and its reception tell us about our own time and its relationship to the past?

This conversation will be in-person only. After the event, we will share a full recording. This event is co-sponsored by the Department of the Classics and the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University.

10/01/2026

The Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece and the United States, together with the Pedagogies for Life Seminar of the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard, in cooperation with the NCSR "DEMOKRITOS", the World Human Forum, and the Maliotis Cultural Center of Hellenic College Holy Cross, is organizing a panel discussion on "Aristotle and AI: Insights from The Lyceum Project," as part of ! 🌍 ✨

The speakers will be Vangelis Karkaletsis (NCSR "Demokritos"), Alexandra Mitsotaki (World Human Forum), Maria Dagioglou (NCSR "Demokritos"), and Sergio Imparato (Harvard). The discussion will be moderated by Nicolas Prevelakis (Social Studies and the Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard), with opening remarks by Naomi Weiss (Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard) and Doris Sommer (Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard).

This event is open to the Harvard community and the wider public.

📍 Barker Center, 110 Thompson Room, Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University
🗓️ October 14, 2026
⏰ 6:00 PM (EDT)
🌐 Learn more: https://greece.chs.harvard.edu/events-conferences/aristotle-and-ai

The Lyceum Project
Center for Hellenic Studies
Harvard Arts and Humanities

08/26/2026

This summer, the Center for Hellenic Studies hosted the Scholars-In-Training Program (SIT), an initiative cosponsored and previously held through Harvard’s Department of the Classics. Seven high school students from the DMV area were selected to participate as scholars-in-training, and for six weeks, they explored Greek antiquity through classes, workshops, and activities.

From Monday to Friday, our scholars devoted themselves to the study of the Ancient Greek language. In addition to their language training, students were led through a workshop on classical receptions every Tuesday afternoon. Informed by our students’ diverse interests, the workshop explored the rich afterlife of ancient Greece in contemporary environments and debates. Topics for the workshop ranged from contemporary reimaginings of Greek tragedy to discussions of race and ethnicity in antiquity. On Thursday afternoons, students participated in a professional development workshop meant to prepare them for undergraduate study in the humanities. Some sessions of this workshop focused on developing specific skills, like the critical reading of secondary literature. Others explored the wide range of methodological and occupational possibilities inherent in the study of Greco-Roman classics.

In addition to our daily activities, students were encouraged to participate in the Center’s summer programming. SIT students found themselves in conversation with Gareth Hinds and Suzanne Lye as they discussed the process of adapting Homer’s Odyssey into a graphic novel. They also participated in an ancient perfume workshop, where they were able to produce their own perfumes using reconstructed ancient recipes. Finally, and in almost poetic fashion, the end of summer afforded students and instructors the opportunity to watch Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey as a group and to discuss it using the tools developed over the course of the program.

08/20/2026

At this Odyssey moment, fans and critics of Christopher Nolan’s film may want to deepen their understanding of the characters, plot lines, and values of the eighth-century BCE epic that inspired it.

Check out Nancy Felson's Regarding Penelope: From Character to Poetics, as well as other titles in the Center's Hellenic Studies series related to the Odyssey.

At this Odyssey moment, fans and critics of Christopher Nolan’s film may want to deepen their understanding of the characters, plot lines, and values of the eighth-century BCE epic that inspired it. Check out these books in the Center's Hellenic Studies Series.