Adriana Vazquez: Sacred Words: Reading Augustan Poetry through the Lens of Mystery Cult

Date
Mon February 5th 2018, 12:00 - 1:00pm
Event Sponsor
Department of Classics
Location
Building 110, Room 112
Adriana Vazquez: Sacred Words: Reading Augustan Poetry through the Lens of Mystery Cult

This talk aims to identify a literary discursive mode grounded in the literature, ideology, and soteriological mechanisms associated with Greek mystery cult and argues for its presence in the poetry of the Augustan period. Such an investigation invites a reappraisal of the allusive mechanisms of poetry of the period along models of cult dynamics during a time of broader religious restructuring and contemporary critique. By such strategies, poets redefine their status as vates figures, identify a select and privileged audience, and give new depth to the power of their poetry.

Adriana Vazquez is presently Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics at UCLA. She completed her PhD in Classics at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2017. Her research centers around Roman poetry of the Augustan period, and her current book project investigates the intersections of poetry and religious literature. She is also pursuing research on topics in Classical reception, with a focus on Hispanophone and Lusophone literature of the colonial and pre-modern periods.

Contact Phone Number