This week began the cycle of lectures to be given by professor Pura Nieto Hernandéz, from Brown University (USA), within the program of the Brazilian Summer School in Greece, promoted by the Center for the Theory of Philology of the Institute of Advanced Studies (IdEA) of Unicamp. In the first presentation, the speaker addressed the Iliad and Odyssey, by Homer, attracting the attention of Unicamp researchers working in different areas and the external public, who were able to participate in the event remotely.
Former professor at the University of Salamanca (Spain), where she also graduated (1982) and completed her doctorate (1990), Pura Nieto has been teaching at the Department of Classical Studies at Brown University since 1998, dedicating herself to teaching Greek and translation and focusing his research on Homer, history of the Greek language, Greek literature and mythology. In the cycle of four seminars, she presents a brief introduction to Greek poetry produced between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries BC through the reading of a selection of famous texts.
Very impressed with the reception on her first visit to Unicamp and the enthusiastic participation of students, both in person and virtually, Nieto highlights, in an interview with Unicamp website, that contact with Brazilian researchers, teachers and students can allow collaboration on future projects. Previously, she had already participated in academic activities with professor Isabella Tardin Cardoso, deputy coordinator of IdEA and professor at the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) at Unicamp.
Among his most recent works are research on conceptual metaphor and mythology and magical papyri, presented at conferences in 2022 in Germany and Spain. In investigations into conceptual metaphor, covering the period from the XNUMXth century BC to the XNUMXst century AD, the Spanish professor focused on the metaphors that relate the practice of poetry with the work of making a fabric, attributing magical powers to the poet.
“In addition to mythology, I am interested in linguistics, a field that has increasingly become part of 'cognitive science.' The conceptual metaphor enters this field”, explains Pura Nieto. “The project I want to dedicate myself to in the immediate future addresses Pindar’s female characters. I have already published two articles on this subject, but I had to abandon it because of these other interventions.”
Integrating the opening table of the lecture cycle, together with the coordinator of IdEA, Christiano Lyra, Afternoon Cardoso highlighted the role of professor Pura Nieto as fundamental in stimulating the dialogue of researchers in the field of Classical Studies in various institutions around the world and, now, also in Brazil. Archaic Greek poetry and, mainly, the work of Homer, highlights the IEL teacher, played a very important role in the formation of Western literature and culture. “In addition to their literary value, for philosophy and education, and science in general, the value of the Homeric poems is inestimable, which were used for the education of the Greeks of the following generations, and, later, of the Romans (and in the civilizations which were based on the Roman one), in many aspects of life”, declares Tardin Cardoso.
Flávio Ribeiro de Oliveira, professor of classical Greek and director of the Center for Classical Studies at IEL, was present at the first session, held at IdEA, and explained the importance of the topic under debate, praising the choice of speaker as she is a researcher of very prestigious and working in universities of great importance in the tradition of Classical Studies. “Archaic Greek poetry (Homer, Hesiod, the lyricists) has a fundamental role in Western culture. Not only is it the oldest preserved Western poetry, but its literary value, its themes, its inventions strongly mark the entire evolution of European culture and thought.”
Researcher Érica Angliker, from the British School at Athens (Greece) and member of the IdEA Philology Theory Center, recalls that the ancient Greeks were pioneers in several genres of Western literature and that epic, lyric and pastoral poetry have deep roots in the literature of archaic Greece. “The epic poems attributed to Homer are considered the earliest extant works of Western literature and remain giants in the literary canon for their deft and vivid descriptions of so many themes, such as war and peace, honor and disgrace, love and hate. .”
summer school
Pura Nieto's cycle of readings, which systematizes the works of some of the main authors of the archaic period, is one of the attractions of the 2023 edition of the Brazilian Summer School in Greece, an event promoted annually by the Center for the Theory of Philology. According to Isabella Tardin Cardoso, this year not only archaic and classical Athens will be explored, but also Roman and Byzantine Athens. Between the 18th and 20th of May, at IdEA, Erica Angliker will teach an unprecedented cycle of readings on these latest themes. In Athens, school participants will visit new archaeological sites and collections related to the classical and Byzantine periods, and the program will also have an aspect dedicated to the reception of classical works, such as the study of Athens as portrayed by XNUMXth century explorers and travelers and XVIII.
“We will also have new partnerships, for example, with the British School at Athens [BSA]. Still in Athens, students will take a guided tour of the Fitch ceramics laboratory at BSA, one of the most important centers in scientific archeology in the world. In the same city, we will welcome writer Rebecca Hall, author of the award-winning contemporary novel A Girl Gone Greek [a girl who became a Greek, 2015], for an informal discussion about the relationships between writing and journeys in contemporary Greece”, reveals Angliker.
According to Oliveira, in the theoretical training part there will be lectures on the Brazilian reception of classic works, investigating the way in which modern authors use ancient culture to produce new works. These lectures will be given by Oliveira, addressing Machado de Assis, and by professor Patricia Prata, from IEL, discussing Castro Alves. “It is important that we seek points of contact between classical culture and the formation of Brazilian literature, investigating and publicizing the reception of Greek and Latin classics by Brazilian authors”, says the professor.
Prata, who was also at the inaugural session of the Pura Nieto lecture cycle, points out that, in addition to training and research actions, the Summer School will have extension activities. “Participants from various areas, such as Ancient History, Archeology and Law, both teachers and students, were already encouraged in the previous edition to act in such dissemination. But, for this edition, Professor Isabella and I are teaching an unprecedented extension course, offered as part of the undergraduate course in Linguistics, and whose task is precisely to publicize activities in the area of Classics, such as those of the Center for Classical Studies, from IEL, and those from the Center for the Theory of Philology, from IdEA, aiming at the democratization of knowledge within society.”
The Greek Archaic Poetry reading cycle, with Pura Nieto, continues in the coming weeks, always on Mondays, from 14pm to 16:30pm, with the following themes: “Hesiod (Theogony and Works and Days)”, on 10/04; “Elegy (Solon and Theognis)”, on 17/04; and “Píndar”, on 24/04. The entire program can be followed by IDEA YouTube.
