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Philosophy and Religious StudiesStaff Directory
Teaching Responsibilities
Research Interests Greek and Roman Literature and Philosophy. My particular interests are in Roman literature of the late republic and early empire (Lucretius to Apuleius), but as Associate Editor of a classical literary journal and as a teacher of literature Greek, Roman and contemporary, my range is of necessity considerably wider than this. Publications - Books Two Essays on Virgil: Intertextual Issues in Aeneid 6 and Georgics 4 (Studies in Western Traditions 2), Bendigo, La Trobe University, 1995. Publications - Articles and Book Chapters
Editorships
Conference Papers 'Can Atoms Make you Happy?', Public Lecture, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, 22 October 2009. 'Roman Dystopia and the Battle of Cannae in Punica 8-10', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University College, London, 7-9 July 2009. 'Lucius and Isis: Safe Haven or Manipulative Cult?', Australasian Society for Classical Studies, University of Sydney, 2-6 February 2009. 'The Judgement of Lucius: Variations on an Epic Theme in Apuleius Met. 10 and 11', Emotions, Status and Power: A Conference in Honour of Dr Ron Newbold, University of Adelaide, 9-10 December 2008. 'Scipio and Marcellus in Punica 13-15', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 26-28 August 2008 'Cupid and Psyche: The Last Word', Fourth International Conference on the Ancient Novel, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 21-26 July 2008. 'Damn with Great Praise? Lucan and Silius on Nero and Domitian', Private and Public Lies: The Discourse of Despotism and Deceit in the Ancient World, University of Melbourne, 7-10 July 2008. 'Cupid and Psyche: Out of one's Depth in the mise en abyme', Australasian Society for Classical Studies conference, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, 27-31 Jan. 2008. 'Past and Present in Lucretius' De Rerum Natura', Australasian Society for Classical Studies Conference, University of Newcastle, NSW, 4-8 Feb. 2007. 'Shakespeare's Iliad: Homeric Themes in Troilus and Cressida', H.W. Allen Memorial Lecture, Ormond College, University of Melbourne, 19 Sept. 2006. 'Lucretius and the Study of History', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, San Diego State University, 24-28 August 2006. 'Classical Themes in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nioght's Dream', Public Lecture, Earle Page College, University of New England, 25 May 2006. 'The Metamorphosis of Lucretius', Australasian Society for Classical Studies Conference, University of Tasmania, Hobart, 30 Jan.-3 Feb. 2006. 'Peace and War in the De Rerum Natura', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Auckland , NZ, 27-29 June 2005. 'Reading Aeneas' Shield', Latin Epic Seminar, ANU, Canberra, 9-10 April 2005. 'The Unlovely Lover of Terence's Hecyra', Australasian Society for Classical Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 31 Jan.-3 Feb. 2005 'Philosophy in Performance: Seneca's Trojan Women', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Sydney , 6-9 July 2004. 'Teaching Epicurus Today', International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, University of the Aegean, Rhodes , Greece , 2-5 July 2003. 'Writing the Memmiad: Didactic Personae in the De Rerum Natura', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Stellenbosch , South Africa , 25-28 June 2003. 'The Master's Apprentice? Poetic Personae in the De Rerum Natura', Australian Society for Classical Studies Conference, Macquarie University , Sydney , 2-7 Feb 2003. 'Epicurus in Lactantius' De Ira Dei', Biennial Conference in Philosophy, Religion and Culture, Catholic Institute of Sydney, 5-6 October 2002. 'Laudis spes magna:The Claims to Fame of Pompey and Lucretius', Triennial Conference of New Zealand Universities' Classics Departments, Victoria University of Wellington, 27-29 June 2002. 'The Artist in his Studio: Representations of Nero's Rome in Annals 14', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, Victoria University of Wellington, 23-26 June 2002. 'Caesar, Pompey and the Prologue to the De Rerum Natura', Public Lecture, University of Crete , Rethymno, 23 October 2001. 'Transcending the Boundaries: Lucretius and the moenia mundi', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University at Buffalo , 26-30 June 2001. 'The Lost Epic of Domitian', Australian Society for Classical Studies Conference, University of Adelaide , 6-11 February 2001. 'De integro condere: The Reinventions of Numa', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Tasmania , 26-30 June 2000 (keynote address). 'The Artist that Never Was: Quintilian's Praise of Domitian', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, Temple University , Rome , 29 June-3 July 1999. 'The Ambiguities of a Happy Ending: The Case of Cupid and Psyche', Australian Society for Classical Studies Conference, University of Queensland , 6-10 July 1998. '"That's our Venus": Sex, Love and Poetry in the De Rerum Natura', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Canterbury , Christchurch NZ, 29 June-2 July 1998. '"What's Hecuba to Him...?" Reflections on Poetry and Politics in Tacitus' Dialogue on Orators', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Natal , Durban , 18-22 June 1997. 'Tityrus and Artistic Integrity: Reflections on Calpurnius' Reading of Virgil', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Melbourne , 8-12 July 1996. 'Images of the City in Virgil, Calpurnius and Calvino', British Comparative Literature Association, University of Edinburgh , 12-14 July 1995. 'Images of the City in Georgics 4', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, Rome, 1-4 June 1995. 'Myths, Dreams and Mysteries: Intertextual Keys to Aeneid 6', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Sydney, 9-11 July 1994. 'Epicureanism as Satire: Lucretius on Human Folly', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Canterbury (NZ), 29-30 August, 1992. 'The Ending of Sense: Thematic Design in Lucretius Book 6' (a revised version of the one immediately below), Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 27-30 Sept 1991. 'The Ending of Sense: Thematic Design in Lucretius Book 6', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of New England, 2-4 July 1990. 'Reviewing Apuleius' Metamorphoses', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, Bendigo College of Advanced Education, 3-5 July 1989. 'Moral Issues and Comedy in Terence's Hecyra', Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, University of Auckland , 30 Aug-2 Sept 1988. Biography John Penwill grew up in Tasmania and studied first at the University of Tasmania and subsequently at Downing College , Cambridge . He has a first class honours degree in Classics and a Diploma in Education. He taught at Monash University from 1972-1977 and at the University of Tasmania from 1978-1981 before being appointed to La Trobe University's Bendigo campus. He retired from his teaching position at La Trobe in May 2009, whereupon he was appointed Honorary Associate in the School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry. John's general research interest is in the field of Greek and Roman literature. He has for the past 30 years been Associate Editor of the international refereed journal Ramus: Critical Studies in Greek and Roman Literature, to which he has himself contributed a number of articles. His particular interest is in Roman literature of the late republic and early empire, and his focus within that is the interface between literature and philosophy, principally in the didactic epic poem of Lucretius, the De Rerum Natura, and Apuleius' Metamorphoses. In the case of the De Rerum Natura, John in a number of articles and conference papers has sought to locate this text in its literary, philosophical and political context, exploring intertextualities with authors going back to Homer and Hesiod in the 8th century BCE and the confrontational relationship the author sets up between his philosopher-hero, Epicurus, and the warlords who dominated Roman politics in the 50s. In the case of Apuleius, John has in a series of three articles challenged the orthodox view of the fable of Cupid and Psyche which forms the centrepiece of the Metamorphoses, arguing that in its context it depicts not the liberation but the enslavement of the soul to sexual desire. John has also published articles on Plato's Symposium, the Letters of Themistocles, the literature and philosophy of the Flavian period, Virgil's Aeneid and Georgics, Epicurean theology, Lactantius' De Ira Dei, the battle narratives in Homer's Iliad, Livy's representation of Numa (the second king of Rome), Tacitus' Dialogue on Orators, Terence's Hecyra and Seneca's Trojan Women; he is also working on a book on Lucretius and on a translation of the Letters of Chion of Heraclea for Penguin Classics. John's undergraduate teaching has encompassed a range of disciplines and periods: Classical Literature, Modern Literature, Australian and Contemporary Literature, Greek Philosophy, Classical Historiography, Classical and Neo-Classical Art, Women's Studies, Classical Greek and Latin Language and English Language Studies. He co-ordinated the design of the original honours course in Humanities first offered in 1992, and has taught a full unit in Roman studies each year: Rome and Classicism from 1992-2001; Roman Narratives in 2002 and 2004 and Issues in Roman Philosophy in 2003, 2005 and 2007. John has been a foundation member of the Pacific Rim Roman Literature Seminar, which has convened annually since its inception at the University of Tasmania in 1987. He has attended and given papers at all its meetings bar one, which he was prevented from attending for health reasons, and hosted the 1989 meeting at La Trobe, Bendigo. In the first week of February 2004 he convened the annual conference of the Australian Society for Classical Studies, of which he has in recent years been an active member and was elected President in 2006. He is also active in the Classical Association of Victoria, where he took over the editorship of the CAV's journal Iris in 1996.
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