Ruby Blondell

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Ruby Blondell is Professor Emerita of Classics and Adjunct Professor Emerita of Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington; prior to retirement, they were the Byron W. and Alice L. Lockwood Professor of Humanities also at the University of Washington. [1] Their research centres on Greek intellectual history, gender studies, and the reception of ancient myth in contemporary culture. [2]

Contents

Career

Blondell completed their BA and MA in Classics at the University of Oxford (1978 and 1981, respectively), before receiving their PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984. [3] Their doctoral thesis was entitled Helping Friends and Harming Enemies: A Study in Sophocles and Greek Ethics. [4]

Upon the completion of their PhD, Blondell was a lecturer at Harvard University, before moving to the University of Washington in 1985, where they have taught until retirement in 2019. [5] Their teaching responsibilities were centred on topics of Greek literature (especially Greek tragedy), and Greek intellectual history and culture.

Blondell has held various positions within the Society for Classical Studies (formerly the American Philological Society) and the Women's Classical Caucus; [6] and was a former treasurer for the Lambda Classical Caucus. [7] In 2014 Blondell was awarded the inaugural Lambda Classical Caucus Activism Award; [8] and, in 2019, they were also awarded the Women's Classical Caucus Leadership Award. [9]

Research Publications

Blondell has published widely on topics of Greek intellectual history, gender studies, and the reception of myth in contemporary culture, [10] including the following four monographs:

Blondell has edited several collections focused on gender and sexuality in the ancient world:

They have also produced several translations of the works of Sophocles and Euripides, including:

Media

Blondell has featured in the following media broadcasts discussing their research:

Related Research Articles

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In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa, Electra, Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassandra</span> Mythological prophetess and princess of Troy

Cassandra or Kassandra in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believed. In modern usage her name is employed as a rhetorical device to indicate a person whose accurate prophecies, generally of impending disaster, are not believed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophocles</span> 5th century BC Athenian tragic playwright

Sophocles was an ancient Greek tragedian, known as one of three from whom at least one play has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax, Antigone, Women of Trachis, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. For almost fifty years, Sophocles was the most celebrated playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens which took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in thirty competitions, won twenty-four, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won thirteen competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles; Euripides won four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menelaus</span> King of Sparta, husband of Helen of Troy

In Greek mythology, Menelaus was a king of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta. According to the Iliad, Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of the Greek army, under his elder brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. Prominent in both the Iliad and Odyssey, Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and Greek tragedy, the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen of Troy</span> Daughter of Zeus in Greek mythology

Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta "who became by her the father of Hermione, and, according to others, of Nicostratus also." Her abduction by Paris of Troy was the most immediate cause of the Trojan War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polynices</span> Mythological prince of Thebes

In Greek mythology, Polynices was the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia and the older brother of Eteocles. When his father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, he was expelled from Thebes, leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule. Because of a curse put on them by their father Oedipus, the two sons did not share the rule peacefully and died as a result, killing each other in battle for control over Thebes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismene</span> Mythological princess of Thebes

In Greek mythology, Ismene is a Theban princess. She is the daughter and half-sister of Oedipus, king of Thebes, daughter and granddaughter of Jocasta, and sister of Antigone, Eteocles, and Polynices. She appears in several tragic plays of Sophocles: at the end of Oedipus Rex, in Oedipus at Colonus and in Antigone. She also appears at the end of Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jocasta</span> Greek mythological Queen of Thebes

In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also rendered Iocaste and also known as Epicaste, was a daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi Echion, and queen consort of Thebes. She was the wife of first Laius, then of their son Oedipus, and both mother and grandmother of Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene. She was also sister of Creon and mother-in-law of Haimon.

<i>Oedipus at Colonus</i> Ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles

Oedipus at Colonus is the second-last of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles's death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC.

Mary R. Lefkowitz is an American scholar of Classics. She is the Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where she previously worked from 1959 to 2005. She has published ten books over the course of her career.

<i>Philoctetes</i> (Sophocles play) Ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles

Philoctetes is a play by Sophocles. The play was written during the Peloponnesian War. It is one of the seven extant tragedies by Sophocles. It was first performed at the City Dionysia in 409 BC, where it won first prize. The story takes place during the Trojan War. It describes the attempt by Neoptolemus and Odysseus to bring the disabled Philoctetes, the master archer, back to Troy from the island of Lemnos.

Peter Meineck is Professor of Classics in the Modern World at New York University. He is also the founder and humanities program director of Aquila Theatre and has held appointments at Princeton University and University of South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marianne McDonald</span> American philanthropist and scholar (born 1937)

Marianne McDonald is a scholar and philanthropist. Marianne is involved in the interpretation, sharing, compilation, and preservation of Greek and Irish texts, plays and writings. Recognized as a historian on the classics, she has received numerous awards and accolades because of her works and philanthropy. As a playwright, she has authored numerous modern works, based on ancient Greek dramas in modern times. As a teacher and mentor, she is highly sought after for her knowledge of and application of the classic themes and premises of life in modern times. In 2013, she was awarded the Distinguished Professor of Theatre and Classics, Department of Theatre, Classics Program, University of California, San Diego. In 1994, she was inducted into the Royal Irish Academy, being recognized for her expertise and academic excellence in Irish language history, interpretation and the preservation of ancient Irish texts. As a philanthropist, Marianne partnered with Sharp to enhance access to drug and alcohol treatment programs by making a $3 million pledge — the largest gift to benefit behavioral health services in Sharp’s history. Her donation led to the creation of the McDonald Center at Sharp HealthCare. Additionally, to recognize her generosity, Sharp Vista Pacifica Hospital was renamed Sharp McDonald Center.

Ian C. Johnston is a Canadian author and translator, a retired university-college instructor and a professor emeritus at Vancouver Island University.

Judith P. Hallett is Professor and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Emerita of Classics, having formerly been the Graduate Director at the Department of Classics, University of Maryland. Her research focuses on women, the family, and sexuality in ancient Greece and Rome, particularly in Latin literature. She is also an expert on classical education and reception in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Futo Kennedy</span> American academic and classicist

Rebecca Futo Kennedy is Associate Professor of Classics, Women's and Gender Studies, and Environmental Studies at Denison University, and the Director of the Denison Museum. Her research focuses on the political, social, and cultural history of Classical Athens, Athenian tragedy, ancient immigration, ancient theories of race and ethnicity, and the reception of those theories in modern race science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olakunbi Olasope</span> Nigerian classicist

Olakunbi Ojuolape Olasope is a Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. She is an expert on Roman social history, Greek and Roman theatre, and Yoruba classical performance culture. Olasope is known in particular for her work on the reception of classical drama in West Africa, especially the work of the Nigerian dramatist Femi Osofisan.

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References

  1. "Ruby Blondell | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  2. "Ruby Blondell | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  3. "Bio: Ruby Blondell". chs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  4. Blondell, Ruby (1989). Helping friends and harming enemies: a study in Sophocles and Greek ethics. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-35116-4.
  5. "Bio: Ruby Blondell". chs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  6. "Ruby Blondell | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  7. "Lambda Classical Caucus". www.lambdacc.org. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  8. "Lambda Classical Caucus". www.lambdacc.org. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  9. "Award & Prize Winners". THE WOMEN'S CLASSICAL CAUCUS (WCC). Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  10. "Ruby Blondell | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  11. Blondell, Ruby (2023-08-01). Helen of Troy in Hollywood. Princeton University Press. ISBN   978-0-691-22962-1.
  12. "Ruby Blondell Launches 1000 Ships at Oberlin | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  13. Lyons, Deborah (20 June 2017). "Review of: Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation". Bryn Mawr Classical Review .
  14. "The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  15. "BMCR Review of 'The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues'". Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
  16. "Helping Friends and Harming Enemies".
  17. "Archimède 5. 2018 - Archéologie et histoire ancienne : Méditerranée – Europe (ArcHiMèdE) - Université de Strasbourg". archimede.unistra.fr. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  18. "Ancient Sex: New Essays | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  19. "BMCR Review 'Ancient Sex'". Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
  20. "The Ohio State University Press". ohiostatepress.org. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  21. "Queer Icons from Greece and Rome (edited, with an Introduction) | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  22. Blondell, Ruby (2008). "Introduction". Helios. 35 (2): 113–119. doi:10.1353/hel.0.0013. S2CID   246033228. Project MUSE   268395.
  23. "Ancient Mediterranean Women in Modern Mass Media (edited, with an Introduction) | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  24. "Sophocles: The Theban Plays, Antigone, King Oidipous, Oidipous at Colonus; Updated Translations with Introductory Essay and Notes | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  25. "BMCR Review".
  26. "Women on the Edge: Four Plays by Euripides | Department of Classics | University of Washington". classics.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  27. "Conversations: The Face That Lit a Thousand* Screens, Helen of Troy in Hollywood w/ Ruby Blondell - Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! Greek & Roman Mythology Retold". omny.fm. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  28. "Episode 159 author Ruby Blondell". Spreaker. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  29. "Episode 19 - Interview with Ruby Blondell on Helen of Troy". Letter of Liberty. 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  30. Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines , retrieved 2019-05-21