Dr Manos Tsakiris
IASH-HCA Postdoctoral Fellow, September 2023 - June 2024
Home institution: University of Edinburgh
Manos Tsakiris completed his undergraduate studies in Classical Philology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, before moving to the University of Edinburgh for a master’s degree and subsequently a PhD in Classics, which he completed in July 2022. His doctoral thesis, which he is currently revising for publication into a monograph, attempted a systematic look at the generic identity of the 3rd century BCE epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes. Aside from Hellenistic poetry, he is interested in and has produced research on Greek epic poetry of the Imperial era (Triphiodorus’ Sack of Troy), while his research interests also include genre theory and cognitive humanities. He currently teaches for the Classics Department of the University of Edinburgh and he is involved in the Classical Association of Scotland’s outreach programmes.
Project title: Reclaiming Hellenistic Space: A Cognitive Re-evaluation of Space in Hellenistic Poetry
Reclaiming Hellenistic Space investigates space and the spatial experience as depicted, described and otherwise evoked in the poetry of Hellenistic poets Theocritus and Apollonius Rhodius (3rd century BCE). Hellenistic literature has received significant critical attention as reflective of the sociohistorical and political circumstances in which it arose and as problematizing the exposure of those residing in the south-eastern parts of the Mediterranean basin and identified as Greek to non-Greek spaces. Space in the poetry of Theocritus and Apollonius has, accordingly, been analysed with the intention of measuring the extent to which it aligns with the gaze of the coloniser in the construction of a Hellenic identity and imagines these ‘new’ spaces as middle grounds between Greek and non-Greek cultures. Attempting a fresh look at human interaction with space, this project shifts attention away from explorations of space as primarily partial to and reflective of the construction and imposition of social and political identities, to exploration of space at its most humanly innate and intuitive. Drawing from phenomenology, cognitive science, philology and narratology, this research provides insights into how Hellenistic poets and audiences understood themselves as individuals within and in interaction with the surrounding space.