Carol Atack
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carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack
@carolatack.bsky.social
6.7K followers 770 following 420 posts

Ancient politics and political thought, modern art, Plato and Xenophon. Fellow of Newnham College, FRHistS. Cambridge and elsewhere. Recent books: Plato: a civic life (Reaktion) and Xenophon (Greece & Rome New Surveys in the Classics, Cambridge). .. more

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carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 7d
The paperback of my 'Plato: a civic life' will be published on March 1st. I'll be doing some more talks and podcasts in support, and will add details to this thread as they're confirmed. More info and a pre-order link here: reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/plato
A book sits on a wooden shelf with a vase behind it. On the red cover three Doric columns are topped by the texts Plato: A civic life: Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 1d
A long list of museums, archives and libraries - worth looking to see if any of your favourites are using this site.
mrcwarwick.bsky.social Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick @mrcwarwick.bsky.social · 1d
A Bluesky challenge!

We've got so many great heritage/GLAM accounts here now, that some are flying under the radar

From national organisations to niche collections, these active accounts are all (at time of posting) under 500 followers-lowest at 9-how many can we get over 500?

go.bsky.app/U16Nwsw

Reposted by British Library, Carol Atack

mrcwarwick.bsky.social
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick @mrcwarwick.bsky.social · 1d
A Bluesky challenge!

We've got so many great heritage/GLAM accounts here now, that some are flying under the radar

From national organisations to niche collections, these active accounts are all (at time of posting) under 500 followers-lowest at 9-how many can we get over 500?

go.bsky.app/U16Nwsw

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 2d
This is by way of a welcome to new followers. I’m still teaching and researching in this area - the dynamics of gender are a fruitful way to approach classical Athenian democracy, especially its male-dominated public spaces.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 2d
It’s roughly the tenth anniversary of David Bowie’s death and of me playing my Sex and Gender in classical Greece students this video. No better illustration of early 1970s UK discourse on sexuality than the gap between performers & audience which Bowie bridges so well. m.youtube.com/watch?v=RIrH...
David Bowie ► The Jean Genie (HD) - [Top of the Pops 1973]
YouTube video by youpi444
m.youtube.com

Reposted by Carol Atack

katherinemcdon.bsky.social
Katherine McDonald @katherinemcdon.bsky.social · 2d
Finally, the WCC UK is on Bluesky! Lots of exciting updates in the next few months, so do give us a follow @womeninclassicsuk.bsky.social

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 6d
One of my schools talks/taster lectures is called 'The Fragility of Democracy', and I've enjoyed sharing it with many school groups over the past few years, looking at how ancient Greek democracy handled political crises. Right now, am busy updating it for its next outing on Monday...
A view of the Athenian acropolis taken from the Hill of the Pnyx, meeting place of Athenian democracy. Behind an open space with grass and stone rises a hill with cypress trees and shrubs on its lower slopes, bare rock towards the top and the remains of a Greek temple visible, along with scaffolding and cranes. You can't see the small temple of Athena Nike because it was being restored when this photo was taken a few years ago.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 7d
I'll be speaking about Plato and his life in Athens at the Oxford Literary Festival on Wednesday March 25. oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-e...
Plato: A Civic Life | Oxford Literary Festival
Carol Atack - Plato: A Civic Life
oxfordliteraryfestival.org

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 13d
Happy New Year from the Yorkshire seaside. With best wishes to all for 2026 and especially those who’ll be spending the year completing overdue monographs…
A coastal landscape. Vigorous waves are rolling in across a rocky shore. In the distance, dark cliffs. The rising sun appears over the cliffs and its orange light illuminates the clouds.

Reposted by Duncan Bell

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 24d
Manuscript now submitted!
carolatack.bsky.social Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Dec 1
A very exciting start to the month as the final contribution to the Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Political Thought arrived in my inbox - heading now to submission of a complete and formatted manuscript! Partial contents list as a teaser below:
Foreword: engaging with Greek political thought in the 21st century Introduction and overview: I Origins and beginnings 1 Before the Greeks: echoes of earlier societies’ thought on governance 2 Early Greek political thought in poetical texts: Hesiod, Theognis, lyric poets 3 Cosmology, order, and the political: the Presocratics 4 Political Thought in inscriptions, documents and other non-literary sources 5 The Politics of Political Theory in Athenian Drama II Classical Greek political thought 6 Model constitutions: the emergence and development of the politeia tradition and typologies of political arrangements 7 Early Democratic Thought: Democritus, Anonymus Iamblichi, and Protagoras 8 Political Thinking in Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon 9 Socrates between City and Self: The Apologies of Xenophon and Plato 10 The concept of partnership in Plato's Republic 11 Civic Friendship and Virtue in Plato's Republic 12 Plato, politics and epistemology: the Republic and other dialogues 13 Building a new model for kingship in Plato’s Statesman 14 Plato's Laws: envisioning a new society 15 Criticisms of Democracy in Plato's Gorgias and Republic 16 Aristotle on the Partnership in Living Well and Living Together 17 Aristotle: defining the citizen 18 Aristotle on Justice, Friendship and Proportionate Reciprocity 19 Virtue and Politics: Isocrates and Xenophon III Themes and contexts 20 Stasis, conflict and change in Greek political thinking 21 Mass participation in the polis: Ps-Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Plutarch 22 Citizenship and non-citizenship: status hierarchies in the polis 23 The Limits of Law: Nomos in Plato and Aristotle 24 Cities and their gods: religion in Greek political thought 25 Bad tyrants and good kings: single-person rule 26 Comparisons with others: Persia, Egypt and non-Greek societies in Greek political thought 27 Slavery and freedom as a political analogy 28 Sparta in Greek political thought: Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 24d
Hearing from @polphilpod.bsky.social that my 'Plato's tyrant' episode has made the top 5 of his Political Philosophy podcast this year, remembered to post a picture of the 'Plato's tyrant' protest sign which the artist Peter Liversidge made for me at his sign-making studio installation in October.
Tucked in the corner of a room, two cardboard protest placards, one of which says 'Plato's tyrant', in black capital letters, the other, partially seen, says 'Bureaucracy accumulates'. To the right in front of them is a shelf of wooden model boats, made by the same artist, Peter Liversidge.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · 24d
So much enjoyed talking to Toby @polphilpod.bsky.social and glad that others enjoyed listening!

Reposted by Carol Atack

polphilpod.bsky.social
Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 24d
most downloaded interviews in 2025:

5. plato's tyrant @carolatack.bsky.social

4. ignoring politics @chrisfreiman.bsky.social

3. the eu @simonhix.bsky.social

2. the political right & equality @mattpolprof.bsky.social

1. it's fascism @kjephd.bsky.social

www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com
HOME | politicalphilosophy
Discussions with Philosophers and public figures. Politics, ethics, meta-ethics, human rights, religion, atheism, liberalism, and republicanism.
www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Dec 13
The rest of the museum is an extraordinary jumble of art, antiquities and artefacts from many cultures. Here’s the antiquarian’s studiolo…
Study in which an astonishing array of books and objects are piled on a wooden desk and a bureau, topped by a model sailing ship.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Dec 13
If you’re looking for wholesome family content how about Giuliano Bugiardini’s delightful family group with Leda, Castor, Clytemnestra and a rather tame swan? Painted in the 1520s and now on display in the Casa Museo Ivan Bruschi, Arezzo?
A nude woman reclines on the ground by a tree, her arm around a small nude cild. They are approached by another nude child, his (?) arm around the neck of a swan. Behind them the beautiful garden looks on to a lake, reflecting the blue sky.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Dec 1
Last line of the screenshot which wouldn't fit in the Alt text: '29 Parrhesia and the Critique of Rhetoric in the Classical Polis'. Thanks to all the authors who've come on this long journey with me! More soon; now to settle on a cover image...

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Dec 1
Rabbits, as my Grandma would have said!

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Dec 1
A very exciting start to the month as the final contribution to the Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Political Thought arrived in my inbox - heading now to submission of a complete and formatted manuscript! Partial contents list as a teaser below:
Foreword: engaging with Greek political thought in the 21st century Introduction and overview: I Origins and beginnings 1 Before the Greeks: echoes of earlier societies’ thought on governance 2 Early Greek political thought in poetical texts: Hesiod, Theognis, lyric poets 3 Cosmology, order, and the political: the Presocratics 4 Political Thought in inscriptions, documents and other non-literary sources 5 The Politics of Political Theory in Athenian Drama II Classical Greek political thought 6 Model constitutions: the emergence and development of the politeia tradition and typologies of political arrangements 7 Early Democratic Thought: Democritus, Anonymus Iamblichi, and Protagoras 8 Political Thinking in Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon 9 Socrates between City and Self: The Apologies of Xenophon and Plato 10 The concept of partnership in Plato's Republic 11 Civic Friendship and Virtue in Plato's Republic 12 Plato, politics and epistemology: the Republic and other dialogues 13 Building a new model for kingship in Plato’s Statesman 14 Plato's Laws: envisioning a new society 15 Criticisms of Democracy in Plato's Gorgias and Republic 16 Aristotle on the Partnership in Living Well and Living Together 17 Aristotle: defining the citizen 18 Aristotle on Justice, Friendship and Proportionate Reciprocity 19 Virtue and Politics: Isocrates and Xenophon III Themes and contexts 20 Stasis, conflict and change in Greek political thinking 21 Mass participation in the polis: Ps-Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Plutarch 22 Citizenship and non-citizenship: status hierarchies in the polis 23 The Limits of Law: Nomos in Plato and Aristotle 24 Cities and their gods: religion in Greek political thought 25 Bad tyrants and good kings: single-person rule 26 Comparisons with others: Persia, Egypt and non-Greek societies in Greek political thought 27 Slavery and freedom as a political analogy 28 Sparta in Greek political thought: Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 26
Such sad news. I loved my lilac and silver mini dress from Pam Hogg's 1980s Kensington market stall. A truely original creative spirit.

Reposted by Carol Atack

theguardian.com
The Guardian @theguardian.com · Nov 26
Pam Hogg, fashion designer with a rock’n’roll spirit, dies at 66
Pam Hogg, fashion designer with a rock’n’roll spirit, dies at 66
‘100% party girl’ and key part of 1980s London club scene designed for Rihanna, Björk, Kylie Minogue and Debbie Harry Pam Hogg, the fashion designer who brought together fashion and music on the catwalk in the 1980s, has died aged 66, her family have said. Hogg, whose bold, futuristic designs were worn by stars including Rihanna, Kate Moss and Blondie’s Debbie Harry, died “surrounded by the loving care of cherished friends and family”, her family posted on Instagram. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 21
the point is that the character M is pretty much the same width as height in regular typefaces. And it’s character width that matters for old-tech typesetting.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 21
To be precise, the sizes of the capital letter forms N and M (my journalism training came at the end of the era of traditional typesetting).

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 17
My review of Ryan Balot's 'Tragedy, Philosophy, and Political Education in Plato's Laws' now published by Sehepunkte (in English); while I wasn't sure about the book's overall claim about the dialogue's philosophical coherence, I found much valuable analysis in it. www.sehepunkte.de/2025/11/4010...
SEHEPUNKTE - Rezension von: Tragedy, Philosophy, and Political Education in Plato's Laws - Ausgabe 25 (2025), Nr. 11
Rezension über Ryan K. Balot: Tragedy, Philosophy, and Political Education in Plato's Laws, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2024, XIV + 425 S., ISBN 978-0-1976-4722-6, GBP 78,00
www.sehepunkte.de

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 15
Warmly recommend Harold Offeh 'Mmm Gotta Try a Little Harder, It Could Be Sweet' at Kettle's Yard - a friendly & generous exploration of identity, playful & participatory - impossible not to dance along to Haroldinho's samba moves, fun to make your own Afrofuturist record cover art.
Exhibition gallery at Kettle's Yard waiting for visitors to interact with Harold Offeh's performances - in the foreground and colourful table with stools and paper, ink and stamps; on the walls an installation of American payphone booths with handsets for listening, a yellow curtain behind which are screens showing video. Large scale lettering on the wall in orange echoes the show's title.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 13
Other contributors include Mario Telò, Isabel Ruffell, Amy Coker, Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Jon Hesk, and the editors Samuel Gartland and Constanze Güthenke. If you're looking to refresh your thinking on Aristophanes' politics, lots to enjoy here. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/aristopha...
www.bloomsbury.com

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 13
Published today! Really pleased to see Aristophanes and the Current Moment in print via @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social. My contribution, 'Aristophanes and the Gendered Politics of Performative Assembly' applies Judith Butler's analysis of public protest to Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae.
Book cover - on a blue background the book title Aristophanes and the Current Moment is reversed out in white; beneath it a black and white photograph of a stage production. A man, looking rather bemused, rides a giant beetle stage prop which is being carried through the air on wires.

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 11
I hope she'll come to see it in the Fitz!

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 11
I only found it because I spotted an ad on the S-Bahn! Worth checking what's in the gallery in future - it's the newish temporary exhibition space for the archaeology museums, in the building which will one day be a visitor welcome centre for the Pergamon Museum along with its neighbours.

Reposted by Carol Atack

lizgloyn.bsky.social
Rev. Dr. Liz Gloyn @lizgloyn.bsky.social · Nov 11
Very pleased to see the WCC UK restate its commitment to the support of trans and non-binary folk in the discipline, particularly in light of the current political climate.
WCC Supports Trans People - WCC-UK
Following a unanimous vote at the 2025 AGM, the Women’s Classical Committee UK wishes to reiterate its unwavering support for trans and non-binary people. We are deeply concerned at the harmful implic...
wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk

carolatack.bsky.social
Carol Atack @carolatack.bsky.social · Nov 11
Another dedication made on behalf of a child - this small boy also holds a ball in his left hand, and is wearing a protective bulla (amulet) round his neck. Very moving to see parents' dedications on behalf of their children.
Bronze statue of a small boy, who is naked other than the protective amulet around his neck. He sits with his right hand raised, looking at something perhaps once held in his right hand; his left hand holdes a ball. Found in the sanctuary at San Casciano as part of the buried cache of statues and religious objects.