Edith Hall
@edithmayhall.bsky.social
Durham University Classics Prof keen on Aristotle, visual art, Greek theatre/pots, labour/anti-racist history, prison education, Parthenon reunification. All views my own. Also on Twitter @edithmayhall
Now on BBC Radio 4, the episode of YOU'RE DEAD TO ME on Hypatia that I contributed to bbc.com/audio/play/l...
February 7, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Now on BBC Radio 4, the episode of YOU'RE DEAD TO ME on Hypatia that I contributed to bbc.com/audio/play/l...
Want to support teaching of ancient ethics in prisons? Here's a blog with a link to JustGiving. £10 buys course material for 4 prisoners. @durhamclassics.bsky.social edithorial.blogspot.com/2026/02/anci...
February 7, 2026 at 9:16 AM
Want to support teaching of ancient ethics in prisons? Here's a blog with a link to JustGiving. £10 buys course material for 4 prisoners. @durhamclassics.bsky.social edithorial.blogspot.com/2026/02/anci...
Hive Mind! I’m looking for someone with excellent WordPress expertise to get my website (edithhall.co.uk) up to date, on a paid-for basis, and then regularly update it. Please DM me if you feel you can help. I would also be grateful for pointers to anyone who might suit.
February 5, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Hive Mind! I’m looking for someone with excellent WordPress expertise to get my website (edithhall.co.uk) up to date, on a paid-for basis, and then regularly update it. Please DM me if you feel you can help. I would also be grateful for pointers to anyone who might suit.
When its 0924 in the morning and you've already given a talk on Classics and social & environmental justice to high school students across China
February 4, 2026 at 9:27 AM
When its 0924 in the morning and you've already given a talk on Classics and social & environmental justice to high school students across China
n my experience, most specialists in Greek comedy have zero sense of humour; the funny one all do tragedy. This miserable-looking if not paranoid Thalia, Muse of Comedy, 3rd c. CE, in Rhodes, seems to be setting a trend. More pictures of Thalia to follow.
February 1, 2026 at 11:13 AM
n my experience, most specialists in Greek comedy have zero sense of humour; the funny one all do tragedy. This miserable-looking if not paranoid Thalia, Muse of Comedy, 3rd c. CE, in Rhodes, seems to be setting a trend. More pictures of Thalia to follow.
I like the comic & tragic masks on this 1814 visualisation by Anne-Louis Girodet Trioson, btd 1767, of youthful winged Muses of Comedy & Tragedy, but dislike this misspelling (in Greek, bottom right) of Euripides. No Shakespeare/Goethe/ Alfieri (natch) beside French dramatic titans!
January 29, 2026 at 9:02 AM
I like the comic & tragic masks on this 1814 visualisation by Anne-Louis Girodet Trioson, btd 1767, of youthful winged Muses of Comedy & Tragedy, but dislike this misspelling (in Greek, bottom right) of Euripides. No Shakespeare/Goethe/ Alfieri (natch) beside French dramatic titans!
John Collier, born 27 Jan 1850, painted Clytemnestra after the murders twice: in 1882 after seeing an Oxford production of AGAMEMNON, and 1913, after excavations at Knossos had revealed bare-breasted ladies in art. Not that he needed encouragement. Many of his other works are boobfests.
January 27, 2026 at 8:34 AM
John Collier, born 27 Jan 1850, painted Clytemnestra after the murders twice: in 1882 after seeing an Oxford production of AGAMEMNON, and 1913, after excavations at Knossos had revealed bare-breasted ladies in art. Not that he needed encouragement. Many of his other works are boobfests.
Greek friends, Philhellenes! If you'd like to attend this event on Sat. Feb. 28 at 1900 in Athens, either in person or virtually, please register. It'll be wonderful to have you with me and the nonpareil Hellenists in the best sense Alicia Stallings and Ioanna Karamanou
January 26, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Greek friends, Philhellenes! If you'd like to attend this event on Sat. Feb. 28 at 1900 in Athens, either in person or virtually, please register. It'll be wonderful to have you with me and the nonpareil Hellenists in the best sense Alicia Stallings and Ioanna Karamanou
Writing about ghosts in fragmentary Greek tragedies. Here's Medea's dad Aeetes as a ghost labelled EIDOLON AETOU telling her to get on with some murders, and Glaucus, little Prince of Crete, resuscitated in his tomb by the Corinthian seer Polyidus after drowning in a vat of honey
January 19, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Writing about ghosts in fragmentary Greek tragedies. Here's Medea's dad Aeetes as a ghost labelled EIDOLON AETOU telling her to get on with some murders, and Glaucus, little Prince of Crete, resuscitated in his tomb by the Corinthian seer Polyidus after drowning in a vat of honey
On #GoodMemoryDay, here's the goddess who can help. Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses on an Antioch mosaic in the Worcester Art Museum, Mass. Nicely sceptical expression. Perhaps she's trying to remember the names of all her nine daughters. I have difficulties with far fewer.
January 19, 2026 at 1:21 PM
On #GoodMemoryDay, here's the goddess who can help. Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses on an Antioch mosaic in the Worcester Art Museum, Mass. Nicely sceptical expression. Perhaps she's trying to remember the names of all her nine daughters. I have difficulties with far fewer.
Wonderful party for Michael Silk, the “Daddy Cool” of Ancient Greek and most other literature, at King’s College London last night. Fiona Macintosh and David Ricks beautifully edited the Festschrift that the pictured persons contributed to
January 17, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Wonderful party for Michael Silk, the “Daddy Cool” of Ancient Greek and most other literature, at King’s College London last night. Fiona Macintosh and David Ricks beautifully edited the Festschrift that the pictured persons contributed to
On #AppreciateADragonDay, my favourite ancient example. In one version of the Argonaut myth, the Colchian dragon guarding the golden fleece first ate and then disgorged Jason when Athena intervened. Fabulous teeth/scales. Red-figured cup made in Athens c. 580 BCE, now in Vatican
January 16, 2026 at 9:31 AM
On #AppreciateADragonDay, my favourite ancient example. In one version of the Argonaut myth, the Colchian dragon guarding the golden fleece first ate and then disgorged Jason when Athena intervened. Fabulous teeth/scales. Red-figured cup made in Athens c. 580 BCE, now in Vatican
Eugène Carrière, born 16th January 1849, "Priam at the feet of Achilles" (1876). Gets their mutual sorrow and the gloom and filth of military tent cities over better than many other depictions of this famous scene in Iliad 24
January 16, 2026 at 9:25 AM
Eugène Carrière, born 16th January 1849, "Priam at the feet of Achilles" (1876). Gets their mutual sorrow and the gloom and filth of military tent cities over better than many other depictions of this famous scene in Iliad 24
Chuffed that Epic of the Earth: Reading Homer's Iliad in the Fight for a Dying World is longlisted for the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award. The climate crisis makes me think this my least unimportant book. I still need more ££ to keep the prison education initiative running so let's hope....
January 15, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Chuffed that Epic of the Earth: Reading Homer's Iliad in the Fight for a Dying World is longlisted for the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award. The climate crisis makes me think this my least unimportant book. I still need more ££ to keep the prison education initiative running so let's hope....
The Polish author Stanisław Wyspiański, born 15 Jan 1869, was the first to give Odysseus what we call PTSD in his grim, still-performed 1907 Powrót Odysa (Return of Odysseus). Here's a painting by fellow Pole Vlastimil Hofman inspired by the tragedy's rugged/dogged psychorealism.
January 15, 2026 at 2:39 PM
The Polish author Stanisław Wyspiański, born 15 Jan 1869, was the first to give Odysseus what we call PTSD in his grim, still-performed 1907 Powrót Odysa (Return of Odysseus). Here's a painting by fellow Pole Vlastimil Hofman inspired by the tragedy's rugged/dogged psychorealism.
Thanks to everyone who voted on cover for my biography of Medea. Combined majority on all platforms resoundingly for this one. Plus pic of me at site of the bronze-age Thessalian palace where she persuaded Pelias' daughters to boil him (chapter 3).
January 14, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Thanks to everyone who voted on cover for my biography of Medea. Combined majority on all platforms resoundingly for this one. Plus pic of me at site of the bronze-age Thessalian palace where she persuaded Pelias' daughters to boil him (chapter 3).
On UNESCO #WorldLogicDay thanks to Aristotle, here gazing into Lady Logic’s eyes on Cathedral of Notre Dame, Le Puy-en-Velay fresco. He was the first to codify the rules of formal logic; his Organon or compilation of logical works was central to the medieval curriculum. Cool ringlets!
January 14, 2026 at 12:54 PM
On UNESCO #WorldLogicDay thanks to Aristotle, here gazing into Lady Logic’s eyes on Cathedral of Notre Dame, Le Puy-en-Velay fresco. He was the first to codify the rules of formal logic; his Organon or compilation of logical works was central to the medieval curriculum. Cool ringlets!
"The King of Thule" by Pierre Jean van der Ouderaa, born 13/1/1841. Inspired by Goethe's poem. The King of the northernmost land on the ancient Greek map never let go of the goblet his dying mistress gave him until he expired and cast it into the sea. The sadness in his eyes...
January 13, 2026 at 8:06 AM
"The King of Thule" by Pierre Jean van der Ouderaa, born 13/1/1841. Inspired by Goethe's poem. The King of the northernmost land on the ancient Greek map never let go of the goblet his dying mistress gave him until he expired and cast it into the sea. The sadness in his eyes...
It's choose the cover time again. My 'biography' of Medea, for which I looked at every single ancient source, researched forensic psychology and visited every site to try to come up with a coherent narrative, comes out this year. My editor likes the green background. Please help choose!
January 13, 2026 at 7:31 AM
It's choose the cover time again. My 'biography' of Medea, for which I looked at every single ancient source, researched forensic psychology and visited every site to try to come up with a coherent narrative, comes out this year. My editor likes the green background. Please help choose!
On #WorldPharmacistDay here are two gorgeous images of the medical herbalist Dioscorides, from the 6th-c Juliana Anicia Codex, where he receives a mandrake root, and the 13th-c. Arabic manuscript from Iraq of his De Materia Medica, where he is teaching a student about the uses of medicinal plants
January 12, 2026 at 1:08 PM
On #WorldPharmacistDay here are two gorgeous images of the medical herbalist Dioscorides, from the 6th-c Juliana Anicia Codex, where he receives a mandrake root, and the 13th-c. Arabic manuscript from Iraq of his De Materia Medica, where he is teaching a student about the uses of medicinal plants
Jusepe de Ribera (born January 12 1591) liked painting ancient Greek philosophers looking like late Renaissance depressives reading in very dark rooms. Here are Plato and Aristotle.
January 12, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Jusepe de Ribera (born January 12 1591) liked painting ancient Greek philosophers looking like late Renaissance depressives reading in very dark rooms. Here are Plato and Aristotle.
Lovely spooky 1792 picture of blind prophet Tiresias guided by his daughter Manto, to whom he'd given birth when a woman, painted at height of Gothic craze by Henry Singleton. Found while editing a piece on Tiresias by @anactoriaclarke.bsky.social for a volume on Euripides' Phoenician Women
January 9, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Lovely spooky 1792 picture of blind prophet Tiresias guided by his daughter Manto, to whom he'd given birth when a woman, painted at height of Gothic craze by Henry Singleton. Found while editing a piece on Tiresias by @anactoriaclarke.bsky.social for a volume on Euripides' Phoenician Women
These wonderful prison educators now trained on how Aristotle can make you choose friends, make decisions, achieve potential, communicate, listen, develop virtues, curb vices, recreate constructively & find a purpose. Proud of them all @ProfArl @profarlenehh.bsky.social @durhamclassics.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 2:23 PM
These wonderful prison educators now trained on how Aristotle can make you choose friends, make decisions, achieve potential, communicate, listen, develop virtues, curb vices, recreate constructively & find a purpose. Proud of them all @ProfArl @profarlenehh.bsky.social @durhamclassics.bsky.social
So excited to be training prison educators in delivery of Aristotle’s Ethics with @profarlenehh.bsky.social
@durhamclassics.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
@durhamclassics.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
So excited to be training prison educators in delivery of Aristotle’s Ethics with @profarlenehh.bsky.social
@durhamclassics.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
@durhamclassics.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
12 gods with interesting modes of transport for Xmas #12. Apollo traverses dolphin-gambolling waves, above fish & an octopus, on a mobile winged tripod like that his Delphic priestess sat on, strumming his lyre, with bow & quiver ready. Puts the dolphin into Delphi (an association the Greeks heard).
January 5, 2026 at 9:14 AM
12 gods with interesting modes of transport for Xmas #12. Apollo traverses dolphin-gambolling waves, above fish & an octopus, on a mobile winged tripod like that his Delphic priestess sat on, strumming his lyre, with bow & quiver ready. Puts the dolphin into Delphi (an association the Greeks heard).