Dr Jon P Hesk
Reader in Greek & Classical Studies
Director of the Centre for the Public Understanding of Greek and Roman Drama (CPUGRD)
Phone: 01334 462620
Room: S2
Research Interests
Greek literature and culture, especially Homer, tragedy, comedy, Attic oratory, Greek and Roman rhetorical theory and education. I am also interested in the culture, history and historiography of classical Athens and the use and abuse of these in classics and other disciplines.
Research projects
I am currently working on the following specific projects: the representation of deliberative and intellectual virtues and vices in Athenian oratory and drama; new perspectives on Greek rhetoric and education; Homeric quarrels as a form of narrative; the cinema of Terrence Malick and its relationship to Greek epic. I have a blog called ‘Ancient and Modern Rhetoric’, which explores the connections and differences between ancient rhetorical culture and modern uses of persuasive discourse in politics, advertising and education. I am also engaged in a project which aims to make own and colleagues’ research on Greek drama and Athenian culture relevant to school exam boards, school teachers and pupils.
Publications
For further information on publications, please view my profile on the university's research portal.
Research students
I am happy to direct the studies of post-graduates in any of the areas outlined in 'Research interests' above.
Teaching
I teach across several subhonours Greek & Classical Studies Modules.
My honours and taught postgraduate modules are as follows:
- GK4102 Greek Tragedy
- GK4105 Greek Rhetoric and its represntation
- CL4416 Responses to War: Athenian Drama and Civic Culture
- CL4420 Fame, Tradition and Narrative: Homer's Illiad
- CL5201 Themes and Methods in Classics
- GK5102 Greek Tragedy and Athenian Culture
- GK5104 Greek Rhetoric and Ideology.
Academic career
I did my undergraduate degree in Classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In 1991 I moved to King's College, Cambridge where I started my Ph.D. In 1995, I spent two terms as a temporary lecturer in Greek and Classical Studies at Reading University. From 1995-1998, I was a Research Fellow at St. John's College, Cambridge. I arrived in St Andrews in September 1998 and a very nice place it is too!