As details continue to be settled behind the scenes in preparation for the MCA’s Spring Meeting (stay tuned!), let’s take a brief look back at the Mediterranean journey that was the 2025 Fall Meeting at Colby College.
Rebecca Frank of Colby College made our starting point the ancient kingdom of Lydia, focusing our attention specifically on the legend of King Croesus. Frank walked her audience through the various interpretations by ancient authors in the second century CE of Croesus and his hubris and how these interpretations in turn give insight into a history of philosophy. For Herodotus, the main source for this legend, Croesus is about “human culpability”. Among the 2nd century writers, Frank began with Maximus of Tyre, analyzing how, in Maximus’ Orations, Croesus “misunderstood the role of prayers”. While oracles are not to be rejected, their practicality/usability is. The answer is philosophy – the Croesus story points towards the “fostering of human knowledge, not relying on the divine”. Dio Chrysostom, in his Discourses, aligns more with Herodotus in his interpretation of the Croesus legend: “gifts do not entitle you to certain outcomes”. The oracle has utility, but we don’t need it if we have reason. Croesus’ problem is that he is unable to understand the oracle due to his own human failings. For Oenomaus of Gadara, the Croesus legend is anti the oracle – the oracle is “fraudulent” because she claims knowledge that is ridiculous and impossible to know. If she is fraudulent, she is then not only useless but also wicked. Frank ended by discussing Lucian’s take on the Croesus legend in his Zeus Refuted and Tragic Zeus – that the Croesus story is a “useful medium to mock oracular divinity”. As you ponder these various interpretations of a well-known story, you may find it an interesting thought exercise to replace the “oracle” with “AI”. . .
Our next speaker, Stella Fritzell of Bryn Mawr College, brought us to the Argolid and into the world of Maenads. . . and Barbie. Now a lost trivia question concerning the provenance of Barbie has put this author afoul of anything Barbie for the moment, but I will endeavor to do my best with respect to Fritzell’s talk. Our speaker began by posing this question to her audience “Is Barbie Maenadic?”. Fritzell claimed not intentionally. Then Fritzell took us through the invading Maenad myths that come out of the Argolid. In these myths, there is a conflict, in Argos, between Perseus and Dionysus, in which at least two Maenads die and Ariadne appears alongside Dionysus. According to Pausanias, the result of this conflict is a truce and Dionysus being honored. In Nonnos’ version, it is specified that the Maenads fought in a phalanx and afterwards both men and women worship Dionysus. In both versions, the Maenads are (at first) foreign and unwelcome, being directly compared to Amazons, and yet there is unification and institution of new rites after the conflict. Fritzell invited her audience to consider a comparison between the mythical Maenads and the historical Persians, to see the myth as a tale of civic adoption. Perhaps the Argives used the Maenad myth for “propoganda as a symbol of victory”. Fritzell explored the idea that if Argos could uphold those brought-in “invading” Maenad myths as part of their cultural identity, maybe they as a people would not have stood out in not partaking against the Persians. Fritzell also drew her audience’s attention to the phonetic twins haliae and haliai in the Argolid, the former an assembly of people and the latter sea-women. She posed that the haliae term reminded the Argives of both political bodies and sea-women, so that metaphorically it was a “sea of people” – a “civic, celebratory body”. These myths of invading Maenads leading to unified civic bodies can be reminiscent of a certain 2023 movie plot, so Fritzell ended her talk with this question: “is Barbie Dionysus?”.
Our final presenters were a series of two student panels. The first focused on archaeological excavations being done at the Roman site of Cosa in southern Tuscany. Founded as a Roman colony in 273 BC, Cosa helped cut water off from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War. After this point, there is debate as to whether Cosa was absent until the Middle Ages or was an on/off settlement up until its sack in 1329. Students guided their audience through the projects they had worked on at this site, specifically with regards to the bathhouse area of the excavation. Absidy of Colby College looked at the many faunal remains, identifying the type and occurance of such shell creatures as clams, scallions, mussells, and oysters as well as posing the question “what can shells tell us about Cosa?”. Absidy reflected on such information as the financial standings of citizens, the various domestic uses of shells, as well as the dietary make-up of the people at Cosa. Mathias, also of Colby College, then shared the metallurgical research being done there. Mathias specifically helped with digitizing the variety of nails uncovered at Cosa – identifying their use, measures, and material make-up. What Mathias found was that the main material for making nails was bronze and iron, and the most common type of nail at Cosa was the “general use nail”. Suffice to say, Absidy and Mathias nailed it.
The second student panel explored research for Kassandra Miller’s (of Colby College) book project on time, gender, and power in Roman-period medicine and society. Such questions as “what tools and techniques were used in the Roman period in an effort to control the rhythms of female bodies” and “how might the availability of such technologies have reinforced or challenged social hierarchies” were posed to different primary sources. Camille of Colby College is researching women’s astrological manuals through the work done by Dr. Lingxin Zhang. Camille shared how this research has highlighted how “cosmic and calendrical systems encoded women’s physiological and moral life” as well as how astrology was seen not as a superstitious practice but as a “temple-based, gendered technology” for such things as fertility, birth prediction, and personality. Michelle of Colby College is researching the works of Scribonius Largus and Theophrastus, who wrote on medicines and treatments, and Artemidorus, who focused on dreams as diagnostic means. Michelle noted how Artemidorus’ work “reveals how ancient medicine and culture interpreted women’s bodies through dreams, connecting physical health with belief and meaning” and also reflected on how medical antiquity matters to the modern since medicine is an ever on-going conversation about the human body. Our last student researcher, Layla, is looking at the compilation of writings on Roman laws ordered by Justinian I titled The Digest. Layla’s research so far has highlighted a Roman view that the “uterus equates to an economic tool”, as reflected in such legal ideas as a miscarriage being considered a loss of property and female slaves only considered healthy based on their ability to reproduce. Perhaps Fritzell’s question should be restated – does Barbie need to become Dionysus?
If there are any first time readers out there whose interest has been piqued by any of the above topics, join our mailing list, follow us on social medial, and stay tuned for upcoming information on spring meetings, fall meetings, and summer events! Maximas gratias to our Fall 2025 host, Colby College, and all our amazing Fall 2025 speakers!