Mr Matthew Ward

Homer

Archaic poetry

Oral-formulaic theory and poetic diction

Constuction Grammars/Usage-Based Linguistics

The construction and reception of 'Homer' across time

My doctoral thesis explores the discourse and narrative function of ships in the Iliad. It considers their prominence, poetics, verbal presentation, and how they shape the difference between several basic ontic categories in the poem: between mortals and immortals, men and women, Greeks and Trojans, leaders and followers, and more.

I am also concerned with poetic diction itself, and the mechanics of oral (derived) composition. Focusing on a fundamental element of the Iliadic world (the ship) allows us to expose the ways in which conceptual, hierarchical, and narrative differences are encoded in – and by – the regularised and stochastic form-function pairings of epic language.

CL1765 - Intermediate Latin (2018-2019)

CL1530 - Greek Literature (2018-2019)

CL1715 - Intermediate Greek (2017-2018)

CL2200 - Greek Language Project (2017-2018)

Education

2015    MA                 Classics, UCL

2013    BA (hons)       Ancient Greek and Classical Civilisation, Swansea

Scholarships and Awards

2018    CA Conference Bursary

2017    BSA Bursary - Linear B/Mycenaean Greek Course

2017    Ethel Beatrice Abrahams Award (RHUL research grant)

2017    CA Conference Bursary

2016    Reid Scholarship (RHUL)

2015    UCL: Dean’s list for academic excellence.

Service to Royal Holloway

            Homer Reading Group (2016-)

            Student Committee council member (2016-)

            Auctor Journal editorial board (2017-)