The University of Iowa hosts a conference this week at which leading regional scholars will talk about the ancient Mediterranean world and its lasting influence on art, architecture, literature, and society.

The Classical Association of the Middle West and South annual meeting begins Wednesday and runs through Saturday. The UI last hosted the gathering in 1993.

“We were eager to do so again,” says John Finamore, professor and chair of the classics department. “It’s a chance to shine among our peers.”

The conference will look at the Mediterranean world from about 600 B.C. to 600 A.D., a span that encompasses major swaths of the Greek and Roman dynasties. Among the lasting achievements during this time: the Greek poet Homer’s historical masterpieces, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey"; Vergil’s writing of the "Aeneid"; Thucydides’ chronicle of the Peloponnesian wars; works from the playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes; the teaching and philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates; the reigns of Roman emperors Julius Caesar and his great nephew, Augustus; and the birth and rise of Christianity.

“The effect of the Greek and Roman world on modern society is huge: architecture, art, literature, law, medicine all began there,” Finamore explains. “Its culture continues to affect our daily lives. You can see it on campus in the buildings on the Pentacrest and in the reading lists of our courses.”

UI faculty will give some of the talks. Craig Gibson will discuss “the depiction of poisoning in Greek and Latin declamations (mock-trial speeches) from the Roman empire, which were used to train future legal advocates and were also publicly performed for audiences eager to hear expert public speakers.” Art Spisak will examine the figure Medusa, who’s been represented at various times in literature, theater, and film as “an apotropaic mask, an earth mother goddess, the female genitalia and castration, acephalopod , and simply death in the form of a corpse.”

Classics graduate student Tyler Fyotek will lead a presentation on the famed Roman orator and statesman Cicero, while graduate student Matt Horrell will examine scholarly interpretations of how the ancients valued simplicity of expression.

For UI undergraduates, it's an opportunity to hear from experts about topics and areas currently being researched. "I hope to look at a piece of literature or author or historical event in a new light," says Lindsey McCoy, a junior from Burlington who's majoring in classical languages. "I took a look at the program and there are quite a few papers being presented on authors I myself have never read, and what better way to be introduced to new authors than by an expert in the field?"

In addition to the talks, classics students will stage a "Homerathon," reading the entire "Odyssey" (in English) on the pedestrian mall, from daybreak Thursday until around midnight. Also, David Perlmutter, director of the UI’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will be recognized for his work with classics.