People affiliated with Ohio State Greek and Latin

Richard Fletcher, Assistant Professor

My main research is in Roman Literature and Philosophy, with a particular emphasis on the second-century CE Platonist, Apuleius. I am currently working on a book on Apuleius' Platonism and how the multifarious works of his literary corpus - such as his infamous novel The Golden Ass and his rhetorical and philosophical works - provide a sustained project of philosophical popularisation. I show how this philosophical project is firmly based in the biography of the philosopher - ranging from the philosopher persona of Apuleius himself to the Life of Plato that prefaces his summary of Platonic doctrine. Future projects include a monograph on Julia Kristeva and the Classics, a study of how the figure of the philosopher in Rome relates to generic experimentation in Roman philosophical literature as well as a projected commentary on Apuleius' De deo Socratis.

Books:

The Impersonation of Philosophy: Apuleius' Platonism (in preparation)

Articles:

‘No Success Like Failure: Apuleius and the Task of the Translator’ In M. Paschalis, S. Panayotakis, G. Schmeling (eds) 2009. Readers and Writers in the Ancient Novel (Ancient Narrative Supplementum 12) Groningen: Barkhuis Publishing, 184-196.

‘The Best of Intentions? Intertextuality and the Philosopher’s Vita.’ In D. van Mal-Maeder, A. Burnier and M. Loreto Nunez (eds) 2009. Jeux de voix. Enonciation, intertextualité et intentionnalité dans la littérature antique, Peter Lang, 257-283.

'Legwork: Ion's Socrates' In V. Jennings and A. Katsaros (eds) 2007. The World of Ion of Chios. Brill: Leiden. 319-330.

'Or such as Ovid's Metamorphoses...' In R. Hunter (ed.) 2005. The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women. Constructions and Reconstructions. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 299-319.

'Kristeva’s Novel: Genre, Genealogy and Theory.' In R. Bracht Branham (ed.) 2004. The Bakhtin Circle and Ancient Narrative. Ancient Narrative Supplementum 3. Barkhuis Publishing: Groningen. 227-259.

Reviews:

Review of Trapp, (M.) (2007) Philosophy in the Roman Empire: Ethics, Politics and Society. JRS, 99 (2009) 241.

Review of Graverini, (L.) (2007) Metamorfosi di Apuleio: Letteratura e Identità. Ancient Narrative Vol. 8 (2009) (Available at: http://www.ancientnarrative.com/pdf/anvol08reviewgraverinibyfletcher.pdf)

Review of Tarrant, (H.) & Baltzly (D.) (2006) (eds) Reading Plato in Antiquity. JHS, 128 (2008) 282.

Review of Goff, (B.) (2005) (ed.) Classics and Colonialism. The Classical Review, 58.1 (2008) 296-297.