Classics Presents Colloquium speaker Dr. Carolyn Willekes, Assistant Professor of the Department of General Education in Mount Royal University.

Abstract:

A Horse is a Horse? Reading Equines in Ancient Greece
The horse is one of the most popular subjects in Greek art, indeed, it is only surpassed by the human figure in terms of its prevalence in the visual record. References to equines likewise appear frequently in the literary record. In both cases – iconographic and literary – the presence of the horse can be found across a wide range of genres, motifs, and mediums.  So why are they there? Are we meant to view the horse as nothing more than a symbolic reference to its cultural association with status and the related concepts of wealth, power, and prestige? Is the horse, in visual or verbal form just a horse, or is there more to its story? This talk will explore the living horse as a cultural and historical document by looking at the ways in which it is depicted and utilized in both art and literature not simply as a static symbol in two-dimensional or three-dimensional form, but rather as a representation of the real horses who lived in the Greek world and the relationships and knowledge individuals had with and towards these animals.