Ancient Rivers: Anthropomorphized, Rationalized, Politicized

A male god with horns, long hair and beard and a long haired goddess with wings growing from her temples surrounded by fish — Mosaic of water the deities Oceanus and Tethys at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep, Türkiye.

Wednesday Oct 14, 2026

07:00 pm ~ 08:00 pm

Audience

Alumni Faculty Student

Overview

Since 2023, the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies has organized a lecture on the theme of the year's Nobel Conference in the week following the conference. Dr. Georgia Irby of William and Mary College, an expert on rivers in Greco-Roman antiquity, delivers this year's lecture, "Ancient Rivers: Anthropomorphized, Rationalized, Politicized."

Dr. Georgia Irby of William and Mary College will discuss rivers in Greek and Roman lore and what these anthropomorphized rivers tell us about Greco-Roman science and culture. We will focus in particular on the sympathetic River Ocean, the patriotic fighting Trojan River Scamander, the lusty Alpheus who flows partly underground, and the Numicus and Tiber Rivers who both fostered the founding of Rome. These anthropomorphized rivers are more than rivers as rivers, they are significant players in Greco-Roman myth, science, and identity.

Dr. Irby has written two books on water, Conceptions of the Watery World in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Using and Conquering the Watery World in Greco-Roman Antiquity (both Bloomsbury, 2021) and teaches a course entitled “Why Water Matters.”