Renowned Cambridge professor discusses Spartans on film Sept. 23 at Syracuse University

Renowned Cambridge professor discusses Spartans on film Sept. 23 at Syracuse UniversitySeptember 11, 2008Rob Enslinrmenslin@syr.edu

Paul Cartledge, professor of Greek history at the University of Cambridge, kicks off the 2008-09 Moses Finley Memorial Lecture Series at Syracuse University with a presentation titled “The Spartans on the Silver Screen.” Presented by the Program in Classics in The College of Arts and Sciences, the lecture will take place Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 4:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Paid parking is available in SU pay lots.

Drawing on the popularity of the 2006 motion picture “300”-a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae-Cartledge will examine Hollywood’s love affair with Spartan culture and history. He will also discuss his involvement with the BBC-TV series “The Greeks” and the U.K.’s Channel 4 series “The Spartans.”

“Professor Cartledge has done significant work on the history of ancient Sparta and is a dynamic and engaging speaker,” says Donald H. Mills, event organizer and professor of classical languages and literatures.

An expert in ancient Athens and Sparta, Cartledge has served on the faculty of Cambridge since 1979. Also, he is the Hellenic Parliament Global Distinguished Professor in the Theory and History of Democracy at New York University and a fellow at Clare College at Cambridge.

Cartledge is author or editor of more than two dozen books, including “Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past” (Macmillan, 2004); “The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Others” (Oxford University Press, 2002); “The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece” (Cambridge University Press, 1997); and “Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History, 1300-362 B.C.” (Routledge, 1979). He co-edits two monograph series, sits on the editorial boards of three learned journals, and serves as consultant in ancient history to Duckworth Publishers.

Cartledge is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and holds the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour, awarded by the President of the Hellenic Republic.

The Finley Lecture Series honors the memory of Sir Moses I. Finley ’27. One of the 20th-century’s most influential historians, he enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a professor of ancient history and as a master of Darwin College at the University of Cambridge. The series is made possible by the generous donation of A&S alumnus Robert Papworth ’68.

For more information about the lecture series, contact Mills at (315) 443-5903 or dhmills@syr.edu.