Join the Religious Studies Department on Wednesday, November 4th, to host Dr. Joseph Badawi-Crook from the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies. He will be giving a lecture titled "Greek Epics, Sanskrit Epics: Kindred Classics, or Cunning Co-incidence?" Dr. Badawi-Crook will talk about how the readers of both Ancient Greek and Ancient Indian Epic poetry cannot help but notice innumerable parallels between the two. For some, similarities should be attributed to a shared Indo-European inheritance. For others, they should be attributed to historical influence from one to the other – some think from Greece to India, and others from India to Greece. Still others think these similarities are just flukes. And skeptics say the answer is unknowable. Dr. Joseph Badawi-Crook, who did his PhD on this topic, has developed new methods to answer these knotty but fascinating questions. In doing so, we inevitably consider why any culture resembles any other, why we make stories, and why these ancient Epics are worth reading in 2026.
The event will start at 5:00 PM and will be held in Cooper Hall in 460 (CPR 460).
For reasonable accommodations or questions, please reach out to Kya Lockler.