Progetto Odeon – Independent Academic Cultural Project for the Study and Divulgation of Classical Culture has scheduled for May 2017 its second academic conference for students of humanities, history, anthropology and philosophy. The participation mainly addresses postgraduate students, but may be exceptionally extended to undergraduates.
The main theme for this second convention is the tragic condition of human life. In the Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles portraits Oedipus’s miserable fall from his royal position to the lowest dismay following the revelation of the deeds he had unknowingly committed in the past; the new ruler of Thebes, Creon, refers to the unfortunate king as ‘one which neither earth, nor holy rain, nor the light itself can welcome’ (O. T. 1426-8). Oedipus’s tragic condition stands as the ultimate archetype of man, subjected to Fate and at the mercy of powers which poets and philosophers throughout the centuries have endeavored to define and rationalize. But the tragic sense of life is not only bound to the characters of tragedies, for history has committed to us the heritage of personalities strongly sensitive to the tragedy of human life; in 58 bc, the Roman rhetorician Cicero expressed all his pain to his wife Terentia for being responsible for the misfortune which had fallen onto his family: he says, Ceteros servavi ut nos periemus! (Fam. 14, 2, 2).


Themes discussed
The conference addresses the bond between man and his fate, the sense of evil pervading everyone's destiny and seems to rule the invisible patterns of history and doom. The chronological limits span from the earliest forms of epic poetry (the Epic of Gilgamesh from the Middle East, the Ilias and the Odyssey from Greece, and others) to the Greek and Roman medieval literary production (the limits being the appearance of national languages for the Latin context, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453 for the Greco-Byzantine), including the middle-eastern, Hebrew and Christian literature.
The convention is also open to contributions related to fields which are not strictly literary, such as history, philosophy and anthropology, so long as they fit into the subject and chronological contextualization.
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How to participate
The conference addresses all students from Italian and European universities who have obtained an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, with the following restrictions: in conformity with the founding principles of the project, which is meant to be made of and addressed to students, only candidates who have obtained their postgraduate degree no more than a year before the date of the conference (May 2017) will be accepted; students who have not yet obtained an undergraduate degree, but have committed to obtaining it before the end of 2017, may be exceptionally admitted at the incontestable discretion of the scientific committee.
In order to participate, the candidates are required to send an e-mail (progettoodeon@gmail.com) containing:
an abstract (about 300 words) of the lecture they intend to give at the conference and the title;
a brief curriculum vitae et studiorum which highlights the educational qualifications of the candidate and the university they are attending.
Each lecture should be 20-25 minutes long, plus a few minutes for questions from the public and discussion. The lectures may be given in Italian, English, or French (with preference for the Italian language).
The candidacies may be submitted until January 31, 2017. Within the month of February 2017, the scientific committee, composed of members of Progetto Odeon, will publish the list of the lecturers whose contribution has been accepted.
Refunds for the lecturers coming from other countries than Italy will be quantified thereafter. The scientific committee will also consider publishing the proceedings of the conference.
Information regarding the plan for the days of the conference will be found on the online site (www.progettoodeon.wix.com/sito ) attività 15-17 ) il convegno universitario ) maggio 2017); for further information, contact the project (progettoodeon@gmail.com).
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Turin, 2016 05 17
Progetto Odeon
progettoodeon.wix.com/sito
progettoodeon@gmail.com