Selina Stewart, PhD (Cornell University), BA Hons, summa cum laude (Concordia University, Montreal)

Area of Study / Keywords

Ancient Greek poetry and science Hellenistic Poetry History of Science Homer Aratus Argonautica Astronomy

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About

I work primarily on Ancient Greek poetic and scientific texts and teach all levels of Greek and Latin language and literature. I have published articles on ancient epic, lyric and Hellenistic poetry, ancient astronomy, astrology and divination and have a book manuscript in preparation. I am past member of the board for the Classical Association of Canada, the journal Phoenix & the Science, Technology & Society program at the University of Alberta; received the Cécile E. Mactaggart Travel Award for Narrative Writing in 2014, and the Faculty of Arts Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentorship and Teaching in 2020.

My work as a translator has included the translation of Nicole Loraux's Né de la terre: Mythe et politique à Athènes published by Cornell University Press as Born of the Earth in 2000, translation for past members of the CNRS (Centre de recherche nationale) and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris and the Centre de recherche philologique, Université de Lille III.  Other translations appear in Brunschwig and Lloyd's Greek Thought ("Physics" and "Technology"), published in 2000.  I also taught a course in the history of translation for many years in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Alberta, and began my working life as a computer clerk at McGill in the late 1970s.

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Research

My research is focused on various intersections of science & poetry in the ancient world. Current projects include a book in preparation on Ancient Greek optical theory and chapter contributions and articles on Hellenistic poetics, ancient astronomy, decipherment and theories of visual perception. I have published articles on ancient and Hellenistic epic, lyric, epigram and elegiac poetry, the poetics of colour terminology, Greek & Latin acrostics, divination & astrology in Rome, and poetry & astronomy. Beyond specialization in Greek & Latin I have a background in Comparative Indo-European & Semitic Historical Linguistics (Hittite; Vedic & Classical Sanskrit; Early Germanic, Celtic & Slavic; Old Assyrian & Babylonian texts; historical phonology) and have researched and taught in Linguistics as well as Classics departments in Canada and the U.S.

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Teaching

I teach Greek and Latin language and literature courses at all levels (especially GREEK 201, 481, 482 & 505 (Homeric, Lyric and Hellenistic poetry), LATIN 102, 406, 475 & 506 (Virgil, Horace, Catullus and Augustan elegy) as well as occasional courses in Historical Linguistics.  I also regularly teach CLASS 303 (Religion in Greco-Roman Antiquity) at the 3rd year level, Greek & Roman literature in translation (CLASS 221, 321 & 322), CLASS 103 (Introduction to Ancient Greece), and CLASS 400/500 (most recently Cosmos: Earth, Sea & Sky in Greek & Early Islamicate Science, Fall 2022).

CLASS 303 - Religion in Greco-Roman Antiquity

Examination of the nature of pre-Christian religious practices in antiquity.

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CLASS 498 - Individual Study of Literary Problems

Prerequisite: Any course at or above the 200-level in CLASS, GREEK, or LATIN or consent of Department. May be repeated for credit when course content differs.

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CLASS 500 - Fourth-Year Honors Tutorial

Prerequisite: consent of Department.

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GREEK 201 - Intermediate Greek I

Review of grammar, reading of Greek texts; translation of simple sentences from English into Greek. Prerequisite: GREEK 102 or consent of Department. Not open to students with credit in GREEK 301

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GREEK 482 - Topics in Greek Poetry

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GREEK 501 - Topics in Greek Epic

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LATIN 406 - Topics in Latin Poetry

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LATIN 506 - Topics in Latin Poetry

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Browse more courses taught by Selina Stewart

Winning essay for the Cécile E. Mactaggart Travel Award for Narrative Writing (“A Hallowe’en Meditation”), 2014.  A Halloween Meditation: Gay family life in Canada in the early and mid-20th C.  Personal memoir.

A Halloween Meditation

Selina Stewart

Ann Arbor, MI. 2025 April; A Companion to Apollonius of Rhodes

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Selina Stewart

Leiden: Brill. 2022 March; The Intellectual Climate of Cassius Dio

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Selina Stewart

Classical Philology. 2013 January; v. 108 (no. 3):235-240

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Selina Stewart

Classical Quarterly. 2010 January; 60 (2):401-415

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Selina Stewart

Mnemosyne. 2008 January; v. 61 (Fasc. 4, Leiden: 2008):586-600

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Selina Stewart

Hellenistica Groningana 11: Beyond the Canon. 2006 January; (Leuven: 2006):319-343

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Nicole Loraux, Selina Stewart (translator)

2000 January; Born of the Earth, originally Né de la Terre. Mythe et politique à Athènes. Paris, 1996. (Translated by Selina Stewart for Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London, 2000.)