Philip Thibodeau
Associate Professor
Classics
Location: 2408 Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.5191
Fax: 718.951.4765
Email:
Professor Philip Thibodeau studies early Greek scientists and the social and multicultural contexts in which their work evolved. His most recent work is a monograph on the timeline of these persons entitled The Chronology of the Early Greek Natural Philosophers, and a Latin textbook, Somnium Latinitatis; both are available for download here: https://www.cosmographia.net. He is currently working on a study of the chronology of the poems of Homer and Hesiod which places them in the early sixth century BCE. His published works also include studies of ancient Greek and Roman agriculture, ancient theories of vision, Horace's Odes, and Vergil's great poem on farming, the Georgics.
Education:
Ph.D., Brown University - 1999 (Classics)
Areas of Expertise:
Early Greek cosmology; ancient science; Vergil, Horace and Augustan poetry; Latin pedagogy
Books and Publications
Hesiod, Vergil, and the Ambitions of Georgic. In: A History of English Georgic Writing, Paddy Bullard, editor, Cambridge University Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2021
Somnium Latinitatis. The Dream of Latinity. An Introduction to Latin Language and Literature. Open Access Publication. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2021
The New York Anthology of Latin Prose. Philip Thibodeau, editor. Cosmographia.net. (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2021
Review of Robert Hahn, The Metaphysics of the Pythagorean Theorem: Thales, Pythagoras, Engineering, Diagrams, and the Construction of the Cosmos out of Right Triangles (SUNY Press). Aestimatio 13 (2016-2018) 177-184. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2020
Review of Grégoire Lacaze, Turba Philosophorum. Congrès pythagoricien sur l'art d'Hermès (Brill). Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2019.12.09. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2019
The Chronology of the Early Greek Natural Philosophers. Cosmographia.net. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2019
"Anaximander's Model and the Measures of the Sun and Moon." Journal of Hellenic Studies. Forthcoming. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
"Anaximander's Spartan Sundial," Classical Quarterly 67.2: 1-6. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
Review of L'Encyclopédie du Ciel, A. Zucker, ed., (Robert Laffont). Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2017.03.44 (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2017
"Ancient Agriculture: The Challenge of Cultivation." Blackwell Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Science. Ed. Georgia L. Irby. 519-32. Blackwell. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2016
"Ancient Optics: Theories and Problems of Vision." Blackwell Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Science. Ed. Georgia L. Irby. 130-44. Blackwell. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2016
Review of 'Back to the Garden: Nature and the Mediterranean World from Prehistory to the Present' by James H.S. McGregor (Yale University Press). In Agricultural History (2016) 90.2: 249-50. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2016
"Traditionalism and Originality in Roman Science." Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World. Eds. Paul T. Keyser and John Scarborough. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2015
"Ancient Agronomy as a Literature of Best Practices." Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World. Eds. Paul T. Keyser and John Scarborough. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2014
"Vergil, Georgics." The Literary Encyclopedia. http://www.litencyc.com/ (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2013
Review of Classical Literary Careers and the Reception, by Philip Hardie and Helen Moore. New England Classical Journal. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2012
Playing the Farmer: Representations of Rural Life in Vergil's Georgics. University of California Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2011
Review of Allegories of Farming from Greece and Rome: Philosophical Satire in Xenophon, Varro, and Virgil, by Leah Kronenberg. Classical World 104.3: 375-76. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2011
Review of Pastoral Inscriptions, by Brian Breed. Classical Journal 104.2: 180-81. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2009
Articles on Vergil, Cato the Elder, Varro and 84 other agricultural writers. Biographical Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists. Eds. P. Keyser and G. Irby-Massie. Routledge. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2008
Review of Acts of Love. Ancient Greek Poetry from Aphrodite's Garden, by George Economou. Harvard Review 32: 158-60. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2007
"The Addressee of Vergil's Eighth Eclogue." Classic Quarterly 56.2: 618-23. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2006
Review of The Georgics of Virgil. Bilingual Edition, by David Ferry. Harvard Review 30: 177-78. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2006
"Cato's Attacks on Scipio's Hellenism Were Pure Political Opportunism." History in Dispute. Eds. P.A. Miller and C. Platter. Gale Group. 92-99. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2005
"The Watery Something of Vergil Georgics 4.234." Classic Quarterly 54.2: 636-40. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2004
Review of Science and Mathematics in Ancient Greek Culture, eds. C.J. Tuplin and T.E. Rihll. American Journal of Philology 125.1: 138-42. (Books and Publications: Book Review) 2004
"Can Vergil Cry? Epicureanism in Horace Odes 1.24." The Classical Journal 98.3: 243-56. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2003
"Optical Illusions in Ancient Greece." Gestures: Essays in Greek Literature, History and Philosophy, in Honor of Alan Boegehold. Eds. J. Sickinger and G. Bakewell. Oxbow Books. 136-51. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2003
"The Highest Candle: Michael C.J. Putnam as Scholar and Teacher." Being There Together: Essays in Honor of Michael C.J. Putnam on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday. Eds. H. Haskell and P. Thibodeau. Afton Press. 1-23. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2003
Haskell, H. and P. Thibodeau. Being There Together: Essays in Honor of Michael C.J. Putnam on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday. Afton Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2003
"Richard Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind. From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation." The Classical Outlook: Journal of the American Classical League 79.2: 84. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2001
"The Old Man and His Garden (Verg. Georg. 4,116-148)." MD 47: 175-95. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2001
"Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times." The Classical Outlook: Journal of the American Classical League 78.1: 46-47. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2000
"Richard Jenkyns, Virgil's Experience." The Classical Outlook: Journal of the American Classical League 77.3: 124-25. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2000
Thibodeau, P. and M. Hyman. "The Hope of the Year: Vergil G. 1.224 and Hesiod Op. 617." Classical Philology: A Journal Devoted to Research in Classical Antiquity 94.2: 214-15. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 1999
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Whiting Fellowship, Brooklyn College, 2006-07. (Grants and Fellowships) 2007
Research Activities
Launched COSMOGRAPHIA.NET, an open-access digital monograph series. (https://www.cosmographia.net/) 2018
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"The Tormented Master of Vergil's Georgics" Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting, online. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2022
"A Progress Report on 'Cosmographia', an Open Access Digital Publication." Brooklyn College Faculty Day Conference (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"The Teacher's Dilemma in Greek Didactic Texts" Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting. Boston. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2018
"The Origins of the Zodiac," for the Brooklyn Classics Seminar, Brooklyn College. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2016
"Horace and Vergil in Dialogue in Odes 4.12." American Philological Association Annual Meeting. Chicago. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014
"Climate Change in the Classical World." DePauw University. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
"The 'Discovery' of Optical Illusions in Ancient Greece." Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Southern Section. Tallahassee, Fla. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2012
"Ancient Greek and Roman Star Globes." Fordham University. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Strange Agronomy: Democritea in Vergil's Georgics." American Philological Association Annual Meeting. San Antonio. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Ancient Readers of Vergil's Georgics." American Philological Association Annual Meeting. Chicago. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2008
"Addressing the Powerful: Intercessional Poetry in Augustan Rome." CUNY Classics Lecture Series. New York. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006
"Awareness of Environmental Change in the Mediterranean World." Boston University Academy. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006
"Awareness of Environmental Change in the Mediterranean World." Grant MacEwan College. Edmonton, Alberta. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006
"Awareness of Environmental Change in the Mediterranean World." Interboro High School. Media, Pa. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2006
"Optics and Optical Science at Alexandria." Symposium on Hellenistic Science. Harvard University. Cambridge, Mass. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2006
"Idols and Eye-Beams: Ancient Theories of Vision." Mellon Seminar in Ancient Studies. Scripps College. Claremont, Calif. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2005
"Art vs. Nature in Ancient Rome." The Maurice P. Cunningham Memorial Lecture. Lawrence University. Appleton, Wis. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2004
"Roman Culture: Vergil's Agricultural Model in the Georgics." Brown University. Providence, R.I. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2003
"Of Marginal Significance: Acrostics and Allusion in Hellenistic Poetry." American Philological Association Annual Meeting. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2001
"Why Euclid's Optics Is Incompatible With Linear Perspective." History of Science Society Annual Meeting. Denver. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2001
"Consoling Vergil: Horace Odes 1.24." Classical Association of the Middle West and South. Knoxville, Tenn. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2000
"Who Speaks as Aeneas Leaves the Gates of Sleep (Aen. 6.893-899)?" American Philological Association. Dallas. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 1999
"Lucretius' Palimpsest." Intertextuality in the Ancient World. Yale University. New Haven, Conn. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 1998
"The Death of the Old Man of Tarentum. Vergil Georgics 4.116-148 Reread." American Philological Association Annual Meeting. Chicago. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 1997
Professional Leadership
Co-organizer and moderator, "New Approaches to Ancient Science," American Philological Association, 2003-05. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2005
