Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Jeff Fish and Guy Métraux at Getty Villa

Prof. Jeff Fish, AFoH board member, and Guy Métraux will speak on the subject of Power, Prosperity, Philosophy: Roman Villas and the Men Who Built Them at the Getty Villa tomorrow 16 January 2014 at 7:30 p.m.

The Getty website notes that this evening of lectures commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Getty Villa. It is fitting that the edifice which embodies the dreams of J. Paul Getty in such remarkable neo-classicism will house the lectures by Métraux and Fish. 

Prof. Métraux's lecture is entitled "Low Profit, High Value: Why Own a Villa?" and promises to explore the "motivation for villa-ownership and the added value villas bestowed on their residents." Prof. Métraux is a professor emeritus of art history at York University.

Fish will talk about "L. Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus: a philosophical statesman of the Late Roman Republic." The scholar's publications have explored the philosophical milieu in which some of Latin literature's most important texts were discussed and analyzed. For instance, his 2004 essay entitled "Anger, Philodemus' Good King, and the Helen Episode of Aeneid 2.567-589: a new proof of authenticity from Herculaneum," pinned a textual challenge in the Aeneid to a specific place and time.  On Thursday evening he will talk about Piso as a political and military figure, but also about his philosophical commitment to Epicureanism.

Note that the Getty Villa website offers more complete details, especially the protocol for acquiring parking tickets in advance. The lecture is free, but a ticket is required.

— This posting derives its information almost entirely from the Getty website.

RTM