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Biography
After studying at the University of Durham and University of Bologna, I undertook an MA and PhD at King's College London. I have worked and lived in London, Washington DC, Venice, Durham, Rome, Naples, and Bristol. I am particularly interested in the reconstruction of fragmentary literary works, the intellectual history of ancient Rhodes, and in making difficult or lesser-known authors or works more accessible.
My research and teaching focuses on Ancient Greek literature and language with specialisms in poetry (epic, lyric, and tragedy), cultural history, and papyrology including Herculaneum papyri. I am especially interested in recovering lost literary works and making difficult or lesser-known authors more accessible. My current project is to publish the first commentary in English on the Hesiodic Catalogue(s) of Women; and in the long term to produce the first complete edition and translation of Philodemus' On Piety with commentary.
Expertise Summary
My research focuses on Ancient Greek literature and language with specialisms in poetry (epic, lyric, and tragedy), cultural history, and literary papyrology including Herculaneum papyri.
Teaching Summary
I enjoy teaching a wide range of topics across Greek and Latin language, literature, and culture. Teaching in Italy, the UK, and the USA has given me a broad and varied perspective on the different… read more
Research Summary
I am preparing the first commentary in English and an edition and translation of the Hesiodic Catalogue(s) of Women. The archaic Greek epic poems ascribed to Hesiod (over 250 fragments survive) were… read more
Recent Publications
THOMAS COWARD and MICHAEL MCOSKER, 2026. American Journal of Philology. 147(4), (In Press.)
THOMAS COWARD, 2024. Zeitschrift fu虉r Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 229, 53-57
THOMAS COWARD, 2023. On Hermes and Akakallis: A New Reading of P.Herc. 243 fr. 2 cols 1.1-2 (olim Call. 307 SH = Call. Hec. Dub. T16 Hollis) Zeitschrift fu虉r Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 227, 25-33
THOMAS COWARD, 2022. Understanding Pindar in the scholia to Pindar. In: S脡VERINE CL脡MENT-TARANTINO, JEAN-CHRISTOPHE JOLIVET and DANIEL VALLAT, eds., Po茅tique(s) des commentaires antiques. Actes du colloque international (Universit茅 Charles de Gaulle-Lille 3, 17-19 novembre 2016) 364. Peeters Leuven. 103-20
I enjoy teaching a wide range of topics across Greek and Latin language, literature, and culture. Teaching in Italy, the UK, and the USA has given me a broad and varied perspective on the different ways of approaching the ancient world as well as teaching in different languages and idioms.
At Nottingham I will be teaching Greek prose and verse, along with unseen translation and grammar exercises. I will also be co-teaching courses on research skills in both 'Extended Source 糖心原创' and '糖心原创ing Classical Scholarship', and the seminars for 'Interpreting Ancient Art and Archaeology'.
Current Research
I am preparing the first commentary in English and an edition and translation of the Hesiodic Catalogue(s) of Women. The archaic Greek epic poems ascribed to Hesiod (over 250 fragments survive) were one of the most influential sources of heroic tales and genealogies in the ancient world. The Catalogue tells of a mythical past from the descendants of Pandora to the offspring of Helen, ending with the severing of humans from direct contact with the gods after the Trojan War. (The Megalai 膾hoiai, another genealogical catalogue poem, was likely a separate work rather than a continuation of the Catalogue). The named offspring became founders or eponyms for settlements, tribes, and regions in Greece and beyond. The poem shows how different societies anchor themselves in their mytho-historical past and current present. By entwining environment, cult, gender, and myth the poem emphasizes the continuity of human existence; and it demonstrates how mytho-historical stories shape human behaviour and practices (e.g. marriage, cult, and group and local identities) based on past precedents.
Past Research
My doctorate, awarded in 2016, explored the lyric poet Pindar's dependence upon traditions of (now fragmentary) lyric poetry and music, and the distinctive shaping of his poetic strategy. I adapted established notions of intertext and allusion for a song-performance culture by applying methods used in Historical Musicology to demonstrate metrical, lexical, and thematic interactions. My first key research excellence achievement after my doctoral thesis was a co-edited volume Paths of Song (2018) on the interactions between Greek (choral) lyric and tragedy, stemming from an international conference I co-convened. My chapter featured the poet-scholar Timachidas of Rhodes (fl. 99 BC), which led to a growing interest in the cultural history of the island of Rhodes.
At Ca' Foscari in Venice I made considerable progress on one research project and finished another. The first project is the first intellectual history of Rhodes (168 BC-AD 44), which was awarded a Marie-Curie fellowship (2018-21). The project demonstrates Rhodes' pivotal and under-appreciated role in the development of ancient education and scientific study (poetry, literary scholarship, philosophy, oratory, the sciences and medicine, and encyclopaedism), as well as artistic production and naval expertise, and assesses the impact on Hellenistic and Roman Republican and early Empire culture. From 168BC, as its military power lessened, the island became a centre of study for visiting Greek and Roman elites (e.g. Caesar, Pompey, Brutus, Cassius, Cicero) who learned philosophy and rhetoric there from international teachers, while others migrated (e.g. from Syria and Egypt) to hone artisan skills and set up sculpture workshops. The project shows the island's transformation from a predominately economic and political power to a more cultural-economic one. With its impressive libraries and schools and its reputation for sculpture Rhodes made a major contribution to knowledge and to the shaping of Graeco-Roman culture. For an overview, see .
The second project, on (fl. c. 44BC-AD14), a very important scholar of Greek literature, continued my work on ancient scholarship and led to the publication of a BICS volume in 2021. The volume is an assessment of Didymus' works and methodologies and includes a checklist of his fragments organised systematically for the first time. The is now the standard reference work for citing Didymus.
At the Scuola Superiore Meridionale in Naples (2022-25) I continued my work on Rhodes. I also laid the foundations for my current project on the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women by editing the Hesiodic fragments preserved in Philodemus' On Piety (one of the works preserved in the Herculaneum papyri).
At Bristol (2025-26), where I was awarded a second Marie-Curie fellowship, I began preparing the commentary and edition of the Hesiodic Catalogue. I have examined a number of papyri held in collections in the UK and Europe and drafted sections of the commentary.
Future Research
In the long term, I will continue my work to produce the first complete edition and commentary of Philodemus' On Piety. The Epicureans and Stoics developed comprehensive and sharply competing philosophical systems. Epicureans were often accused of impiety as they viewed the gods as remote and uninterested in humanity contrary to traditional beliefs. The carbonised and difficult to read Herculaneum papyri preserve many works of Epicurean and Stoic philosophy including Philodemus' On Piety, a 1st century BCE Epicurean rebuttal of Stoic criticisms including impiety. The treatise, with its lengthy expos茅 of the ridiculous and scandalous stories of traditional mythology, is a source for many poets, mythographers, and philosophers. It supplies previously unknown fragments, and it is an earlier witness for evidence found in later sources. It is the longest known (367 cols. = 23.3 metres long roll) and it is the most cited work from the collection; yet there is no complete edition with translation and commentary. Up to 132 columns are unpublished and the rest require revision. A complete edition will be invaluable to students and scholars of Greek religion and philosophy, Greek and Roman literature, and intellectual history. In addition, over 100,000 words would be added to the corpus of Greek literature.