Join us at the Ioannou Centre in Oxford on Thursday 6 March 2025 at 5.00pm for “A Tarnished Dawn? Sparta, George Cawkwell (the King) and I” the inaugural George Cawkwell Memorial Lecture, to be given by Professor Paul Cartledge, Emeritus AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge and former Salvesen Junior Fellow at University College, Oxford. The lecture is held in memory of George Cawkwell (1919-2019), a beloved figure at University College and a true giant in the field of Ancient History and will be followed by a drinks reception at the Ioannou Centre.
“Tarnished Dawn” is a coded reference to the late and unlamented Greek neofascist party, Golden Dawn. Throughout the lecture, Professor Paul Cartledge will investigate how, within the past decade, there has been a revival of the Nazi twist to the ancient Spartan myth/legend/mirage, both in Europe and in the USA (ignominiously, the 6 January 2021 storming of the Capitol). As an honorary citizen of today’s Sparta, Professor Cartledge is the first to celebrate Sparta’s indispensable contributions to “Western civilisation”. Professor Cartledge will explore whether, amongst the implications of today’s Laconophilia, contemporary American and European xenophobia is a peculiarly ancient Spartan phenomenon, as well as touching on Professor Cartledge’s relationship with George Cawkwell and reflecting on his influence in Professor Cartledge’s life.
Please complete this form here to register for tickets.
Biography:
Professor Paul Cartledge was Harold Salvesen Junior Fellow of at University College, Oxford, 1970-72. He gained a double first in Mods and Greats at New College, 1965-69 and DPhil in 1975. Between 1972 and 2014 he taught successively at the New University of Ulster, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Warwick and the University of Cambridge. He is currently A.G. Leventis Senior Research Fellow of Clare College, formerly the inaugural A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture (2008-2014). He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of some 30 books, most recently Thebes: the Forgotten City of Ancient Greece and monographs in the series The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World (OUP/NY) and Key Themes in Ancient History (CUP).
