Archaeology and Myth: Some Reflections

1155 East 58th Street,Chicago IL 60637

02 November, 2022

Description

The OI welcomes Jonathan Hall, Phyllis Fay Horton Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities and Professor in the Departments of History and Classics and the College, University of Chicago, for a Members Lecture exploring Archaeology and Myth. This in-person lecture will stream live on the OI YouTube channel. Registration is for in person-attendance only. A live link will be available on OI social media on the day of the event. Cases such as the “House of David” stele from Tel Dan, “Amazon” burials in western Russia and Ukraine, the fortifications and first palace of Romulus at the foot of the Palatine hill in Rome, or the tomb of St Peter in the Vatican, to name just a few, have inspired triumphalist claims that the “science” of archaeology has succeeded in proving the historicity of traditions that many had consigned to the field of myth. Such claims, however, betray a fundamental misunderstanding as to the nature and function of myth. Since myth typically exists in a plurality of variants and since the concept of “truthfulness” is generally immaterial to myth’s efficacy, the notion that it can be either proven or disproven by archaeology is deeply problematic. This lecture will offer some reflections on the relationship between archaeology and myth, with particular reference to the controversy surrounding the historicity of the Trojan War.