Maria Wyke (born 13 July 1957) is professor of Latin at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

, London. She is a specialist in Latin love poetry,

classical reception studies Classical reception studies is the study of how the classical world, especially Ancient Greek literature and Latin literature, have been received since antiquity. It is the study of the portrayal and representation of the ancient world from ancien ...

, and the interpretation of the roles of men and women in the ancient world. She has also written widely on the role of the figure of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

in Western culture.

Early life

Maria Wyke was born in London in 1957 to a Mexican mother and an Australian father. She was educated at Catholic schools and studied classics at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

(1976–1980). She subsequently completed her PhD at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

.Maria Wyke.
Department of Greek & Latin, University College London. Retrieved 28 April 2017.

Career

Wyke began her academic career at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

from where she joined Queen's College, Oxford and the

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, Cambridge. In 1992 she took a year out to study film and television at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, and then she joined the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

where she became professor of Latin. She joined University College, London, in September 2005 as professor of Latin. Her research relates to Latin love poetry and the interpretation of the roles of men and women in the ancient world. She is co-director of the Centre for Research in the Dynamics of Civilisation (CREDOC) and deputy Director of UCL's Centre for Humanities Interdisciplinary Research Programmes (CHIRP). While at Cambridge, Wyke began researching how the Romans were presented in film, with encouragement from Mary Beard. At the time there had been little research into the portrayal of Romans in 20th-century

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

. She received funding from the Wingate Foundation, the

British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is a British interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture established in Rome. Historical and archaeological study are at the core of its activities. History The British Sc ...

and the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

, and published a book on the subject in 1997, ''Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History''. Wyke subsequently received a Balsdon Fellowship from the British School at Rome to build on this research, looking at

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...

's film ''

Sebastiane ''Sebastiane'' is a 1976 Latin-language British historical film directed by Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress and written by Jarman, Humfress and James Whaley. It portrays the events of the life of Saint Sebastian, including his iconic martyrdom by ...

'' and the role of the figure of

in Western culture. For the latter, she edited a collection of essays on the subject that was published by Blackwell in 2006 (''Julius Caesar in Western Culture''), authoring ''Caesar: A Life in Western Culture'' (Granta, 2007; University of Chicago, 2008) and more recently writing ''Caesar in the USA'' which was published by University of California Press in 2012.''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' 2013.03.45.
Retrieved 5 December 2015.

Personal life

Wyke is married and has a daughter.

Selected publications

*''An Illusion of the Night: Women in Ancient Societies'', Macmillan, 1994. (Editor with Leonie Archer and Susan Fischler) *''Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History'', Routledge, 1997. *''Gender and the Body in the Ancient Mediterranean'', Blackwell, 1998. (Editor) *''Parchments of Gender: Deciphering the Bodies of Antiquity'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1998. (Editor) *''The Uses and Abuses of Antiquity'', Peter Lang, 1999. (Editor with Michael Biddiss) *''The Roman Mistress: Ancient and Modern Representations'', Oxford University Press, 2002. *''Roman Bodies: From Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century'',

, 2005. (Editor with

Andrew Hopkins Andrew Lee Hopkins (born 1971) is a Welsh scientist who is the founder and former CEO of the pharmaceutical company Exscientia, which develops drugs using artificial intelligence. He was educated at Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School and Neath Col ...

) *'' Julius Caesar in Western Culture'', Blackwell, 2006. (Editor) *'' Caesar: A Life in Western Culture'', Granta, 2007;

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, 2008. *''Perceptions of Horace: A Roman Poet and His Readers'', 2009. (Edited with Luke Houghton) *'' Caesar in the USA'',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 2012. *''Antiquity in Silent Cinema'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2013. (Edited with Pantelis Michelakis)

References

External links

Maria Wyke talking on "Desirability and domination: Greek sculpture and the modern male body".Maria Wyke talking about "The Education of a Latinist".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyke, Maria Academics of University College London Living people British classical scholars Women classical scholars Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of the University of Reading 1957 births Julius Caesar