Patricia Elizabeth Easterling, FBA (née Fairfax; born 11 March 1934) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, recognised as a particular expert on the work of

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

. She was Regius Professor of Greek at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1994 to 2001. She was the 36th person and the first — and, so far, only — woman to hold the post.

Life and career

Born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, Easterling attended

Witton Park High School Witton Park Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in the west of Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Witton Park is for children aged 11–16. It is within the boundary of Witton Country Park, to the west of Blackburn. A levels are ta ...

(originally called Blackburn High School for Girls) before

graduating A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called commencement, congregation, convocation or invocation. The date of the graduation ...

with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

and distinction in Classics at

Newnham College, Cambridge 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 ...

in 1955. After an initial spell lecturing at the

University of Manchester 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 ...

(1957–1958), Easterling taught within the Cambridge Classics Faculty as a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

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 ...

until 1987 when she took up the position of

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In 1987, she also became an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

. She gave the inaugural

Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed his final examination in '' literae humaniores'' and took emplo ...

Lecture at University College London on 14 June 2005. Easterling was the first woman to chair the

Council of University Classical Departments The Council of University Classical Departments (CUCD), founded in 1969, is the association of university departments in the United Kingdom in which Classics (the study of Greek and Roman antiquity) and related subjects are taught and researched. As ...

. In 1994, she returned to Cambridge and Newnham as the 36th Regius Professor of Greek, the first (and so far only) woman to hold that post since its endowment by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. In 1998, Easterling was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

, and in 2013 was made ''associé étranger de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'' at the Institut de France, and Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. She was the first Chair of the Management Committee of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon Project, and is a patron of the charity 'Classics for All'. On 22 January 2000, Easterling received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Languages at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. She has also been awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

(1999),

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

(University of London) and

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

, and has been an Honorary Fellow of University College London since 1997.

Academic interests

Easterling works mainly on

Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving wri ...

, particularly

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

; she also studies the survival and

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

of ancient drama. She has had a long association with the

Joint Association of Classical Teachers The Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT) was a UK organisation for the encouragement of the teaching of Classics in schools and universities. It was merged into the Classical Association with effect from 2 January 2015. The JACT Summer S ...

and with its Greek Summer School at

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, giving lectures there on an occasional basis. Easterling has been a General Editor of the ''Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics'' series since its foundation over thirty years ago, and has published an edition within this series of

’ ''Trachiniae'' (1982).

Publications

Books *

: Trachiniae, edited, Cambridge, 1982
Greek Religion and Society
edited with J. V. Muir, 1984
The Cambridge History of Classical Literature
General editor with E. J. Kenney
The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy
Editor, 1997 * ''Greek Scripts: An Illustrated Introduction'', edited with

Carol Handley Carol Margaret Handley (née Taylor; 17 October 1929 – 21 June 2024) was a British educator who was headmistress of Camden School for Girls (1971–1985) and president of the Classical Association (1996–1997). Handley was later a classics ...

(Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 2001)
Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession
edited with

Edith Hall Edith Hall, (born 4 March 1959) is a British scholar of classics, specialising in ancient Greek literature and cultural history, and professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University. She is a Fellow of the Bri ...

, 2002 * ''Sophocles: Electra and Other Plays'' (Penguin, 2008) Articles * 'Constructing the Heroic' in Christopher Pelling, Greek Tragedy and the Historian, Oxford, 1997: 21–37 * 'The Infanticide in Euripides' Medea', Yale Classical Studies 25 (1977): 177–191 * "From Repertoire to Canon." in Easterling, P. E. (ed.) ''Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy'', 1997, pp. 211–227. * "Narrative on the Greek Tragic Stage." ''Defining Greek Narrative'', 2014, pp. 226–240.

References

External links

Cambridge University database

Picture of P. E. Easterling

New Hellenic Society 1991
Sophocles and the Greek Tragic Tradition
Essays in honour of P. E. Easterling on her 75th birthday. Cambridge University Press 2009
British Academy fellowship entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Easterling, Pat 1934 births Academics of University College London Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge English classical scholars Fellows of the British Academy Living people Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics Regius Professors of Greek (Cambridge) British women classical scholars Presidents of the Classical Association