William Hansen (born 1941) is an American academic who is a professor emeritus of

classical studies 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 and Roman literature and their original languages ...

and

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

Education and career

Hansen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965 and his PhD in 1970 from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in classical studies.

Career

In 1970, Hansen began his employment as an assistant professor in the Department of Classical Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, where also accepted an appointment as a fellow of the Folklore Institute. He became a professor of classical studies in 1985 and of folklore in 1992. Hansen retired from Indiana University Bloomington in 2005. He was named as a fellow of the

American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the United States (US)-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world, which aims to encourage research, aid in disseminating that research, promote t ...

in 2010. Hansen is known for publishing the first English translation of

Phlegon of Tralles Phlegon of Tralles () was a Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, who lived in the 2nd century AD. Works His chief work was the ''Olympiads'', an historical compendium in sixteen books, from the 1st down to the 229th Olympiad (776 B ...

. He has also edited multiple collections of

classical mythology Classical mythology, also known as Greco-Roman mythology or Greek and Roman mythology, is the collective body and study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Mythology, along with philosophy and political thought, is one of the m ...

and authored several works concerning

Ancient Greek folklore Ancient Greek folklore includes genres such as mythology (Greek mythology), legend, and folktales. According to classicist William Hansen: "the Greeks and Romans had all the genres of oral narrative known to us, even ghost stories and urban leg ...

and

Roman folklore Roman folklore is the folklore of ancient Rome, including genres such as myth (Roman mythology), legend, joke, charms, fable, ghostlore, and numerous others.For example, classicist William Hansen notes that "the Greeks and Romans had all the gen ...

. Hansen's most recent book, ''The Book of Greek & Roman Folktales, Legends & Myths'', is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

of lesser known narratives from the folklore of

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

Books

* ''The Conference Sequence: Patterned Narration and Narrative Inconsistency in the Odyssey'', 1972. * ''Saxo Grammaticus and the Life of Hamlet: History, Translation, and Commentary'', 1983. * ''Phlegon of Tralles’ Book of Marvels'', 1996. * ''Anthology of Ancient Greek Popular Literature'',1998. * ''Ariadne’s Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature'', 2002. * ''Myth: A New Symposium'' (co-edited with Gregory Schrempp), 2002. * ''Handbook of Classical Mythology'', 2004. * ''Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans'', 2005. * ''Anonymous: Life of Aesop''. Bryn Mawr Greek Commentaries, 2008. * ''The Book of Greek and Roman Folktales, Legends, and Myths'', 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, William Living people Indiana University Bloomington faculty American classical scholars 1941 births University of California, Berkeley alumni