faculty

William Thalmann

Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature

Contact Information
E-mail: thalmann@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-0268
Office: THH 256P

 

Education

  • B.A. Classics, Amherst College, 6/1969
  • Ph.D. Classics, Yale University, 12/1975

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

  • Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature, University of Southern California, 09/01/2001-  
  • Professor of Classics, University of Southern California, 09/01/1987-09/01/2001  
  • Associate Professor of Classics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 07/01/1984-07/01/1987  
  • Assistant/Associate Professor of Classics, Yale University, 07/01/1975-07/01/1984  

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Professor Thalmann's special interests are Greek epic and drama. In particular, using anthropological and other theories, he studies the ways in which performances of ancient texts were the occasion for the convergence of class and gender discourses and the role of these texts within contemporary social and political processes, especially at times of great social change.  He is currently writing a book on geography and the production of space in the Argonautika of Apollonius of Rhodes, treating the poem as an imaginative projection of questions about cultural identity that the Greeks faced in the wake of Alexander’s conquests. 

In the Classics Department, he teaches graduate courses on Greek literature of various periods and genres and on ancient slavery, as well as undergraduate language courses and General Education courses on Greek literature and culture.  In Comparative Literature, he teaches courses on epic poetry, Dante’s Dvine Comedy, and Los Angeles crime fiction.  He is also editor for the ancient world of the Norton Anthology of World Literature.

Research Specialties
Greek Drama and Epic Poetry

Publications

Book
  • Thalmann, W. (2006). Norton Antohlogy of World Literature. New York: Norton Antohlogy of World Literature/Western Literature.
  • Thalmann, W. (1998). The Swineherd and the Bow: Representations of Class in the Odyssey, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
  • Thalmann, W. (1992). The Odyssey: An Epic of Return, Twayne Masterworks Series, Boston, 1992. Boston, Massachussetts: Twayne.
  • Thalmann, W. (1984). Conventions of Form and Thought in Early Greek Epic Poetry, Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Thalmann, W. (1984). Dramatic Art in Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1978. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
Book Chapter
  • Thalmann, W. (1998). Female Slaves in the Odyssey. New York, New York: Routledge.
Conference Proceeding
  • Thalmann, W. (2007). Despotic Authority, Fear and the Ideology of Slavery. In Anastasia Serghidou (Ed.), pp. 193-205. Lille. peur de l'esclave, peur de l'esclavage en mediterranee ancienne.
Journal Article
  • Thalmann, W. (2004). The Most Divinely Approved and Political Discord: Thinking About Conflict in the Developing Polis. Classical Antiquity. Vol. 23 (2004), pp. 359-399.
  • Thalmann, W. (1996). Versions of Slavery in the Captivi of Plautus. Ramus. pp. 112-45.
  • Thalmann, W. (1993). Euripides and Aeschylus: The Case of the Hekabe. Classical Antiquity. Vol. 12 (1993), pp. 126-59.
  • Thalmann, W. (1988). Thersites: Comedy, Scapegoats, and Heroic Ideology. Transactions of the American Philological Association. Vol. 118 (1988), pp. 1-28.
  • Thalmann, W. (1986). Aeschylus's Physiology of the Emotions. American Journal of Philology. Vol. 107 (1986), pp. 489-511.
  • Thalmann, W. (1985). Speech and Silence in the Oresteia I and II. Phoenix. Vol. 39 (1985), pp. 99-118, 221-37.
  • Thalmann, W. (1980). Xerxes' Rags: Some Problems in Aeschylus's Persae. American Journal of Philology. Vol. 101, pp. 260-82.

Honors and Awards

  • USC Academic Senate Executive Board, Outstanding Service Award, 1999-2000   
  • USC Academic Senate Executive Board, President, 1998-1999  
  • USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 1998  
  • USC Academic Senate Executive Board, Vice President, 1997-1998  
  • USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, General Education Teaching Award, 1997-1998  

Service to the University

Administrative Appointments
  • Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Comparative Literature, 2007-2008   
  • Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Comparative Literature, 2006-2007   
  • Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Comparative Literature, 2005-2006   
Committees
  • President, Epsilon of California Chapter, Phi Beta Kappa (USC chapter), 2007-2008   
  • Chair, Faculty Environment Committee, Academic Senate, 2007-2008   
  • Chair, Committee on Fellowships, Awards, and Honors, 2007-2008   
  • Chair, Graduate Studies Committee, Department of Comparative Literature, 2007-2008   
  • Member, Graduate Committee, Department of Classics, 2007-2008   
  • Member, Program Board, Master of Liberal Studies, 2007-2008   
  • Chair, Academic Senate Faculty Environment Committee, 2006-2007   
  • Chair, Committee on Fellowships, Awards and Honors, 2006-2007   
  • Member, College Faculty Council, 2006-2007   
  • Member, University Benefits Advisory Committee, 2006-2007   
  • Member, Governing Board, Phi Beta Kappa, 2006-2007   

Service to the Profession

Editorships and Editorial Boards
  • Member, Editorial Board, Classical Antiquity, 1994-2008  
  • Editor for Ancient World, Norton Anthology of World Literature, 1998-2007  
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