Dr Thomas Nelson

My research spans widely across Greek and Latin literature, focused on questions of politics, aesthetics and intertextuality. I’m particularly interested in rethinking traditional narratives of literary history, reflected in the two main strands of my current research: first, I explore the (dis)continuities between the intertextual practices of archaic/classical poets and those of later literary cultures; and second, I unearth the distinctive aesthetics and priorities of Hellenistic poets located beyond Ptolemaic Alexandria and the impact of these alternative poetic traditions at Rome, drawing particularly on the evidence of papyri, inscriptions and other fragments.

My first book (Markers of Allusion in Archaic Greek Poetry) was published in 2023 with Cambridge University Press. I am now writing a Cambridge Element on Intertextuality and the Myths of Greek Tragedy and pursuing a larger project on Hellenistic epic fragments. I have also co-edited three volumes: on Hellenistic aesthetics (BICS 2024), Pergamon’s influence at Rome (OUP 2025), and collaboration in ancient literature (CUP forthcoming).

Greek literature, Latin literature, epic, lyric, drama, Hellenistic poetry, intertextuality, aesthetics, politics, tradition

I teach a broad range of language and literature options to undergraduates across Latin and Greek. I have recently lectured on Greek Epic, Lyric, Tragedy, Hellenistic Poetry, and Hellenistic History. I also supervise graduate students and offer text-based graduate seminars in Greek and Latin Literature and their reception (including “Puzzle Poetry” and “The Underworld”).

Recent research topics that I have supervised include “Squaring the Circle: Pindar’s Firmament and Cosmic Scaling”, “The Hut of Achilles: Relative Space in the Iliad”, “Costume and the Politics of Maternity in Euripides’ Ion”, “Jeu d’Esprit: Gorgias’ Παίγνιον as Philosophical Method”, and “The Yogis of the West: Affinities in Discourses of Training the Body in Ancient Greece and India”.

Full Publications: Dr Thomas Nelson March 2025

Selected Publications:

Books

The Hellenistic Epic Fragments: Edition, Translation, and Commentary [in progress]

Intertextuality and the Myths of Greek Tragedy. Cambridge (Cambridge University Press) [under contract]

Markers of Allusion in Archaic Greek Poetry. Cambridge (Cambridge University Press, 2023) [Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009086882]

Edited Volumes

Collaboration in Greek and Latin Literature. Cambridge (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming) (co-edited with T. Kearey and M. Leventhal)

Pergamon and Rome: Culture, Identity, and Influence. Oxford (Oxford University Press, 2025) (co-edited with G. Pezzini and S. Rebeggiani)

Hellenistic Aesthetics: Approaches and Frameworks, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 67.2. Oxford (Oxford University Press, 2024) (co-edited with M. Chaldekas)