My classical career began with a degree in Greek and Roman Studies at Exeter, followed by postgraduate work at King’s College London. Since arriving at the OU in 2000, I have been involved in the production of a number of the department’s courses, with the bulk of my work centring on fifth-century Greece and our language modules. On the cultural side, I have written teaching materials on the Athenian Acropolis and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (for A219, Exploring the Classical World); Greek comedy (A861, The Greek Theatre) and Homer’s Iliad (A150, Voices and Texts). On the language side, I was heavily involved in the production of A275, Reading Classical Greek: Language and Literature, and have previously chaired a number of language courses including A297, Reading Classical Latin. My contribution to our classical languages profile was formally recognized in 2006 by an Open University Teaching Award.
My research interests include: the Greek comic playwright Aristophanes; classical Greek sex and sexuality; and the humour and translation of Greek comedy. My current projects include books on Sex and Sexuality in Classical Athens (Edinburgh University Press), Sex in Antiquity (Routledge: co-edited with Mark Masterson and Nancy Rabinowitz) and A Student's Greek Grammar (Cambridge University Press).
contact: james.robson@open.ac.uk
2010
Jointly with Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones: Ctesias’ History of Persia: Tales of the Orient, Routledge
2009
Aristophanes: An Introduction, Duckworth (shortlisted for the Runciman Award, 2009)
2006
Humour, Obscenity and Aristophanes, Gunter Narr. See this text online at Google books.
2005
Jointly with F. McHardy and D. Harvey (eds), Lost Dramas of Classical Athens: Greek Tragic Fragments, University of Exeter Press
2013
'The Language(s) of Love in Aristophanes', E. Sanders, C. Thuimger, C. Carey and N. J. Lowe (eds), Erôs in Ancient Greece, Oxford University Press, 251-66
2012
'Transposing Aristophanes: The Theory and Practice of Translating Aristophanic Lyric', Greece & Rome 59: 214-44
2010
‘Friends and Foes: The People of Lysistrata’, D. Stuttard (ed.), Looking at Lysistrata, Duckworth, 49-60
2007
‘Lost in Translation? The Problem of (Aristophanic) Humour’, L. Hardwick and C. Stray (eds), A Companion to Classical Receptions, Blackwell, 168-82
‘Catullus 22: Suffenus iste – A Catullan Riddle?’, Classica et Mediaevalia 58: 209-14
2006
‘Self and Society in Classical Athens’, P. Perkins (ed.), Experiencing the Classical World, Open University, 86-109
2005
‘Aristophanes on How to Write Tragedy: What You Wear is What You Are’, F. McHardy, J. Robson and D. Harvey (eds), Lost Dramas of Classical Athens: Greek Tragic Fragments, University of Exeter Press, 173-188
‘New Clothes, A New You: Clothing and Character in Aristophanes’, L. Cleland, L. Llewellyn-Jones and M. Harlow (eds), The Clothed Body in the Ancient World, Oxbow, 65-74
1997
‘Bestiality and Bestial Rape in Greek Myth’, S. Deacy and K. Pearce (eds), Rape in Antiquity, Duckworth, 65-96
2010
‘Bridging the Divide: Innovations in Language Teaching at the Open University’, Bulletin of the Council of University Classical Departments 39 (2010) 11-14 [PDF available online]
2008
‘Editorial’, Journal of Classics Teaching 13 (spring): 1 [Guest editorship of themed issue on Adult Education]
2007
Reading Greek: Grammar and Exercises, Cambridge University Press: Revisions to Sections 3-9 for 2nd edition: 54-209
Jointly with Jeremy Taylor: ‘Greek and Latin Web Resources at the Open University’, Journal of Classics Teaching 10 (spring): 29-30
2005
‘“Night was departing …”: Using Translations in Post-Beginners’ Language Teaching’, Different Lights, Different Hands (LTSN Subject Centre for History, Classics, Archaeology, 26 January 2002), D. Fitzpatrick and L. Hardwick (eds), Open University, 85-100 [PDF available online]
2002
‘Commentaries and Post-beginners’ Language Learning’, Old Wine, New Bottles: Texts for Classics in a Changed Learning Environment at University: Proceedings of the Teaching and Learning with Texts, Commentaries and Translations Colloquium (LTSN Subject Centre for History, Classics, Archaeology, 26 January 2002), D. Fitzpatrick, L. Hardwick, S. Ireland and D. Montserrat (eds), Open University, 51-60 [PDF available online]
2010
‘Good and Bad Comedy in Aristophanes’ Clouds’, Omnibus 60 (September 2010) 16-18
2009
‘The Ancient Greeks were the True Masters of Obscenity’, London Evening Standard, 25/11/09 [read this online]
2006
‘Humour, Translation and Aristophanes’ Wasps’, Omnibus 52 (September 2006) 32-3
2004
‘Translating Aristophanes’ Humour’, Journal of Classics Teaching 2 (summer) 3-5
Sex and Sexuality in Classical Athens, Debates and Documents in Ancient History, Edinburgh University Press
Entries on ‘Grotesque Character(s)’ and ‘Tragicomedy in Tragedy’ in H. Roisman (ed.), Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy, Blackwell
‘Slipping One In: The Introduction of Obscene Lexical Items in Aristophanes’, D. Olson (ed.), Ancient Comedy and Reception: Studies on the Classical Tradition of Comedy from Aristophanes to the Twenty-first Century, Boston University Studies in the Classical Tradition
‘Fantastic Sex: Fantasies of Sexual Assault in Aristophanes’, in M. Masterson, N. Rabinowitz and J. Robson (eds), Sex in Antiquity, Routledge
See also Open Research Online for further details of James Robson’s research publications.
