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ECR and Classics for All hub coordinator (Manchester and Leeds), University of Leeds

I am a postgraduate tutor for After Troy: Homecoming in Greek epic and tragedy, and Making Athens Laugh: Aristophanes' comedies. I also create and deliver Facets of Classics Workshops to secondary schools which may or may not offer Classics A-Level.

My PhD thesis focusses on the presentation of revenge in Greek and Roman tragedy, taking Thyestes as a case study. The primary research aim is to present a comparative study of how revenge was made enjoyable for a contemporary audience and to what extent these performances fulfilled or frustrated contemporary attitudes toward revenge; yet my interest also extends to the Roman reception and revision of Greek tragedy.

As a result, the project involves reconstructing the fragmentary plays of Euripides' and Sophocles' Thyestes plays, using the extant work of each tragedian as a basis for comparison. When dealing with the Roman fragments of Ennius, Accius and even Varius I examine the fragments in their quoted context, often within Cicero's work. To gain a fuller picture of how revenge may have been presented I examine how performance culture developed form fifth-century Athens to Imperial Rome, whilst charting developments of the Thyestes myth.

The interest in Atreus' revenge and the Thyestean feast sprung from previous projects on the performance of Seneca's Medea in Imperial Rome and the role of miasma in Sophocles' Antigone. Both of these projects are published with Eisodos and are open-access:

Haley, M. 2015. Hear No Evil, See No Evil: Seneca's Medea on Stage and in Recitation.3. Eisodos. Herausgeber.

Haley, M. 2016. Bad Blood: Are both Antigone's brothers polluted?.3. Eisodos. Herausgeber.

My research is funded by the Leeds University Research Scholarship and is supervised by Dr Regine May and Professor Malcolm Heath.

Alongside my research I deliver a suite of workshops for A-level students who have not yet had the chance to study classics, entitled Facets of Classics. I also tailor bespoke workshops for students of A-level Classical Civilisation for both on campus and off-campus events.

Experience

  • –present
    Postgraduate Researcher, PG Tutor & Education Outreach Fellow, University of Leeds