10th Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Hellenic Heritage of Sicily and Southern Italy with the theme of “Athlos, Athlon, Athlētēs”: Competition and Excellence in Greco-Roman Culture

The Tenth Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Hellenic Heritage of Sicily and Southern Italy

with the theme of

“Athlos, Athlon, Athlētēs”: Competition and Excellence in Greco-Roman Culture

will be held November 24-27, 2025

With a post-conference tour to Agrigento and Piazza Armerina, November 28-29

The stories of ancient Greek heroes like Heracles inspired a competitive culture in which achievement was the product of struggle and effort. To be an athlete (athlētēs) in this context meant taking on a challenge (athlos) for the sake of some prize (athlon)—but it extended far beyond sport. Athletic striving was a feature of oratory, politics, jurisprudence, music, drama, education, and even philosophy, which understood moral virtue in terms of excellence (aretē). The purpose of this conference is to explore this athletic ethos in sport and far beyond it by reflecting on the phenomenon of competitive striving in a variety of practices at various times and places in Greco-Roman antiquity. It will include academic presentations, visits to the Neapolis archeological park and Paolo Orsi museum, and a post-conference excursion. We will also enjoy traditional Sicilian food and hospitality, plus an American style Thanksgiving dinner (families invited) Thursday evening.

Proposals for presentations related to any aspect of the topic are welcome. Abstracts for papers should be 200-300 words in length, prepared for blind review, and saved in .docx or .rtf. They should include a title, but no footnotes or references. Evaluation criteria include quality, relevance to the conference theme, and relevance to the heritage of Sicily and Southern Italy. More information can be found here

Scholars are welcome to participate without presenting a paper and can request to be a session chair.

Selected proceedings will be published by Parnassos Press and indexed open access on JSTOR.