Dr Irene Polinskaya

In my undergraduate studies, I trained as a philologist. Later, a course of graduate studies at Stanford University where I obtained my PhD (2001) allowed me to expand my engagement with the ancient world to include history and material culture. In 2000-2007, I taught Greek and Roman history, as well as Ancient Greek and Latin at Bowdoin College (USA), and since 2007, I teach ancient Greek history at King's College London. My research interests include social and cultural history of ancient Greece, especially religion, Greek epigraphy, and Digital Humanities.

Research interests and PhD supervision

• Social and cultural history of ancient Greece
• Ancient Greek religion (local approach; religious language; materiality)
• Greek epigraphy and Digital epigraphy
• Regions: Saronic Gulf, Aegean Sea (Aigina, Attica) and Northern Black Sea (Olbia, Borysthenes, Tyras)
• Religion and Environment

Teaching

Modules on ancient Greek history at all levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate.

Selected publications

'Personal or Communal? Social Horizons of Local Greek Religion.' In The Local Horizon of Ancient Greek Religion. Beck, H. & Kindt, J. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023, pp. 312-341

'Inscribed Ceramic Bowls and Other Curses from Classical and Hellenistic Olbia.' In Curses in context III: Greek curse tablets of the classical and Hellenistic periods. Polinskaya, I. & Faraone, C. A. (eds.). Athens: Norwegian Institute at Athens, Vol. 12. pp. 135-204. (Papers and monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens, vol. 12).

Curses in context III: Greek curse tablets of the classical and Hellenistic periods. Edited by Polinskaya, I. & Faraone, C. A. Athens: Norwegian Institute at Athens, 2021 (Papers and monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens, vol. 12)

'Sparta and Persia: Rituals for Invading the Land of the Gods of Others.' Religious Convergence in the Ancient Mediterranean. Proceedings of the Conference “Religious Convergence in the Ancient Mediterranean,” 23–26 June 2016, Palermo, Italy. Collins, B. J. & Blakely, S. (eds.). Atlanta: Lockwood Press, pp. 447-491. (Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, vol. 2).

A Local History of Greek Polytheism: Gods, People and the Land of Aigina, 800-400 BCE. Leiden: Brill, 2013