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King’s People

Biography

After a course of undergraduate studies in St Petersburg, Russia, where my specialization initially was in Russian language and literature, and later in Classical philology, I conducted graduate studies at Stanford University (1993-2000), focusing my research on ancient Greek religion and Greek social history and receiving a PhD in Classics in 2001. Subsequently (2000-2007), I taught ancient Greek and Roman history, as well as Ancient Greek and Latin, at Bowdoin College, USA, and joined King's in 2007.

Research interests and PhD supervision

  • Ancient Greek religion (methods and approaches )
  • Aigina and the Saronic Gulf (history, epigraphy, archaeology)
  • Identity formation (ancient to modern Greece)
  • Greek epigraphy (Aigina, Attica, Northern Black Sea)
  • Digital epigraphy

Current projects

I am happy to supervise PhD students on topics in ancient Greek religious, political and social history, primarily of the Archaic and Classical periods.

For more details, please see my full research profile.

Selected Publications 

  • The Distant Present and the Near Past: The Mounting of Time in Herodotean 'Aiginetikos Logos' Polinskaya, I., Mar 2019, Zeitmontagen. Formen und Funktionen gezielter Anachronismen.. Junghanss, A., Kaiser, B. & Pausch, D. (eds.). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, p. 209-235 (Palingenesia; vol. 116).
  • Sparta and Persia: Rituals for Invading the Land of the Gods of Others. Polinskaya, I., 2019, 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, p. 447-491 45 p. (Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, vol. 2).
  • Local History of Greek Polytheism: Gods, People and the Land of Aigina, 800-400 BCE. Polinskaya, I., 2013, Leiden: Brill. 668 p.
  • "Calling Upon Gods as Witnesses" in Ancient Greece Polinskaya, I., 2012, In : Mètis. Anthropologie des mondes grecs anciens. N.S. 10, p. 23-37
  • Shared sanctuaries and the gods of others: on the meaning of ‘common’ in Herodotus 8.144 Polinskaya, I., 2010, Valuing Others in Classical Antiquity. Rosen, R. M. & Sluiter, I. (eds.). Leiden ; Boston: Brill, p. 43-70
  • Fifth-Century Horoi on Aigina: A Reevaluation Polinskaya, I., 2009, In : HESPERIA. 78, 2, p. 231 - 267