E R A N O S - V O R T R A G

Donnerstag, 3. Mai 2018, 17 Uhr s. t.

Prof. Dr. Véronique Dasen (Université de Fribourg)   

Hörsaal 21 des Hauptgebäudes der Universität Wien,
 1010 Wien, Universitätsring 1

People play all over the world and throughout history, but they do not play the same games, nor do they attribute the same meaning and function to play. Far from being futile, games, paidiai in Greek, ludi in Latin, are intimately associated with the fabric of a social, gendered, religious, and ethnic identity. This lecture will explore how ludic experience can provide a privileged access to past societal norms, values and expectations. Games reflect collective imaginary as well as shape the lives of players. Thanks to a pluridisciplinary approach, based on extensive corpora of written, iconographic and archaeological sources, a study of ancient games and play can generate a new vision of the dynamics of past societies.