On November 26th, Classics PhD candidate, Avi Kapach, published an article in Trends in Classics, a journal produced by the academic publisher, De Gruyter Publishing.  Avi's article, entitled "The Art of Mythical History and the Temporality of the Athenian 'Epitaphioi Logoi'" explores how myth and history was used in the Athenian epitaphioi logoi (public funeral speeches), focusing on "temporality implied by the impulse to 'mythologize' recent memories through speech, logos (Dem. 60.9; cf. Pl. Menex. 239b7-c7)."  Avi's abstract further states: "As I argue, the chronological organization of the epitaphioi grants these speeches an important temporal element and situates them in the same continuum as the present – a move further reinforced by the tendency of the orators to rationalize the Athenian myths much as historians might; accordingly, I propose an adjusted taxonomy with which to approach the temporal status of Athenian epitaphic encomium: the epitaphioi are “mythical” less because of their eternalizing perspective than because of the malleable and pluralistic way in which they conceived of the past and molded it to their ideological purpose."

Trends in Classics is a scholarly journal released twice a year that "publishes innovative, interdisciplinary work which brings to the study of Greek and Latin texts the insights and methods of related disciplines such as narratology, intertextuality, reader-response criticism, and oral poetics."  

Avi Kapach earned his B.A. in Classics from Cornell University, from which he graduated summa cum laude in 2016. His thesis examined the poetic treatment of time in Greek and Roman literature, focusing particularly on the temporal questions and anomalies which arise in tragedy and epic. Avi has extensively studied Attic drama and classical historiography, and is primarily interested in intellectual history and myth; specifically, his recent work has increasingly focused on variation in mythical narrative and the elusive relationship between myth and reality. 

You can read Avi's full article in Trends in Classics if you have a subscription, or you can view his article alone for a fee.  Congratulations Avi on this fantastic achievement!