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SUMMARY:Song in the Ancient World: Echoes of Religion and Resistance - Dr 
 Matthew Gordley\, Carlow University
DTSTART:20260213T173000Z
DTEND:20260213T183000Z
UID:TALK235105@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Janet Gibson
DESCRIPTION:Abstract\n\nWe have no shortage of evidence about the importan
 ce of song in the ancient world\, including written descriptions of music 
 in literature\, songs embedded in narratives\, standalone hymnic texts\, a
 nd collections of psalms and hymns. While we can only imagine the melodies
  and modes of performance\, the surviving texts reveal an imaginal world i
 n which the divine and the human were inextricably interwoven. In Greco-Ro
 man antiquity we see how songs of one time and place became an evocative s
 ource for later generations to reflect on their particular realities in li
 ght of larger forces they saw at work in the world\, including in the divi
 ne benefactions of their rulers. Early Jewish and Christian psalms and hym
 ns show that their authors had complex ways of reworking traditions and th
 emes to meet the needs of a new era\, both religiously and politically. Th
 is lecture explores the rich treasury of ancient religious song\, looking 
 especially at how songs functioned for the communities that preserved them
 . We will pay attention to the affective dimensions of ancient songs\, the
 ir power to shape a community’s perception of reality\, and their suitab
 ility to serve as vehicles of resistance through the reimagining of earlie
 r images and forms. If we listen carefully\, even today we can hear echoes
  of religion and resistance in the songs of antiquity.\n\nBiography\n\nMat
 thew E Gordley is a scholar of Christianity and Judaism in antiquity who h
 as been researching and writing on the influence and impact of ancient son
 g for more than two decades. His work on early Christian and Jewish psalms
  and hymns seeks to situate these poetic compositions within their ancient
  historical and cultural contexts so that they may be more fully appreciat
 ed by readers today. His scholarly monographs on the subject include The C
 olossian Hymn in Context (2007)\, Teaching through Song in Antiquity: Dida
 ctic Hymnody among Geeks\, Romans\, Jews\, and Christians (2011)\, and New
  Testament Christological Hymns: Exploring Texts\, Contexts\, and Signific
 ance (2018). His latest book\, Social Justice in the Stories of Jesus: The
  Ethical Challenge of the Parables (2024)\, uses a similar historical and 
 cultural approach to understand how the stories Jesus told continue to eng
 age and challenge readers to this day. He earned a PhD from the University
  of Notre Dame and currently serves as Interim Provost and Dean of the Col
 lege of Arts and Sciences at Carlow University (Pittsburgh\, PA)\, where h
 e also holds a tenured faculty appointment as Professor of Theology.\n
LOCATION:Lady Mitchell Hall\, Sidgwick Avenue
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