Alexander Hollmann (he/him/his)

My interests are generally in ancient Greek language and literature and in Greek religion. As Vidalakis Professor of Culture, Excellence, and Spirituality in Hellenic Studies I serve as chair of the UW Hellenic Studies program. More specifically, I am interested in Greek literary prose, particularly the historian Herodotus: my book, The Master of Signs: Signs and the Interpretation of Signs in Herodotus' Histories, is about how Herodotus presents figures in the Histories interpreting and using signs (e.g. oracles, portents, dreams, riddles, objects) and I have published articles on related aspects in the text. Another great interest is religion and magic: I have been working for some time on curse tablets on lead from ancient Antioch in Syria, several of which I have published, and have recently completed a project with Prof. Robert Daniel of the University of Cologne to publish these and other magical texts in Greek from Caesarea and Syria (Magica Levantina, Brill-Schoeningh 2025). I am also interested in issues of continuity between Ancient and Modern Greece.