Continuing the Conversations: in Honour of Professor Vivienne Gray

This day of papers will be held at the start of ASCS in Auckland on 2 February with the following link for remote attendance, and from 9 am onwards Auckland time: 

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Vivienne Gray (1947-2025) was Emeritus Professor of Classics at the University of Auckland. She completed her BA and MA degrees at Auckland and her PhD at Cambridge. In 1974 Vivienne took up a lectureship at Auckland, where she pursued her career, with an interlude at Oxford in 1979 and 1980 on a Rhodes Visiting Fellowship. Vivienne was known particularly for her work on Xenophon, which included The Character of Xenophon's ‘Hellenica’ (Duckworth, 1989), The Framing of Socrates: the Literary Interpretation of Xenophon's ‘Memorabilia’ (Steiner, 1998), Xenophon on Government (CUP, 2007), Xenophon: Oxford Readings in Classical Studies (edited collection; OUP, 2010), and Xenophon's Mirror of Princes: Reading the Reflections (OUP, 2011). Among Vivienne’s favourite ancient authors were Homer, Herodotus, and Lucretius. Vivienne read a lot of poetry, ancient and modern, including Greek lyric brilliance with her students, Gerard Manley Hopkins even from her school days, and Clive James’s poetry of illness. She was a long-time fan of Bob Dylan. Vivienne loved the landscapes and seascapes of Greece, and made her final trip there in September 2024, visiting Crete, Naxos, Paros, and Syros. Vivienne will be remembered as a fine scholar, an inspiring teacher, and a loyal friend. ASCS 47 at the University of Auckland will feature three panels in Vivienne's honour, bringing together some former students, colleagues, and old friends of Vivienne’s to speak on topics of special interest to her. 

Continuing the Conversations:
in Honour of Professor Vivienne Gray
Monday, 2 February 2026
University of Auckland, City Campus
Sir Owen G Glenn Building

Panel 1 (10.00am-11.30am):
The pain and power of isolation among tyrants — Abigail Dawson
Xenophon’s artfully awful style — Simon Oswald
Lucretius’ magnet — Denis Feeney
Panel 2 (12.00pm-1.30pm)
The Prose Homer of History — Jessica Priestley
Xenophon’s Beautiful Horses — Anneka Rene
Socrates and his seven (?) disciples — Paul McKechnie
Panel 3 (2.30pm-4.00pm)
Herodotus' Scythians: Genuine Ethnography or Misrepresentation? — Hyun Jin Kim
Xenophon and the kosmos — Emily Baragwanath
​The Homeric Bob Dylan — Richard Thomas 

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