Lee E. Patterson

Two distinct fields compete for my scholarly time: political uses of myth in the Greek world (and related issues involving perceptions of myth by Strabo, Pausanias, etc.) and Roman Armenia (and related issues involving the Arsacids, the Sasanians, Roman frontier studies, etc.). My first book Kinship Myth in Ancient Greece (reviewed in BMCR) examined communities (and sometimes kings like Alexander the Great) that invoked shared putative ancestors to justify a diplomatic venture. On authors’ attitudes toward myth I have published pieces in various venues, with recent studies in two Oxford handbooks. On the Roman side, I am currently writing a book on Roman Armenia. My interest in this topic has yielded a number of recent publications in journals around the world. I am the recipient of four Achievement and Contribution Awards, two in Research in 2014 and 2020 and two in Balanced (Teaching, Research, and Service) in 2016 and 2022.

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