Froma Zeitlin


Froma I. Zeitlin is an American Classics scholar. She specializes in ancient Greek literature, with particular interests in epic, drama and prose fiction, along with work in gender criticism, and the relationship between art and text in the context of the visual culture of antiquity. Zeitlin's work on establishing new approaches to Greek tragedy has been considered particularly influential.

Career

Froma Zeitlin studied at Radcliffe College and at the Catholic University of America. She was awarded her PhD by Columbia University. From 1970–76 she was an assistant professor at Rutgers University, and an associate professor from 1976–77.
Zeitlin joined the faculty of Princeton University in 1976, where she became Professor of Classics in 1983, and of Comparative Literature in 1989. From 1992 Zeitlin was the Charles Ewing Professor of Greek Language and Literature. In 1996 Zeitlin founded the Judaic Studies program at Princeton, and directed it until 2005. In 1995/6 she was the Sather Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Among other honors, she has been Directeur d’Études Associé at both the Collège de France and the École Pratique des Hautes Études; she is an honorary fellow of Newnham College, and in 2001 was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Influence

Froma Zeitlin was one of the first Classicists to apply methods from Structuralism, Semiotics and Gender Studies to Ancient Literature, and has been considered particularly influential for her role in creating links between European theorists and the field of Classics in America.
She has written numerous essays and monographs dealing with overarching cultural themes, many of which have influenced the creation of significant new approaches or debates.

Personal life

Zeitlin is the mother of the economic historian Jonathan Zeitlin and the scholar of Chinese literature Judith Zeitlin.

Selected works

Single-authored books
Co-edited volumes