Jeffrey Fish

Education

• Ph.D., Classics, The University of Texas, 1999
• M.A., Ancient History, Brown University, 1990
• B.A. Greek and Latin, Baylor University, 1989

Specialties

Papyrology; ancient Homeric scholarship; ancient literary criticism; Epicureanism

Research Interests

Jeff Fish specializes in papyrology and ancient Homeric criticism. Among other projects, he is currently editing Philodemus’ On the Good King according to Homer as well as several early Christian papyri. He has published several articles on the Herculaneum papyri and their relevance to the broader classical tradition and is co-editor (with K.R. Sanders) of Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition (Cambridge, 2011) and Vergil, Philodemus, and the Augustans (University of Texas Press, 2004). He is on the board of directors for the American Friends of Herculaneum. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Loeb Foundation, the Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi, and the Museum of the Bible.

Selected Publications

Edited Books

• Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition, ed. J. Fish and K. Sanders, Cambridge University Press (2011).
• Vergil, Philodemus, and the Augustans, ed. D. Armstrong, J. Fish, P. Johnston, M. Skinner, University of Texas Press (2004).

Articles and Book Chapters

• 5583. Antiphon, On Truth 1 (?) The Oxyrhynchus Payri, vol. LXXXVII, edited by N. Gonis, W.B. Henry, and P.J. Parsons (London 2023) 41-46
• "Roman Epicureanism of the 1^st c. BCE," in The Oxford Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, edited by Jacob Klein and Nathan Powers, Oxford, forthcoming 2024.
• "An Epicurean Evaluates the Practical Wisdom of Homer: Philodemus, On the Good King," in Companion to the Reception of Homer from the Hellenistic Age to Late Antiquity, edited by C. P. Manolea, Brill, 259-74 (2021)
• “Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus: A Philosophical Statesman of the Late Roman Republic,” in Buried by Vesuvius: The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, edited by Kenneth Lapatin, Getty Publications, 5-9 (2019)
• “Some Critical Themes in Philodemus’ on the Good King According to Homer,” In Homer and the Good Ruler in Antiquity and Beyond, edited by J.H. Klooster, and B. Van den Berg, 141–56, Brill (2018).
• “The Closing Columns of Philodemus’ On the Good King According to Homer, PHerc. 1507 Cols. 95-98 (= Cols. 40-43 Dorandi)", Cronache Ercolanesi 46 (2016) 55-81. (Available on Academia.edu.)
• “New Fragments of Book 1 of Sappho”, with Dirk Obbink and Simon Burris, ZPE 189 (2014) 1-24.
• “Sappho 16.13-14 and a Marginal Annotation Attributed in PSI 123 to Nicanor”, with Simon Burris, ZPE 189 (2014) 29-31.
• "On orderly symposia in Homer: A new reconstruction of De bono rege (PHerc. 1507), col. 19", Cronache Ercolanesi 41 (2011) 65-8.
• “What Roman Epicureans were taught about politics,” in Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition, ed. J. Fish and K. Sanders (Cambridge) 2011pp. 72-104.
• “A Plus-verse from the Odyssey in PHerc. 1507, Philodemus’ On the Good King According to Homer,” ZPE 159 (2007) 73-80.
• “Physician, Heal Thyself: the Intertextuality of Ovid’s Exile Poetry and the Remedia Amoris,” Latomus vol. 63, fasc. 4 (2005) 864-72.
• “Anger, Philodemus’ Good King, and the Helen Episode of Aeneid 2.567-89: A New Proof of Authenticity from Herculaneum,” in Vergil, Philodemus, and the Augustans, ed. D. Armstrong, J. Fish, P. Johnston, M. Skinner, University of Texas Press (2004) 111-38.
• “Philodemus’ On the Good King According to Homer: Columns 21-31,” Cronache Ercolanesi 31 (2001) 187-232.
• “The Good King’s Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: P. Herc. 1507, Col. 34,” Atti del XXII Congresso Internazionale di Papirologia (Florence), 2001, vol. I, pp. 469-474.
• “Philodemus on the Education of the Good Prince: PHerc. 1507, col. 23,” Satura: Collectanea philologica Italo Gallo ab amicis discipulisque dicata, 1999, 71-7.
• “Is Death Nothing to Horace? A Brief Comparison with Philodemus and Lucretius,” Cronache Ercolanesi 28 (1998) 97-102.
• “An Emender’s Guide to PHerc. 1425,” Cronache Ercolanesi 24 (1994) 97-107, co-authored with David Armstrong.

Select Papers

• "Homeric Citations in the Early Columns of Philodemus' On the Good King According to Homer (P.Herc. 1507)," International Congress on Papyrology, Lecce, July 30, 2019.
• "On the reconstruction of new Sappho fragments: fiber matchings in P.GC. inv. 105," International Congress on Papyrology, Barcelona, August 1, 2016.
• "Reputation Management in Philodemus' On the Good King According to Homer," University of Ghent conference: Homer and the Good Ruler, Ghent, May 20, 2015.
• “L. Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus: A Philosophical Statesman of the Late Roman Republic,” invited lecture for the Getty Museum, January 16, 2014, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Getty Villa.
• “New Techniques for Reconstructing the Herculaneum Papyri: The case of Philodemus’ On the Good King according to Homer,” invited lecture for the Princeton Department of Classics, March 3, 2012.
• “Reconstructing Herculaneum Papyri: A Practical Introduction,” co-organized by Richard Janko (Univ. Michigan), American Philological Association, Jan. 6, 2012.
• “Is there an Epicurean in this Villa? Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus as Epicurean Statesman,” (Annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, San Antonio, Jan. 6, 2011).
• “L’Enea di Virgilio: fama, sicurezza e felicità epicurea,” invited lecture for the University of Naples, March 3, 2010.
• “Il Sisifo di Lucrezio: Epicureismo e vita politica,” invited lecture for the University of Naples, March 4, 2010.
• “Il giudizio di Filodemo sull’utilità della reputazione e della gloria (P. Herc. 1507 col. 41),” invited lecture for the University of Salerno, March 5, 2010.

Work in Progress

• Philodemus On the Good King According to Homer: Critical Text with Commentary, in progress.