Laurier professor the second Canadian to win prestigious prize

Waterloo - While Hermes’ fame as the Greek god of language and communication comes with a warning that he “hoodwinks the peoples of the world,” the language skills of Judith Fletcher carry with them only recognition and reward.

Fletcher, an associate professor and chair of Laurier’s archaeology and classical studies department, earned the Gildersleeve Prize for publishing the best article in the American Journal of Philology in 2008. Fletcher is the second Canadian to receive the $1,000 (US) prize, which has been awarded for more than 30 years.

Her article, “A Trickster’s oaths in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes,” is part of her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded project on oaths and perjury in ancient Greek poetry and drama.

“To have an article published in the American Journal of Philology is an honour, so I consider winning the Gildersleeve Prize to be the supreme honour,” says Fletcher. “I am delighted that my research has been recognized in this way, and I am grateful to my research partners at the University of Nottingham for putting together the invaluable oath data bank that provided the raw material for my analysis.”

Fletcher’s article explores Hermes’ use of trickery and unsworn oaths during his maturation into a god of commerce and diplomacy as described in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (composed in 6th century BCE). She argues that although unsworn, Hermes’ oaths become meaningful when they are considered as part of a narrative and symbolic sequence.

In addition to her article, Fletcher has been collaborating with scholars at the University of Nottingham (where she was an honorary research fellow) to study the use of oaths in ancient Greece.

She will be publishing a book, Performing Oaths in Classical Greek Drama, with Cambridge University Press in 2010.

The American Journal of Philology (AJP) was founded in 1880 by Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press.