DURHAM, N.H - Edith Hamilton was one of the most influential writers on the Classics during the 20th Century. This spring, the University of New Hampshire will pay tribute to a scholar that the New York Times described as the Classical scholar who "brought into clear and brilliant focus the Golden Age of Greek life and thought . . . with Homeric power and simplicity in her style of writing."

This spring the annual John C. Rouman Lecture sponsored by the Classics Program at the University of New Hampshire will pay tribute to Hamilton. Judith Hallett, professor of Classics at the University of Maryland at College Park will present "Edith Hamilton and New England: The Making of a Revolutionary Classicist" at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 21, 2010, in DeMeritt Hall 112.

Of Hamilton's many books, "The Greek Way" (1930), "The Roman Way" (1932) and "Mythology" (1942) stand out in particular for their great influence, wide readership, and continued appeal. The last, for instance, is still one of the most influential introductions to the myths of the Greeks in circulation today.

Hallett specializes in Latin language and literature; ancient Roman and Greek civilization; women, sexuality and the family in classical antiquity; and the classical tradition in America.

Author of "Fathers and Daughters in Roman Society: Women and the Elite Family" (Princeton, 1984), she has edited and contributed to several collections of essays. Among them are "Six North American Women Classicists" (special issue of Classical World, 1996-1997), for which she wrote the featured article on Edith Hamilton. She is also the author of the four essays on classical Roman women writers in "Women Writing Latin" (Routledge, 2002), and of chapters in books, articles, reviews and translations into both English and classical Latin.

Hallett received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College and her master's degree and Ph.D. in Classical Philology from Harvard University.

For more than a decade, the Rouman Lecture Series has brought lecturers to the University of New Hampshire to speak on topics related to the classical world and Hellenic culture. For more information call Stephen Brunet, coordinator of the UNH Classics Program, at 862-2077.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.

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