N. Gregson Davis, Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Humanities

Please note: N. has left the "Romance Studies" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

My primary field of research in Classical Studies is ancient Greek and Latin poetry, and the focus of my published work is on the interpretation of the poetry of the major Augustan poets, Horace, Vergil and Ovid. I also pursue research in contemporary Caribbean Literature, with special emphasis on the Francophone and Anglophone literary traditions (particularly the poetry of the Martinican, Aimé Césaire, and the St.Lucian, Derek Walcott). My current work explores the interconnections between philosophy (especially ethics) and poetry in Augustan literature.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	233G Allen Building, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone:	(919) 684-3779
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://www.duke.edu/web/classics/~gdav

Teaching (Spring 2024):

• LATIN 768S.01, SEMINAR LAT LIT II (TOP) Synopsis

  Allen 229, Th 01:25 PM-03:55 PM

Office Hours:

W 4:30 to 5:30 PM
Office Location Allen 233E

Education:

Ph.D.	University of California, Berkeley	1969
B.A.	Harvard University	1960

Research Interests:

Current projects: Vergil, Walcott, Antigua

My primary field of research in Classical Studies is ancient Greek and Latin poetry, and my the focus of my published word has been on the interpretation of the poetry of the Augustan poets, Horace, Vergil and Ovid. I also pursue research in contemporary Caribbean Literature, with special emphasis on the Francophone and Anglophone literary traditions (particularly the poetry of the Martinican, Aime Cesaire, and the St.Lucian, Derek Walcott). My chief current research project is a monograph on the interplay of ideas in Vergil's Bucolic verse (Eclogues).

Areas of Interest:

rhetoric
semiotics
Classics
poetry

Keywords:

Caribbean literature (English) • Caribbean literature (French) • Latin literature

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Davis, G, POLYHYMNIA: THE RHETORIC OF HORATION LYRIC DISCOURSE (January, 2023), pp. 1-282, University of California Press, ISBN 0520070771 (Berkeley/Los Angeles/ Oxford.)  [abs]
2. Euphrosyne, edited by Davis, G; Burian, P; Clay, JS, Beiträge zur Altertumskunde, vol. 370 (2020), de Gruyter
3. Crichlow, MA; Davis, G, Introduction, South Atlantic Quarterly, vol. 115 no. 3 (July, 2016), pp. 437-440, Duke University Press [doi]
4. Davis, G, Forging a caribbean literary style: Vulgar eloquence and the language of césaire's cahier d'un retour au pays natal, South Atlantic Quarterly, vol. 115 no. 3 (July, 2016), pp. 457-467, Duke University Press [doi]
5. Davis, G, Journal of a Homecoming, in Cahier d'un retour au pays natal by Aimé Césaire (2016), Duke University Press (translated by Davis, G.)  [abs]