Assistant Professor
Department of Classical and Early Christian Studies
Contact Information:
William Troy Farris, Ph.D.
134 Christendom Dr.
Front Royal, VA 22630
540-551-9246
Education
B.A., Classical Philology – Latin with Music Concentration, University of Dallas
Masters of Humanities, University of Dallas
M.A., Classics, The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., Classics, The University of Texas at Austin
Classes Taught
- Elementary Latin I
- Intermediate Greek I
hobbies
Guitar, Hiking, Singing, Reading
areas of expertise
Archaic and Hellenistic Greek Poetry; Greek and Roman Epic Poetry
Selected Scholarship
Publications:
“Sirens, Lions, and Wrestlers in Ring Composition in Lycophron’s Alexandra,” Melita Classica 8 (2022) 121-149.
Work in Progress:
“Augustus and the Iamidae in Pausanias’ Spartan Agora: A Reception of the Greco-Persian Wars from the Second Sophistic,” paper delivered Dec 2023 to be published among conference proceedings in Orient: Journal of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan (forthcoming 2026)
with Brittney Farris, “‘Nonsense Sentences’ and Tom Brown’s ‘Dr. Fell’: Translation Exercises in the Latin Classroom,” abstract accepted for inclusion in Broadening Horizons in Classics. Primary and Secondary Education, edited by Alberto Regagliolio. Vernon Press. (forthcoming)
Invited Presentations
“Educational Benefits of Graduate Student Publication,” in the panel, “Graduate Student Firsts: Publishing and Presenting in Grad School” hosted by the SCS Graduate Student Committee, 156th joint Annual Meeting of the SCS/AIA, Philadelphia, PA (abstract accepted for presentation in January 2025)
“Hesiod as Ethical Criterion in Apollonius’ Argonautica,” Department of Classical and Early Christian Studies, Christendom College, Front Royal, VA (April 2024)
Conference Presentations
“Augustus and the Iamidae in Pausanias’ Spartan Agora: A Reception of the Greco-Persian Wars from the Second Sophistic,” The Afterlife of the Greco-Persian Wars: From Antiquity to Modern Times, hybrid workshop, Kyoto University (Japan) (presented virtually) (December 2023)
“Hesiodic Motifs in Apollonius’ Argonautica Book 1,” 119th Annual Meeting of CAMWS, Provo, UT, (March-April 2023)
“Divine Anger at the Aiolids in Apollonius’ Argonautica,” 154th Joint Annual Meeting of the SCS /AIA, New Orleans, LA (January 2023)
“The Polysemy of the Latin Verb HAURIRE and its Uses in the Aeneid,” Centennial Fall Conference of the Texas Classical Association, Austin, TX (November 2022)
“Sirens, Lions, Wrestlers and Ring Composition in Lycophron’s Alexandra,” First Annual Conference of Contemporary Classics Research, Malta Classics Association, virtual conference (presented virtually) (April 2021)
“Freedom from Fear through Knowledge of Nature in Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia: A Perspective from the Early Roman Empire,” 20th Annual Meeting of the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science, Augusta University, GA (February 2018)
Podcast Appearances
(as Guest) Beck, Deborah. Musings in Greek Literature: Season 3: Apollonius’ Argonautica: Episode 8: Argonautica Book 4: The End of Our Journey. Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. (2022)
(as Guest) Beck, Deborah. Musings in Greek Literature: Season 3: Apollonius’ Argonautica: Episode 1: “Embarking on the Argonautica.” Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. (2022)