Names in Ancient Myth and Religion
University of Zürich, 26–28 May 2027
Conveners: Florian Sommer (Zürich), Athanassios Vergados (Newcastle)
Names (i.e. theonyms, names of heroes, place names etc.) are a central element in myth. Using a comparative perspective, this conference will examine the function of names in mythological narratives and related texts across times and cultures. Questions to be addressed include (but are not limited to):
- Names and narrative construction
- Names in myth interpretation
- Name changes and/or acquisition of additional names
- Genre and names
- Narrative-internal vs external interpretation of names
- Names and ancient/medieval scholarship
- Names in lists and catalogues
- Adaptation of names across different mythological traditions
- Name magic
- Names as omina
- Ancient vs modern scholarly approaches to names
Confirmed keynote speakers: Velizar Sadovski (Austrian Academy of Sciences/Institut für Iranistik); Nicla de Zorzi (University of Vienna/Institut für Orientalistik)
If interested, please send us a working title and an abstract of approximately 300 words at florian.sommer@iaka.uzh.ch and athanassios.vergados@ncl.ac.uk by the 15th November 2026.
The conference will be multilingual, and we welcome contributions in English, French, German, and Italian.