Ryan S. Olson

About

Ryan S. Olson is codirector of the Colloquy on Culture and Formation and a research professor and senior fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Tragedy, Authority, and Trickery: The Poetics of Embedded Letters in Josephus.

Of Goats and Ancient Politics

from Lessons of Babel, Volume 27, Number 2

In decrees and other political and civic inscriptions of the ancient world, historians have begun to recognize that various emotions such as fear, pride, and excitement were expressed to generate solidarity that held groups together in a place and with a shared name (Spartans in Sparta).

What the Ancients Knew

from Missing Character, Volume 26, Number 1

The histories and literatures of antiquity can help us address some of our contemporary ethical deficit disorder.