Lecture Review: Dr. Jess Paga at CU Boulder

“Divine Witnessing and Dramatic Performance in Ancient Greece” by Dr. Jess Paga, PhD.

Dr. Jess Paga, an associate professor at William & Mary and a specialist in archaeology, gave a lecture on Nov 7 in CU Boulder’s Eaton Building on the importance of recognizing Ancient Greek theaters as sacred when examining architectural history.

Presenting to an audience of students and classical studies enthusiasts, Paga used detailed imagery and storytelling to support her claim that theaters should be brought “into the foreground” when studying Ancient Greek architecture and its impact on society. She drew on her own experience as a field archaeologist across Greece and Italy, providing photos and drawings to help the audience visualize just how grand of a space a theater was in ancient times. Paga’s research centers around the claim that the physical form of a theater is “an active and engaged participant in the creation of dramatic performance.”

By coincidence, the lecture hall was structured similarly to such theaters, with semicircles of seating pointed toward the speaker at the bottom of the room. Paga made use of this advantage to project the audience back in time, painting a picture of how this seating structure sacralized the audience’s “role as spectators,” encouraging them to keep fellow audience members accountable. She encouraged her audience to imagine themselves in an ancient theater; how, along with a clear view of both actors and fellow audience members, theaters often provided scenic natural views similar to views provided to “the gods themselves.”

Paga’s expansive architectural and archaeological knowledge is evident in her lecturing style; she referenced famous accounts of sacred Greek architecture to highlight the absence of theaters from those texts, despite the fact that theaters “frequently shared spatial boundaries with sanctuaries.” With a collection of honors and grants (including an Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Society for Classical Studies) spanning from 2009 to present day, as well as over a decade of field archaeology experience, it is clear Paga has a deep, educated passion for her argument.

Audience member Isabel Koster praised Paga’s lecture for its “interesting perspective on the theater,” wishing only for even “more conversation about the theater as a sacred space.”

Paga concluded with her desire for feedback, taking questions and engaging with the audience for over 20 minutes, claiming this was only the beginning of her extensive research into the issue, and that there would be much research to come.

Source List:
Dr. Jess Paga, PhD - Associate Professor, William & Mary, https://sites.google.com/email.wm.edu/paga/home?authuser=3

Isabel Koster - Isabel.Koster@colorado.edu