Professor of Classics David Konstan received the American Philological Association's Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit in early January for his book, "The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks."
The Goodwin Award honors one "outstanding contribution to classical scholarship" each year, according to the association's Web site, and recipients must be current members in order to be eligible.
Konstan's book, which was published in 2006, explores the ways in which the ancient Greeks understood emotion and the differences between their perceptions of emotions and those of the modern world, he wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
"It was generally taken for granted that their emotions, at least, were more or less like ours," Konstan wrote from Greece, where he is currently on sabbatical. "And yet, when we look at how the ancient Greeks wrote about emotions, we find they say some fairly odd things."
"The Greeks tended to think of the emotions as having a high cognitive component," Konstan wrote. He used his findings about emotion to enhance his understanding of ancient Greek culture, particularly literature. "Those Greeks were very canny," he wrote, "I've learned a lot from them."
Professor of Classics Kurt Raaflaub, who just completed his term as president of the association, said the award involves little to no material prize and is based on honor in the classical tradition.
After all, he added, "the ancient Greeks competed for olive wreaths."
The association's selection committee chose Konstan's book from a large pool, Raaflaub said, adding that he personally presented Konstan with the Goodwin Award on Jan. 11.
"It was a most wonderful feeling," Raaflaub said, to be able to present the prestigious award to his colleague and "give him a big bear hug congratulating him." He added that this prize was "well deserved" and "overdue" for Konstan, who has contributed a number of "very important and very widely read" books to his field.
"I ... felt deeply grateful, and to tell the truth, humble," Konstan wrote of his reaction to being selected for the award. "I have great respect for (the selection committee members), and for many, many people in my profession who do truly excellent work."
In addition to publishing scholarly works, Konstan has long been active in the APA and served as president in 1999. He also received the John Rowe Workman Award for Distinguished Teaching at Brown in 2002.
"He's typical of the classics department," Raaflaub said of his colleague. "He's a great scholar, but also a great teacher and a great human being."
