Dr Jan Haywood

I returned to the University of Leicester in 2021, having previously been J. P. Postgate University Teacher in Classics at the University of Liverpool (2013), Teaching Fellow in Ancient History at the University of Leicester (2014-2017), and Lecturer in Classical Studies at The Open University (2017-2021).

My research interests lie in the historiographical record of the classical Greek world, the use of divination (especially dreams and oracles) in a range of political and social contexts in ancient Greece, as well as the modern reception of cultural products from classical antiquity. I have a special interest in the historians Herodotus and Xenophon, and I am co-founder of the Herodotus Helpline, a charity that was set up in March 2020 to promote Herodotus and his world. I am also one of the founders of the peer-reviewed, open-access journal Syllogos, which publishes on all aspects of Herodotus’ Histories, inlcuding the diverse set of receptions they’ve inspired across the globe.

Throughout my career, I have been instrumental in projects and initiatives focused on opening up the ancient world to wider audiences. I give talks at schools and in other community settings, and my work for Ask the Helpline looks to promote the latest research in Herodotean studies to an international audience of students, teachers, and beyond.

I was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2023 and promoted to Associate Professor in 2024. I am currently the Director of Research, Enterprise & Impact in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, with particular responsibilities in overseeing the School’s preparations for the REF2029 exercise.

(2023) 'Herodotus and non-Greek peoples', Omnibus 85: 30-32.

(2022) 'Tracing affinities between Herodotus' Croesus logos and Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrranus', co-authored with Dr. Doris Post, Classical World 115: 225-59.

(2022) 'Homeric allusions in Herodotus’ Histories’, in Ivan Matijašić (ed.) Herodotus – the Most Homeric Historian? (Histos Supplement 14), 59-90.

(2021) 'The use(s) of inscriptions in Herodotus' Histories', American Journal of Philology 142: 217-57.

(2021) 'Lade', 'Ichthyophagi', 'Fire', and 'Reception of Herodotus, ancient Greece and Rome', in C. Baron (ed.) The Herodotus Encyclopedia (Wiley).

(2020) 'Alice Oswald's Memorial, a new Iliad', in Maria de Fatima Silva, David Bouvier and Maria das Gracas Augusto (eds.) A Special Model of Classical Reception: Summaries and Short Narratives, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 73-90.

(2019) The Power of Individual and Community in Ancient Athens and Beyond. Essays in Honour of Professor J. K. Davies, co-edited with Dr. Zosia Archibald, Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales.

(2019) 'From Croesus to Pausanias: tragic individuals in early Greek historiography', in Z. Archibald and J. Haywood (eds.) The Power of Individual and Community in Ancient Athens and Beyond. Essays in Honour of Professor J. K. Davies, Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales, 115-145.

(2018) Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War: Dialogues on Tradition, co-authored with Professor Naoise Mac Sweeney, London: Bloomsbury.

(2016) 'Character and motivation in Aeschylus' Persae', Syllecta Classica 27: 29-63.

(2016) 'Divine narratives in Xenophon's Anabasis', Histos 10: 85-110.

I am a passionate university teacher, and I have taught a variety of modules that touch upon Greek and Roman history, literature and culture, as well as ancient Greek and Latin language. I have also led four successful taught postgraduate study tours to Rome, in which students explored the archaeology of this site from antiquity up until today.

For 2023-2024, I am the module co-ordinator for AH1010: Introduction to Greek History, AH1013: Introduction to Classical Culture, and my new third-year module AH3086: Oracles, Dreams and Omens: Divination in the Ancient Greek World. I also co-ordinate the the distance-learning module AH1702: Approaching the Greek World.