Irene Peirano

Assistant Professor

Irene Peirano studied at Liceo Classico Galileo in Florence, Italy (Maturità Classica 1998), Oriel College, Oxford (B.A. Hons. Literae Humaniores 2002) and Harvard University (Ph.D. Classical Philology 2007). Her main research interests are Latin poetry, Literary Criticism and Rhetorical Theory in Antiquity, Reception Theory and Gender Studies, especially the representation of gender roles in literary texts and their relation with cultural practices.

She is currently preparing for publication her study of Roman literary fakes, or pseudepigrapha, which sets authorial and chronological fictions in the context of the practice of impersonation and role-play in the literary culture of the Imperial period, and explores the texts in light of both ancient and modern attitudes towards canonical authors such as Virgil, Tibullus and Ovid.

She has published on the figure of Scylla in Virgil, Eclogue 6, and has written entries on “Appendix Vergiliana”, “Pseudepigrapha” and “Plagiarism” for The Virgil Encyclopedia, R. F. Thomas and J. Ziolkowski eds., (forthcoming). Current projects include an article on the rhetoric of abuse in Carmina Priapea, a collection of obscene Latin epigrams, and another one on the ending of the Antiquitates Romanae and Dionysius’ argument about the Greekness of the Romans.

Peirano photo

Areas of Research Latin poetry, Literary Criticism and Rhetorical Theory in Antiquity, Reception Theory and Gender Studies

Current Courses On leave Fall 09 / Spring 10 (Morse Fellowship)

Contact details

307a Phelps Hall


Phone (203) 432-8536

Fax (203) 432-1079

irene.peirano@yale.edu