Centre for Research

KYKNOS is the Swansea and Lampeter Centre for Research on the Narrative Literatures of the Ancient World.

Its mission is

• To stimulate, co-ordinate and promote research on the narrative literatures of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and the Near East, through collaborative work, conferences and publications
• To form the centre of national and international networks of scholars working in this field
• To raise the profile of the subject area and to attract top-quality research students to its constituent universities
• To secure high-level funding for research projects

The University of Wales has a distinguished history in the study of ancient narrative, particularly ancient fiction. Of the eight contributors to B P Reardon’s now standard Collected Ancient Greek Novels (University of California 1989), four were members of the University of Wales. This tradition still continues. Recent appointments at Swansea and Lampeter have confirmed our research strength in this area. The introduction of Egyptology as a degree programme in Swansea has brought specialists on ancient Egyptian narrative into the group. KYKNOS is now a unique concentration of scholarly expertise on all aspects of ancient narrative literature, and is establishing itself as a leading international centre.

• KYKNOS organises and contributes to international and national conferences on ancient narrative
• There is an active series of research seminars (details are listed in the Calendar of Events)
• Scholars from Japan, Belgium, and Switzerland have already joined the group as visiting researchers, and we hope to create further opportunities for exchange of staff and research students with other universities
• We plan to develop a taught Masters degree programme on the narrative literatures of the ancient world