Lecture Announcement: Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists
Gendered Voices of Philosophical Analysis: The Ascetic Teacher Makrina (†379) and Her Brother Gregory
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Panagiotis Agapitos (Gutenberg Research Fellow, University of Mainz)
Schedule & Location
- Date: June 22, 2026
- Time: 4:00 PM (CET)
- In-Person: Paderborn University, Technologiepark 8, Room 8.1.46
- Online: Available via ZOOMRegistration: To receive the ZOOM link, please email contact@historyofwomenphilosophers.org
Registration: To receive the ZOOM link, please email contact@historyofwomenphilosophers.org.
Abstract
This talk explores how Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395) portrays his older sister, Makrina (c. 327–379), as a teacher and philosopher in two interconnected works: the biographical Life of Saint Makrina (382) and the theological Inquiry About the Soul (383/84).
Previous scholarship—spanning both theology and philology—has generally assumed that Makrina’s voice in these texts is merely a projection of Gregory’s own philosophical persona. However, a rigorous literary and stylistic analysis reveals this assumption to be reductive. Prof. Agapitos demonstrates that Gregory intentionally constructs a distinct philosophical voice for Makrina that remains separate from his own. This re-reading allows us to better appreciate Makrina’s significant role in the philosophical and theological debates of the 4th-century Greek East and to grasp the complex intellectual relationship between the two siblings.
About the Speaker
Prof. Dr. Panagiotis Agapitos is a Fellow of the Gutenberg Research College at the University of Mainz, following his long tenure as Professor of Byzantine Literature at the University of Cyprus (1992–2020). His research focuses on textual criticism, Byzantine rhetoric, poetics, and the representation of death in medieval literature.
He has published extensively, including the first critical edition and English translation of the 13th-century verse romance Livistros and Rhodamne. He is currently under contract with Cambridge University Press to write a narrative history of Byzantine literature. Beyond his academic work, Prof. Agapitos is also a novelist, known for his series of "Byzantine mystery" novels and short stories.
The event is open to the public; all are welcome to attend.