Jorge Bravo
Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Classics
jbravo@umd.edu
1210F Marie Mount Hall
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Research Expertise
Ancient Athletics
Greek Archaeology
Greek Religion
Women
Professor Jorge J. Bravo III received his A.B. in Classics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the archaeology of Greek religion, ancient athletics, and gender and sexuality. An experienced field archaeologist, Professor Bravo has worked on several excavation sites in Greece and Italy, including the Agora of Athens; Kommos, Crete; San Vincenzo al Volturno in Italy; the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea; and at Kenchreai, the eastern port of ancient Corinth, where he served as co-director from 2013-2018.
Professor Bravo teaches a range of courses including Classical Mythology, Exploring the World of Ancient Greece, Exploring the World of Ancient Rome, Archaeological Methods and Practice, Ancient Greek Religion, and Greek and Roman Athletics, in addition to various courses in the ancient languages.
Professor Bravo is the author of Excavations at Nemea IV: The Shrine of Opheltes (Berkeley 2018), a study of the archaeological remains and other evidence for the cult and myth of the hero Opheltes at Nemea. Other publications include archaeological reports and articles on ancient Greek hero cult, curse tablets, and ancient sexuality. In 2019 he received the Rehak Award from the Lambda Classical Caucus for his article "Herms, Boys, and the Objectification of Desire on Athenian Sympotic Vases" Eugesta 7 (2017) 1-67. He is currently engaged in a study of archaeological material from a cave at Marathon devoted to the worship of Pan and the Nymphs, and he has also begun research for a new book project on funeral games in ancient Greece.
Professor Bravo has served as President and Treasurer of the Washington D.C. Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, and he is Treasurer of the Lambda Classical Caucus of the Society for Classical Studies.
Publications
Book published by Profesor Jorge Bravo
Professor Jorge J. Bravo III's book, Excavations at Nemea IV: The Shrine of Opheltes, published by the University of California Press.
Author/Lead: Jorge BravoCongratulations to Professor Jorge J. Bravo III, whose book, Excavations at Nemea IV: The Shrine of Opheltes, has just been published by the University of California Press.
The following description of the book is taken from the University of California Press website:
"The Sanctuary of Zeus at ancient Nemea has been a rich resource for archaeological investigation and analysis conducted by the University of California over the past forty years. The Sanctuary hosted one of the preeminent athletic festivals of ancient Greece, the Nemean Games. Just as the Olympics were celebrated in connection with the cult of Pelops at Olympia, the games at Nemea were founded on the worship of the hero Opheltes. The Shrine of Opheltes in the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea offers one of the best examples of an ancient Greek hero cult documented in the archaeological record. This final and most significant volume in the Excavations at Nemea series presents the results of the excavation of the Shrine from 1979 through 2001 and analyzes the Shrine's features and contents in order to understand its history and use. A study of the literary and artistic evidence about the myth and cult of Opheltes contextualizes the archaeological findings and illuminates the hero's significance to the Sanctuary and its renowned festival, the Nemean Games."