Ioannis M. Konstantakos (born Athens, 22-6-1972) studied classical philology at the universities of Athens (BA 1995) and Cambridge (MPhil 1996, PhD 2000). Since 2003 he is teaching ancient Greek literature and culture at the Faculty of Philology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he is now full Professor. His scholarly interests include Greek and Roman comedy, the history of European comic theatre, Herodotus, ancient fiction, folktales and popular lore, the literatures and cultures of the ancient Near East, and the reception of classical texts in East and West. He has published widely on all these topics. His articles have appeared in many Greek and international periodicals. He has given papers and lectures in various conferences, learned societies and university institutions.
He has received student grants and scholarships from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and the Greek State Scholarships Foundation. His monograph Akicharos: The Tale of Ahiqar in Ancient Greece, vol. 1-2 (Athens 2008) was awarded in 2009 the prestigious prize of the Academy of Athens for the best classical monograph published within the last five years. Another book of his, Legends and Folktales about the Land of Gold: Archaeology of a Folktale Motif (Athens 2011), was shortlisted for the State Prize of Essay and Criticism in 2012.
He reads literature and poetry voraciously, from Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Rabelais to Kafka, Yeats, Eliot, Borges, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, George Seferis, and M. Karagatsis. He also loves detective and thriller fiction, fantasy, folktales, and campus novels (the latter presumably as a result of professional neurosis). He is a fan of the opera (with a strong preference to Mozart), follows arthouse films, and goes to the theatre as often as he can. He enjoys good food, especially Mediterranean and Asian cuisines (from Middle Eastern to Indian and Chinese). He detests theoretical jargon, intrigues, and hastiness. He lives with his wife in Marousi, a suburb in the north of Athens, once widely known as the domicile of Henry Miller's Colossus. Like Voltaire, he spends the greatest part of his life behind his reading desk.
He maintains an academic webpage at http://uoa.academia.edu/IoannisKonstantakos, where he uploads many of his essays and lectures.
He has received student grants and scholarships from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and the Greek State Scholarships Foundation. His monograph Akicharos: The Tale of Ahiqar in Ancient Greece, vol. 1-2 (Athens 2008) was awarded in 2009 the prestigious prize of the Academy of Athens for the best classical monograph published within the last five years. Another book of his, Legends and Folktales about the Land of Gold: Archaeology of a Folktale Motif (Athens 2011), was shortlisted for the State Prize of Essay and Criticism in 2012.
He reads literature and poetry voraciously, from Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Rabelais to Kafka, Yeats, Eliot, Borges, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, George Seferis, and M. Karagatsis. He also loves detective and thriller fiction, fantasy, folktales, and campus novels (the latter presumably as a result of professional neurosis). He is a fan of the opera (with a strong preference to Mozart), follows arthouse films, and goes to the theatre as often as he can. He enjoys good food, especially Mediterranean and Asian cuisines (from Middle Eastern to Indian and Chinese). He detests theoretical jargon, intrigues, and hastiness. He lives with his wife in Marousi, a suburb in the north of Athens, once widely known as the domicile of Henry Miller's Colossus. Like Voltaire, he spends the greatest part of his life behind his reading desk.
He maintains an academic webpage at http://uoa.academia.edu/IoannisKonstantakos, where he uploads many of his essays and lectures.