Rate My Professor George Kovacs

Prof. Kovacs specializes in Greek poetry of the Archaic and Classical periods, with special interests in Greek and Roman drama, stagecraft, and the reception of Greek myth in modern popular culture, including comics, film, and television. He directs the Classics Drama Group at Trent University, which annually produces an ancient Greek tragedy or comedy in English translation. His major publications include co-edited volumes Classics and Comics (Oxford University Press, 2011), No Laughing Matter: Studies in Athenian Comedy (Bristol Classical Press, 2012), and Son of Classics and Comics (Oxford University Press, 2016), as well as the textbook Radices Linguae Anglicae: The Ancient Roots of Modern English (Radix Antiqua Publishing, 2020). Key articles and chapters encompass “Stringed Instruments in Fifth-Century Drama” in Performance in Greek and Roman Tragedy (Brill, 2013), “Moral and Mortal in Star Trek: The Original Series” in Classical Traditions in Science Fiction (Oxford University Press, 2015), “Truth, Justice, and the Spartan Way: Freedom and Democracy in Frank Miller’s 300” (Oxford University Press, 2013), and “Reception Theory and Performance” in Scapegoat Carnivale’s Tragic Trilogy (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023). Awards and fellowships include the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2003-2006), Crake Doctoral Fellowship in Classical Studies (2008-2009), University of Toronto Graduate Fellowship (2002-2007), and Award for Excellence in Online Teaching (2024-2025). He has delivered invited lectures such as “The Mechane and Its Impact on Fifth-Century Theatre” at Trent University (2013) and contributed entries to The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy (2014) and The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Greek Comedy (2019).