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Chris Trinacty

  • Professor of Classics

Education

  • PhD, Brown University, 2007
  • MA, University of Arizona, 2000
  • BA, Pitzer College, 1996

Biography

My primary research interests revolve around the works of Seneca, an important philosopher, tragedian, and politician of the 1st C. CE. Since writing a about his tragedies, I have been investigating his Naturales Quaestiones, a treatise about natural science that explains the workings of the natural world from a Stoic point of view. I have produced two commentaries to this work: focuses on his book on terrestrial waters (rivers, seas, lakes, etc.) and the gives a broad overview of the work as a whole. I teach a variety of language courses (Latin and Greek), Roman history, as well as special topics courses in Latin literature, mythology, and Ancient Greek and Roman Science. In these courses, I often try to incorporate students in public humanities projects that can be appreciated by a wider audience such as this  that my Ancient Science produced about their projects. While most of my published work is about Roman topics, my favorite place on earth is the island of Aegina, and I recently curated an about this island at the Terrell Main Library. I am currently writing a book about Seneca for Routledge and editing a book about the Age of Nero for De Gruyter Brill's series.

Spring 2026

Introduction to Latin Prose 鈥 LATN 102

Senior Project 鈥 ACHS 300

Horace 鈥 LATN 302

Fall 2026

Elementary Latin 鈥 LATN 101

Intermediate Latin I: Ovid 鈥 LATN 201

Notes

Chris Trinacty Presents 鈥淏ecoming a Detective鈥 Paper

Professor of Classics Chris Trinacty gave the paper 鈥淏ecoming a Detective: Reading with Seneca鈥 during fall break at Ohio University and the University of Arizona. The paper discusses Seneca鈥檚 鈥淣atural Questions鈥 and 鈥淥edipus鈥 as well as an unpublished poem of Ted Hughes that depends on his reading of Seneca鈥檚 鈥淥edipus.鈥 It is fair to say that the poem could revolutionize the study of Ted Hughes and make us question all we know about the poet and his oeuvre.

Christopher Trinacty Presented Paper and Participated in Panel About Seneca

Professor Christopher Trinacty presented the paper, "Seneca's Natural Questions: Three Perspectives" at the . This paper offers a reading of Seneca's work that stresses its rhetorical, literary, and philosophical sophistication. In addition, Trinacty was a featured panelist at the University of Cincinnati's "," where he discussed Seneca's tragedies and philosophical works as well as his complicated relationship with Nero.

Christopher Trinacty Chapter Published in "C.H. Sisson Reconsidered"

Professor of Classics Christopher Trinacty recently published a chapter in the volume, . The chapter, 鈥淪isson in Exile, or, Versions and Perversions of Ovid鈥檚 Tristia鈥, considers the way that the 20th C. English poet C.H. Sisson utilized Ovid's poetry in his poetic self-representation. Prof. Trinacty also has written the entry for Seneca in the revised Oxford Classical Dictionary.

Christopher Trinacty Publishes A Commentary on Seneca's "Natural Questions"

Professor Christopher Trinacty recently published a commentary on through Dickinson College Commentaries. This work provides a guide for Intermediate Latin learners to understand and appreciate Seneca's treatise on Stoic physics. In addition, his chapter " 'Oceans Rise, Empires Fall:' Cyclical Time and History in Seneca鈥檚 NQ 3,鈥 has recently been published in the volume Myth and History: Close Encounters (DeGruyter). The paper examines how Stoic conceptions of time inform the Natural Questions.

Christopher Trinacty publishes book review

Associate Professor of Classics Christopher Trinacty recently published an article and a . The discusses the way that Pliny incorporates Senecan material in his letters. The review is on a recent volume about Senecan intertextuality. 

Christopher Trinacty Publishes and Presents

Christopher Trinacty, associate professor of classics, published a short article in Classical Quarterly titled 鈥,鈥 which shows how Cicero alludes to Lucretius in one of his letters. He also reviewed the recent books, Cassandra and the Poetics of Prophecy in Greek and Latin Literature by Emily Pillinger in Classical Philology and the Latin of Science for . In addition, he recently presented a paper 鈥淟abor in Seneca鈥檚 Letters鈥 at the Midwest Classical Literature Consortium, and his chapter, 鈥溾 was featured as one of the 100 most important chapters in the 100 volumes of the Trends in Classics journal series.

News

A Conversation with Chris Trinacty

Assistant Professor of Classics Chris Trinacty on falling in love with Seneca鈥檚 tragedies, teaching the discipline through digital humanities, and his favorite Latin expressions.