Dr. Jan-Mathieu Carbon
College de France

A Meeting Ground in the Middle Sea: The Stories of Salmakisand Halikarnassos​
Halikarnassos on the coast of Karia (modern Bodrum in Turkey) is a particularly fertile point of departure for an investigation into the construction of ethnic and sexual identities in the ancient Mediterranean. It is not only the wellspring of myths concerning the hybrid community of Salmakis and the transfigure of Hermaphroditos, but also a frequently renewed source of inscriptions illuminating these complex and interconnected stories, which were constantly reshaped in different periods, from Herodotus and Mausolus to the Roman empire. As part of my ongoing research into the history of the city and its epigraphic corpus, the lecture will seek to sketch what can be seen as the ‘marriage’ of Salmakis and Halikarnassos, while also reflecting on the wider question of ‘middle grounds’ in Karia and holding a mirror to some contemporary issues.

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Queen's University is situated on traditional Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory