U.Va. Classics Professor Jenny Strauss Clay Honored

April 24, 2009 — Jenny Strauss Clay, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia, received an "ovatio," or lifetime achievement award, earlier this month from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South at its annual convention in Minneapolis.

In ancient Rome the "ovatio" was an honorific procession granted to a victorious general returning home.

At the meeting, she was recognized for her contributions to the profession in scholarship and service. Clay served as president of the association in 2004, its centennial.  

She wrote several important books on the work of epic poets of ancient Greece, including Homer's "Odyssey," Hesiod's "Theogony" and "Works and Days" and the Homeric Hymns.

In 2007, she served as president of the American Philological Association, the national organization of classical scholars and teachers.

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