Biography

I was born in what is today Croatia, got my diploma in Classics at Belgrade University (Serbia), and a PhD from Heidelberg University. Before joining UVA I taught at Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich for a year, Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg for three years, and spent a decade at Durham University in the North East of England. In my free time, I enjoy walks with my dog, Mr Miyagi.

Having just completed an investigation of the concepts of inner purity and pollution in early Greek religion (i.e. purity/pollution of mind, soul, heart etc.), OUP 2016, Ivana Petrovic and I are at the moment exploring these ideas in various intercultural dialogues and interactions within wider Mediterranean context --  Egyptian, Jewish, and Christian -- of the Hellenistic and Imperial period. I am particularly interested in normative aspects of Greek religion and in the so-called "sacred laws", predominantly inscriptional texts which detail rules of various Greek rituals, from sacrifices to festivals, and in the cults and narratives concerning bound or otherwise impeded divinities.

I also have a long standing interest in Greek inscriptional poetry, a booming field which has over the past few years brought forth some truly spectacular new texts that have redefined many of our earlier assumptions about Greek literature more generally.