Matthieu Réal is a classicist whose interests include Greek literature and philosophy (especially Homer and Aristotle), ancient scholarship, and the reception of the ancient world in film. He received his Ph.D. in Classics from Cornell University in 2023.
His book project, Battles of Interpretation: Literary Criticism in Classical Greece, investigates how fifth- and fourth-century BCE audiences interpreted poetry. Far from being pedantic and moralistic censors of literature, early readers displayed a mastery of sophisticated exegetical techniques through which they skillfully interpreted—as well as willfully misinterpreted—poetry. By examining both well-studied texts (such as Aristophanes’ Frogs and Plato’s Protagoras) and lesser-known ones (such as the fragments of Zoilus of Amphipolis, the Contest of Homer and Hesiod, and the Derveni Papyrus), the book reimagines the “invention” of literary criticism in Greece. Long before Aristotle legitimized literary criticism in his Poetics, ancient readers had already developed a keen eye for literature.
Before joining Bilkent University, Matthieu was a postdoctoral fellow with the Padova-based ERC project “the Fragments of Aristotle: A Reconstruction of His Lost Works” and a Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University. Previously, he studied Classics in Italy (Padova University) and, for shorter periods of time, in the Netherlands (Leiden University) and France (Paris, ENS).
His publications include:
Journal Articles
“Wordless Odysseus: Franco Piavoli’s Cinematic Adaptation of the Odyssey,” Futuro Classico, Volume 12 (2026), 1-24
“Noisy Omens and Enslaved Gods: Interpreting Zoilus’ Criticisms of Homer,” Mnemosyne, Volume 77 (2024), 548-71
Editions, translations, and commentaries
“Andronikos of Rhodes” in (ed. by. S. Schorn) Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker Continued. Part IV: Biography and Antiquarian Literature, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2025.
“Adrastos of Aphrodisias” in (ed. by. S. Schorn) Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker Continued. Part IV: Biography and Antiquarian Literature, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2025.