Mythlab is a collaboration between researchers and students at Macquarie University, Sydney, and the University of New Hampshire
Greta Hawes, co-director
Greta is Associate Professor at Macquarie University and Research Associate at the Center for Hellenic Studies. Her research is focused around the spatial dynamics of Greek myth. For the period 2023-30 her research is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship Award.
You can read her work here.
Scott Smith, co-director
Scott is Professor of Classics at the University of New Hampshire. In addition to his interest in the intersection between myth and the ancient Greeks’ conception of space, he is also currently studying the mythographical material in scholia and commentaries to major literary texts.
You can view his profile here.
Student Researchers
Anika Campbell
Gabrielle Dolphin
Ewan Coopey
Glen Goodwin
Yaya Lu
Rosemary Selth
Aristogeneia Toumpas
Xinyi Xu
Anika is an MRes candidate at Macquarie University where she is working on a project that explores the syncretism of Venus Victrix and Aphrodite Areia in antiquity. As a PACE intern and Research Assistant with MANTO she has been responsible for producing many of the graphic representations of MANTO’s ontology.
Gabrielle successfully completed her MRes at Macquarie University in 2024. Her thesis, “An investigation into the double tombs of mythical heroes in Pausanias”, used MANTO’s data to produce the most comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of heroes said to have more than one tomb in antiquity produced so far. The thesis demonstrates that double tombs could be a consequence of competition between two cities, they could reinforce alliances, or they could emerge as independent traditions.
Ewan is a PhD candidate and sessional academic at Macquarie University where he is working on a project that explores the emergence of communities within the Roman armies of Dalmatia through epigraphic and archaeological material, seeing them as dynamic more-than-human assemblages. Since 2023 he has been a Research Assistant with MANTO working largely on digital methods for incorporating data relating to ancient artifacts. You can see his work here.
Glen was part of the first cohort of MANTO interns as a student at the Australian National University and went on to play a key role in the development of MANTO’s ontology and data collection practices. He is now an early-career heritage specialist at the National Museum of Australia working in photography and digital imaging, with a focus on 3D capture. He is passionate about embracing new technologies to make history and culture more accessible, interactive, and interesting.
Yaya completed an honours degree in Computer Science in 2019 at the Australian National University. She used MANTO’s genealogical data from Apollodoros to create intuitive, accessible visualizations for researchers and the general public. This project showed that no out-of-the-box graphing solutions come close to accommodating the complexities of mythical family relationships. Her poster, Analysis and Visualisation of Complex Familial Relationships in Greek Mythology, was accepted to DH2020. She is now Senior Specialist at the Gradient Institute, a nonprofit research institute that works to build ethics, accountability and transparency into AI systems. You can see her work here
Rosemary was part of the first cohort of MANTO interns as an undergraduate student at the Australian National University and went on to play a key role in the development of MANTO’s ontology and data collection practices. She is currently working towards a Research Masters at Leiden University. She is particularly interested in the use of myth as a social tool in antiquity and the public commemoration of myth in epigraphy. She is co-author of “Matrilineal succession in Greek myth” CQ.
Ari worked on MANTO as an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire and played a key role in the development of MANTO’s ontology and data collection practices. She then pursued graduate studies at the Ohio State University during which she spent a year at the American School at Athens. Her research interests are in storyworlds and kinship reckoning in Greek myth, and Classical reception in Puerto Rican and Nuyorican literature. You can find her work here.
Xinyi is a PhD candidate in Project Management at the University of Sydney, where she applies network analysis to her research. She works as a research assistant for MANTO, contributing her skills to construct the genealogical networks of agents and collectives in Pausanias' Guide to Greece, aiming to establish a marking system for analysing the consistency of mythic chronology within the work.