Olga R Arans

Olga R Arans

Olga R Arans

Assistant Professor

Classical Studies: Greek and Roman epic and dramatic genres; early philosophy; comparative mythology & folklore

Instructor of Classics

Dr. Olga Arans holds degrees in Classical Philology: MA from the University of St Petersburg, Russia, and Ph. D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Arans has been teaching classical Greek and Latin languages, literature and mythology courses at GMU and UMW as an Adjunct faculty for twenty years, and now as Term Assistant Professor at the Department of Modern and Classical Languages. Interests are in the sphere of Greek and Roman epic and dramatic genres; early philosophy, and comparative mythology & folklore.

Selected Publications

Olga R. Arans – Publications:

TEXTBOOKS and INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:

  • Classical Mythology. eBook, Kendall Hunt, 2021. eBook with KHQ ISBN: 978-1-7924-7910-6 eBook alone ISN: 978-1-7924-7912-0
  • Essays in the Legacy of Greece and Rome. Cognella Publishers, 2024. Print ISBN: 978-1-7935-6756-7 e-book: SKU: 83764-1B-001-XO
  • Digging for Classical Roots of English: Fun with Vocabularies. (E-book/paperback, 2023)

https://www.amazon.com/Digging-Classical-Roots-English-Vocabularies/dp/B0CQHDL77Z

  • Twenty Steps to Latin: Accelerated Introductory Course. W-2-K Publishers, 2025. 
  • Classical Greek Grammar in Essential Charts: an Ancillary Survey. Academia, 2025.

          (64) CLASSICAL GREEK GRAMMAR IN ESSENTIAL CHARTS: AN ANCILLARY SURVEY

  • Russian at a Glance: A Brief Synopsis for Students and Users of Russian. Academia, 2025. (99+) Russian at a Glance: A Brief Synopsis for Students and Users of Russian

ACADEMIC RESEARCH BOOK:

  • Iambe and Baubo: A Study in Ritual Laughter.  https://www.academia.edu/110728307/Iambe_and_Baubo_A_Study_in_Ritual_Laughter

ACADEMIC ARTICLES:

  • Eleusinian Laughter: An Essay in Semantic Exegesis. (Online, (42) ELEUSINIAN LAUGHTER: An essay in semantic exegesis | Olga Arans – Academia.edu ) 
  • “On the Interpretation of the ‘Knowledge by Suffering’ in Aeschylus, Agamemnon 176183.” The Journal of Indo-European Studies, 1978, vol. 6, no. ¾, 243-262. 
  •  “The Fall of Elpenor: Homeric Kirke and the Folklore of the Caucasus.” The Journal of Indo-European Studies, Fall/Winter 1994, vol. 22, no. 3 & 4, 371-398.

(Ditto: The Fall of Elpenor: Homeric Kirke and the Folklore of the Caucasus. Academia, 2024. https://www.academia.edu/121386929/THE_FALL_OF_ELPENOR )

  • On Folkloric Backgrounds Of Catharsis: Scapegoat-Type Ritualism of Paradoxical Trial at the Core of Greek Tragedy? Academia, 2025.

(73) ON FOLKLORIC BACKGROUNDS OF CATHARSIS: Scapegoat-Type Ritualism of Paradoxical Trial at the Core of Greek Tragedy?

  • The Story of Medea: A Case for Cross-cultural Classics. Academia, 2025.

https://www.academia.edu/144619877/THE_STORY_OF_MEDEA_A_case_for_cross_cultural_classics

  • Iphigenia: A Polymorph, Poly-valent Personality of the Classical Saga. Academia, 2025.

https://www.academia.edu/144829129/IPHIGENIA_A_Polymorph_Poly_valent_Personality_of_the_Classical_Saga

  • Who Is King Oedipus? Academia, 2024.

https://www.academia.edu/121158666/WHO_IS_KING_OEDIPUS

  • The Flies (Les Mouches) by Sartre: Existential Drama and Ancient Ritual. Academia, 2024.
  • Mythological Subtext of the Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (1833) https://www.academia.edu/122048044
  • On the Guilt of Boris in A. Pushkin’s Tragedy ‘Boris Godunov’: A Murder Chronicle or Collective Psycho-drama?  Academia, 2024. https://www.academia.edu/126783194/Boris_Godunov_by_Pushkin

VERSIFICATION:

  • Silly Spelling Verses With Some Grammar And Vocabulary Exercises. © Author. ISBN 979 8397303354
  • Epigrammata (Эпиграмота)  - E-published poems in Russian and English. (Ongoing update) https://stihi.ru/2023/08/05/6381
     

Courses Taught

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY, Department of Modern and Classical Languages (1998 - present) Tel. (703) 993-1220
Adjunct Professor in Classics (1998 – 2018) 
Term Assistant Professor in Classics (2019 – present)
Teaching courses in:

  • Latin (LAT 101)
  • Classical Greek (GREEK 150; 160)
  • Greek and Latin Elements in English (CLAS 240)
  • Classical Mythology (CLAS 250)
  • Legacy of Greece and Rome (CLAS 260)
  • Greek and Roman Epic (CLAS 340)
  • Greek and Roman Tragedy (CLAS 350)
  • Greek and Roman Comedy (CLAS 360)
  • Greek and Roman Historians (CLAS 370)
    UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON, Department of Classics, Philosophy and Religion (2006-2018) Tel. (540) 654-1023
    Adjunct Professor in Classics. Teaching courses in:
  • Latin (LAT 101-202
  • LAT 353 – Cicero
  • LAT 305 – Survey of Latin Literature I (Republican period)
  • LAT 432 – Roman Philosophy)
  • Ideas and Culture (CLAS 101)
  • Classical Mythology (CLAS 110)
  • Epic Traditions (CLAS 204)
  • Ancient Tragedy (CLAS 202)
  • Greek Civilization (CLAS 103)
  • Roman Civilization (CLAS 105)
    NOVA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Department of Humanities (2003 – 2011) Tel. (703) 845-6241
    Adjunct Professor. Teaching courses in:
  • Latin (LAT 101-202)
  • Classical Greek (GRE 101-202)