Preface

Most of the papers published in this volume were presented as part of the panel “Vision and Power,” which formed one of the strands at the Celtic Conference in Classics held in Cork in 2008. We are immensely grateful to the 18 people who gave papers, and to the many other attendees who took part in the discussion, over the three-and-a-half-days that the panel lasted. In particular we owe a great debt to the contributors whose papers are published here. Their diligence and patience have been considerable. We would also like to express our gratitude to Helen Morales, the outside reader, and to Steve Oberhelman, for their hard work and invaluable editorial suggestions.

Douglas Cairns wishes to thank the Leverhulme Trust, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the European Research Council for funding the research that has informed his contribution to the Introduction. He would also like to thank Professor Richard Smith (University of Kentucky) for help with psychological bibliography. Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz would like to thank Emily Delbridge, who provided research assistance, and the Deans of Faculty at Hamilton College, David Paris and Joe Urgo, who furnished vital support for research and writing.