Organized by Collège de France, EHESS and EPHE. In collaboration with the Centre Louis Gernet. With the support of the CNRS, the Centre Gustave Glotz and the Fondation Hugot du Collège de France.
Jean-Pierre Vernant never separated his activities as a committed citizen from his scientific reflection. This was the case throughout his career, which saw him successively appointed CNRS researcher (1948-57), Director of Studies at the EPHE, VIe Section (1957-68), then Ve Section (1968-75), and finally Professor at the Collège de France (1975-84).
This close link between his way of thinking and his political commitment has strongly marked all his work, which is rich, varied, poikilomorphic, constantly associating past and present. The colloquium organized by the institutions that have provided Jean- Pierre Vernant with a privileged framework for comparative reflection, dialogue with others, and questioning of both ancient cultures and the contemporary world, will be devoted to a re-reading of this work.
To reread Jean-Pierre Vernant is to revisit this prolific output in a thorough and thoughtful way, without sacrificing a critical approach. It also means understanding the impact this work has had, the influence it has exerted both in France and abroad. It also means trying to catch a glimpse, in his work, of themes that have remained in the making, of paths that are only just opening up. Finally, it means going beyond her writings, asking certain questions differently, formulating other interrogations and even proposing, in some cases, other conclusions.