About Sarah F. Derbew

I am a writer, teacher, and advocate for ancient African Studies.

In my work, I explore literary representations of black people in ancient Greece across genres such as ancient Greek tragedy, historiography, satire, and the novel. I also examine artistic renderings of black people in Greek antiquity—considering the objects themselves and the museums in which they live. My interests extend all the way to the twenty-first century; I’ve written about the reception of Greco-Roman antiquity in Africa and the African diaspora.

I earned my PhD in Classics from Yale University and was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Now, I am an Assistant Professor of Classics at Stanford University, affiliated with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and the Center for African Studies.

I recently finished my first book, currently titled Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity (2022, Cambridge University Press). In the book, I trace the role of black people in ancient Greek literature and art while critiquing contemporary prejudicial thinking about Greek antiquity. I am currently co-editing the forthcoming volume Classics and Race: A Historical Reader with Dr. Daniel Orrells and Dr. Phiroze Vasunia.