Maurizio Bettini is Professor of Classical Philology at Siena University, after being its dean for some time. He was among the founders of the Anthropology and the Ancient World Center that he heads at the same university. He has held seminars at the Department of Classics of the University of California at Berkeley. He was many times directeur d’études associé at EHESS (School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences) in Paris, and he taught at the Collège de France. His chief interest is an anthropological study of the Greek and Roman cultures seen in their connection with the experience of modernity. He often contributes to the news daily la Repubblica. He has authored a number of books, including I classici nell’età dell’indiscrezione (1994); Nascere. Storie di donne, donnole, madri ed eroi (1998); Le orecchie di Hermes (2000); Voci. Antropologia sonora della cultura antica (2008); Il Mito di Circe (with C. Franco, 2010), all published by Einaudi, and Affari di famiglia. La parentela nella cultura e nella letteratura antica (Il Mulino, 2009).