‘Classics in the news’ Category
J.K Rowling speaks of classics at Harvard graduation but not for the reasons you’d think
In 2008, J.K. Rowling delivered the commencement address at Harvard on the lessons of failure and the importance of imagination, but not in the ways you’d expect. By now most people are familiar with J.K.Rowling’s rags-to-riches story of how she went from being a single mother on welfare to becoming one of the wealthiest women […]
Ancient Greek Alive
Before you let anyone say that Ancient Greek is a dead language, direct them to this article, which tells us that… …An isolated community near the Black Sea coast in a remote part of north-eastern Turkey has been found to speak a Greek dialect that is remarkably close to the extinct language of ancient Greece. As […]
This Just In…Greek Civilization a fraud!!
Required reading from the Onion: Historians Admit to Inventing Greece WASHINGTON—A group of leading historians held a press conference Monday at the National Geographic Society to announce they had “entirely fabricated” ancient Greece, a culture long thought to be the intellectual basis of Western civilization. The group acknowledged that the idea of a sophisticated, flourishing […]
We are Rome! Or are we?
Speaking of conversations in print… In his column Third Party Rising, Thomas Friedman compares destructive factors in modern American politics with the conditions that led to the fall of the Roman Empire. He envisions a third party presidential candidate proclaiming to the American people… “I am not going to tell you what you want to […]
It’s All Greek to…Hollywood?
Apparently Hollywood is working on a blockbuster movie about the Greek gods. According to Variety: Fox 2000 has assembled a cast of Greek gods for the fantasy adventure “Percy Jackson.” Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean have signed on to play Medusa, Chiron and Zeus, respectively. Kevin McKidd (Poseidon) and Melina Kanakerides (Athena) are […]
A Tipsy Hero–wine-drinking in the Odyssey
In connection with the previous post on feasting with good food and friends, here’s an article on wine-drinking in the Odyssey from the New York Times: A student in one of my English classes recently asked about the endless references to drinking wine in “The Odyssey.” The question, which had nothing to do with my […]
Tricolon, anaphora and autonomasia in Obama’s speeches
Ever since the historic speech that he gave at as a rookie senator at the 2004 Democratic Convention, Obama has been mesmerizing large audiences with his rousing speeches. Charlotte Higgins, writer for the Guardian and author of “It’s All Greek To Me: From Homer to the Hippocratic Oath, How Ancient Greece Has Shaped Our World” […]
Classics, Intellectuals, and Presidents in the News
Classics references seem to be playing a different role in newspaper articles of late. Instead of supplying analogies for misguided U.S. policies, classics now seems to be supplying a point of reference for the role of intellectualism in American political life and what that might look like under President Obama. Check out these classics shout-outs […]
Antique Muses Stir a Modern Orpheus
Brought to you by Los Angeles via the New York Times: WITH its grand marble staircase, inner and outer peristyles and Roman gardens, the Getty Villa in Los Angeles seems a fitting backdrop for a small army of Greek gods, Roman warriors and Etruscan vases. But in two weeks visitors to the villa, which houses […]
The Real ‘Gladiator’
Tomb of the real ‘Gladiator’ discovered in Italy Archaeologists find tomb of the real hero who inspired epic film. Italian archaeologists have discovered the tomb of the Ancient Roman hero who inspired Russell Crowe’s character in the film Gladiator. Daniela Rossi, a Rome archaeologist, said that the discovery of the marble tomb of Marcus Nonius […]