ClassicsPage 3
Major Latin Lit News: 71 New Manuscripts of Ovid have been Uncovered.
This brief article (in English) is followed by a slightly more informative article in Spanish. It’s not certain how big this news is yet. It looks like the manuscripts are mostly of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This is possibly at least somewhat frustrating news for the editors of the most recent critical editions of that text, though […]
Epictetus on Eating, Digesting, and Vomitting. And Philosophy.
So here’s a random, vivid little analogy from the Stoic philosopher Epictetus: Never call yourself a philosopher…For there is great danger in immediately throwing out what you have not digested. …For sheep don’t throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool […]
Greek and Latin in China
The dialogue about the Greeks and Romans expands … The link is here. (HT Yurie Hong, Clara Shaw Hardie)
One Country’s Trash, Another Country’s Treasure…
Okay, that’s putting it a little dramatically. But, given the precarious status of classics programs across the country, most recently at Michigan State University and University of Maine, and the fact that people are constantly having to argue for the cost-effectiveness of the humanities and the value of a small-liberal arts education, it’s safe to […]
Walking in Their (Gladiatorial) Footsteps
Just in case you really needed one more reason to go to Rome, now you can… “…follow in the footprints of the gladiators, the Christians and the lions as they made their way into the Colosseum. For the first time in years, the private backstage areas of this blood-drenched theatre is open to the […]
Us vs. Them: Good News from the Classical World
This blog post has been in limbo, hiding among some old drafts, so it’s a bit late. Apologies! In the wake of the AZ shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a review of Erich Gruen’s Rethinking the Other in Antiquity. The review juxtaposes Gruen’s reinterpretation of ancient attitudes toward the Other […]
Beware of High School Students Bearing School Projects…
…They might just knock your socks off! Their project for humanities class had to have something to do with the ancient Greeks.As Newsradio 780’s Mike Krauser reports, their teacher couldn’t believe it. …”They said they had a great idea, but they wouldn’t tell me what it was,” […]
Bone Girl: Biological anthropologist’s blog blends Classics, Archaeology, and Bioanthropology
HT Sasa for alerting me to this cool blog about archaeology, bioanthropology, and the classical world. I haven’t been able to spend too much time on it, but there are a lot of interesting posts here. I especially liked this one entitled “Ancient Riches, Modern Gambling” analyzing the historically themed slot machines. I love, love, […]
Taking Vergil Out of Context at the 9/11 Memorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/opinion/07alexander.html The New York Times published an op-ed piece by Caroline Alexander, author of The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and the Trojan War, about the unfortunate misuse of a quotation from the Aeneid. Going beyond a general sentiment that we should know where our quotes (ancient or otherwise) come […]
Sticking Up for the Little Guy: Classics Prof Tries to Help Save Middle School Latin
Reported by the Harvard Crimson… Classics Professor Richard F. Thomas joined students, parents, and other Massachusetts professors yesterday evening at a public hearing at F.A. Day Middle School, urging the Newton Public School Committee to reconsider the implementation of a proposed budget that would eliminate Latin courses at the middle school level. …Addressing the superintendent, […]