ClassicsPage 4
Classical Myth and Theater in the Twin Cities
It’s been a good month for Greek mythology and modern drama in Minnesota. Two plays reimagine well-known Greek myths into modern American contexts. Last night, members of the Classics Dept, Eta Sigma Phi, and the Advanced Greek and Myth and Meaning classes caravanned up to the Cities to catch Oedipus El Rey, a unique collaboration […]
The “Living Camera” Draws the Eternal City of Rome
I can’t remember if I posted this already, but it’s worth taking a look. After just a brief helicopter ride, Stephen Wiltshire “the living camera” draws the city of Rome in 3 days with stunning accuracy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAfaM_CBvP8&feature=player_embedded HT Sean Cobb
Cleopatra, CEO redux
Our very own Sean Easton was interviewed by CNN International about Cleopatra and her leadership style. Take a look here!
Buildings Old and New: A Clash of Civilizations in Athens
HT Clara Hardy Modern construction projects often unearth archaeological treasures that have been buried for centuries. These discoveries also tend to unearth long-standing debates about where important public works projects stand in relation to important finds relating to cultural heritage. In Athens, the dilemma is particularly acute given its enormous cultural and historical significance and […]
On the Other Hand, Not Entirely Unscathed (Egypt)
Unfortunately, the Egyptian Museum didn’t fare quite as well as the Library at Alexandria. A full inventory of the Egyptian Museum has found that looters escaped with 18 items during the anti-government unrest, including two gilded wooden statues of famed boy king Tutankhamun, the antiquities chief said Sunday. The 18-day uprising that forced out President […]
The New Library of Alexandria: Symbol for a New Egypt (and the World?)
In antiquity, the Library of Alexandria in Egypt had as its goal to collect all the world’s knowledge and was an amazing storehouse of ancient Greek and Roman culture. Its eventual destruction is counted as one of the greatest losses to world history and culture. In 2002, a new library was built on the foundations […]
Adultery and the Marriage Bed: Then and Now
Harvard classics professor Kathleen Coleman has had a letter to the editor published in the New York Times in response to this article on infidelity, which states that… …it is no surprise to find, when a marriage comes apart, that a third person was involved. But even in a sexually liberal culture, the home is […]
‘The Thucydides Trap’
The future of relations between the United States and China: a very modern reason for reading this very ancient historian. The link is here.
New York Times Review of ‘Spartacus: Gods of the Arena’
It’s back. The STARZ gladiatorial drama where dialogue has been known to appear between acts of sex and violence has returned for a short prequel series about the ludus of Battiatus before the arrival of Spartacus. The actor playing the title character had to take a temporary leave from the series to undergo cancer treatment. […]
Restoring a Rare Map: Sacrificing The Really/Not Really Old for the Kind of Old
The New York Times had a fascinating piece on the discovery and restoration of a rare map of New York dating from 1770. What caught my eye was the example of one of the old books that sacrificed its life so that the map could live: White lines were visible where the map had ripped, […]