The March Book Club selection continues the theme of Roman texts. This month features a tragedy by Seneca: Phaedra, which is also sometimes referred to as Hippolytus. It is a treatment of the same myth with which many members will already be familiar, Euripides Hippolytus, so it might be interesting to make comparisons. You can read any translation you like. There is a free online translation by Frank Miller Justus:… Read more
This Open House features a welcome return visit with Norman Sandridge, who invites us to think about and discuss the deaths of ancient leaders. What was considered a good way, or a shameful way, for an ancient leader to die, and what meaning is attached to the mode of death? To prepare for the discussion, you might like to read Suetonius’ account of Julius Caesar’s death. You can find the… Read more
A guest post by Sarah Scott This month I have chosen for a Core Vocab exploration terms that we hold close to our hearts: philos ‘friend’ (noun); ‘dear, near-and-dear, belonging to self’ (adjective); philotēs or philiā ‘the state of being philos’ In H24H[1] Professor Nagy first introduces the term in connection to a passage where Phoenix tells a story in his attempt to convince Achilles to accept Agamemnon’s gifts and… Read more
The video of this Open House discussion features a return visit with actor Paul O’Mahony, focusing on the experience of crossing the sea as depicted in classical texts. To prepare for watching it, you might like to read some or all of these passages from the Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid, and Aeschylus’ Suppliant Women. You can read any translation, or those in the PDF below: Crossing the Sea: Selection of passages Odyssey… Read more
After the gods had seen fit to destroy Asia’s power and Priam’s innocent people, and proud Ilium had fallen, and all of Neptune’s Troy breathed smoke from the soil, we were driven by the gods’ prophecies to search out distant exile, and deserted lands, and we built a fleet below Antandros and the peaks of Phrygian Ida, unsure where fate would carry us, or where we’d be allowed to settle,… Read more