This week I’ve been swamped, again. I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, there’s been a great deal of chaos – and not the interesting kind. That’s why my list of links is a bit short this week. Do let me know if I’ve missed anything good.
But I did find time at the weekend to mess around with toys, in order to produce an entry or two for the Legonium photo competition. (Some of the early entries are on Twitter. Wonder if you can spot which one is mine…?) There’s still time to enter, if you have toys or household objects lying around which put you in mind of the fall of the Roman Republic or the apotheosis of Romulus.
Anyway, my son and I may have gotten slightly carried away. We started out by taking a single photograph, and ended up with an extensive graphic reworking of the Aeneid. This perhaps was not the point of the competition – but it was a lot of fun, and my seven-year-old can now quote Virgil in Latin, which is a pretty cool outcome. So here it is, a world exclusive. Drum roll please…
(I should probably mention that your likelihood of appreciating the following work of art will be directly proportional to your knowledge of Fireman Sam vehicles. If you don’t have a four-year-old available to explain, you might as well stop reading now.)
This week’s classical links from around the internet
News
Teacher develops an Ancient Greece video game – The Brussels Times
Statements on the Paideia Institute – Classics and Social Justice
Greek myth poetry wins prize – The Guardian
Athena at the Acropolis – Greek City Times
Discovery of street built by Pontius Pilate – The Independent
Coin petting zoo – The Lawrentian
More on the papyrus scandal – Brent Nongbri
Comment and opinion
Four ancient Greek mysteries – Greek Reporter
Mark Zuckerberg’s Augustan haircut – Business Insider
Classical reading groups – Society for Classical Studies
Ancient domestic violence – Sententiae Antiquae
Eumachia of Pompeii – Ancient Herstories
The fall of Rome was good for Europe – Phys.org
Greek Avengers – Classical Wisdom Weekly
Egyptian obscenity – Sententiae Antiquae
Useless Latin mnemonics – Idle Musings
Podcasts, video and other media
Reimagining myths – Spectator Books
Roman decimation – SandRhoman
The Gracchus brothers – Emperors of Rome
Interviewing the OU’s E-J Graham – Coffee and Circuses
Courses
Residential undergraduate course – British School at Athens
Ancient Greek for Beginners (online) – Gina May Events
Your Aeneid/Fireman Sam work is fabulous!!!!!
Sent from my iPhone
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I think I’ve found my area of expertise. I’m now considering writing an article linking pietas in the Aeneid with The Great Fire of Pontypandy…
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“Fear not! From chaos cosmos.” To paraphrase (massively!) what Jupiter promises Venus. Nice metanarrative: “Order will be restored!” The storm will abate (Virgil). The deluge will subside (Ovid, Noah). The swamp will drain (Trump – although that prophecy’s still to see its fulfilment!). Brexit WILL happen on Hallowe’en (hmmm – Boris Delphinitely has a wonky oracle!).
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Crikey – look at us combining Classics with Trump, Brexit and Fireman Sam, all in one post. You really can read anything into Virgil…!
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My favourite part was Venus disguised as a maiden.
Classic use of pearls, young lady.
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Perhaps the first time a fire support vehicle has been disguised as a maiden. I do like to be a trailblazer…
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What a splendid right-up-to-the-minute Virgilian reception! Love it!
Machinationes sifonariumque cano…. (pity about the scansion…!)
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There’s an idea – let’s rewrite the whole thing in Pontypandy Latin!
Ah, what I could do with a year’s sabbatical…!
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This is brilliant! 🙂 you should definately make this into a comic book or online comic or something… might need to invest in a few more props (toys) for a whole comic book..
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I think my son would be on board with that…!
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Bless him -) Lucky boy
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