the Muse.

Muse.

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Spring 2016

Celts: Art + Identity A Review

Edited by Victoria Paines Design by Mouki Kambouroglou  

How Classics Tour 2015 Dead are From LGW to Pompeii The Classics? and onwards to Rome

Studying Latin in 2016

Greece versus Rome With Boris Johnson + Mary Beard

Contributors: Victoria Paines / Syrie Gwyn Palmer / Mouki Kambouroglou / Leela Jadhav / Julia Marano / Cristina Duckworth / Francesca Scott / Elena Margetts / Francesca Van Niekerk / Mr Vettese Drawing by Hannah Wuensche

Editor’s note Classics, by definition, is a broad study (literature, philosophy, history, etc.), and so I tried to replicate that in this magazine. This was both challenging and rewarding, because it forced me to learn about areas which I had never covered before - see Francesca Scott's fact file on a recently discovered American artefact. But mainly I just really enjoyed the process of overseeing Muse's production because I got to read some of the hilarious articles (shout out to Leela Jadhav who half gave me a heart attack with her opening, but after a couple of lines had me craving toast and seeing classics in a new light), think about a subject I love in ways I never had before, and appreciate even more the unending fabulosity that is Mouki Kambouroglou. Yep, that's right! Queen of The Link 2015, makes a return in organising, formatting, and saving Muse from my treacherously optimistic grasp.

All in all, whether you're a Year 7 or 8 searching for meaning in the phrase "Caecilius est in horto" (see "How Dead are the Classics?"), a Year 9 deciding whether to take a classical subject for GCSE (“So can you, like, speak Ancient Greek?”), a year 11 or 12 wondering what options there are for trips in the coming years (“Classics Tour: Rome + Pompeii”), or you are just interested in expanding your awareness of the issues ("Thought Corner") and changes (“Did the Romans Discover America?”) facing Classics in recent years, I hope that you enjoy reading Muse as much as I enjoyed making it!

Victoria Paines, Feb. 2016

How dead are the Classics?

Leela Jadhav

Classics can be really boring. I’ve studied Latin for 7 years, and occasionally (just occasionally) I’ve caught myself drifting off whilst translating yet another passionate (angry) speech by Cicero, or trying to figure out why Catullus used a chiasmus (do I care?). It seems inevitable, therefore, that some individuals think classical subjects are really dead. But it’s not that bad. I know you’ve heard many times how classics ‘opens doors’ or ‘provides a portal to another world’ and I know that most of you agree that these ‘doors’ and ‘portals’ are of less use than surprise vocabulary tests, so I’ll try and put it differently: Imagine toasting a slice of bread. It’s a nice, brown colour, with a pleasant crisp to it. Now you butter it, spreading soft, golden layers all over the perfectly toasted slice. You are content. Life is good. But suddenly, the toast disappears, and you’re left with a sizeable volume of butter dripping down your fingers.

Confused? Good, I’ll explain. The toast is classics. The butter is your current knowledge.

Without the former, the latter is insubstantial, useless and kind of weird. Classics forms the foundation of everything we know, from language to maths to thought to society, and thus nothing you do or think can be separated from the classical world.

Let’s take the very fact that you can sit in this school and read this article. We can trace this back to the growth of women’s rights, and by extension the Suffragette movement of the 1800’s. During their meetings, suffragists recited the resounding speech that the tragedian Euripides gives his heroine Medea on the economic, political and sexual oppression of the entire female sex, which

provoked and inspired multitudes of women to take a stance against Victorian societal ideals.

Not only does this show how classical literature facilitated the fight for gender equality, but more pertinently, that the ideas of equality that we still grapple with today were explored, questioned and subverted by Classical thinkers, proving their relevance and importance.

And what about those (few) occasions when you have disrespected a teacher, or questioned a stupid law? ‘But the Greeks and Romans were obsessed with worshipping Gods, so they didn’t really have anything to do with being an autonomous individual, right?’

WRONG. Classical literature essentially taught society how to contest received opinion and authority. Before Sophocles’ Antigone and the myth of Prometheus, civilians didn’t really understand that they were free people, and not instruments of the powerful. Thus, without these provocative, challenging works, it is highly probable that we would all still be submissive, obedient and meek.

Its easy to assume that, because they’re called ‘Classics’, these works are probably pretty traditional, repetitive, and all round classic. But the Classical world essentially invented radicalism, controversy, and laid the foundation for every revolution in history, which means that every time you think of an original or exciting idea, its most likely rooted in a Classical one. Ever thought the world is meaningless and existence is futile? Wow, you’re so deep and intellectual!! But unfortunately that actually stems from Plato’s theory of forms. So, unless you’re saying that your ideas are really dead, Classics isn’t either.

Bring Them Home: The case for sending the ‘Elgin’ Marbles back In 2015, the British Government declined a request from the UN to take part in a mediation process discussing the ownership of the 2,500 year old sculptures. Ed Vaizey, Minister of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, wrote to UNESCO and formally rejected the mediation, citing Lord Elgin’s ‘legal acquisition’ of the marbles as sufficient evidence for British ownership. I, personally, find it odd that this can be claimed when the document that forms the basis of ‘legal acquisition’ cannot be found and when, regardless of the inability to supply evidence physically, said documentation was issued by the Ottoman Empire. Surely we cannot uphold legislation that was passed in a country under imperial occupation? You would think it were easy for a country that fights in the name of democracy to identify the un-democratic context within which Lord Elgin was given ‘legal’ permission to take from the Parthenon.

I was inspired to write an article on this after watching an Intelligence Squared debate in which Stephen Fry and Andrew George MP argued passionately to ‘send them back.’ What struck me was how those arguing for the opposition felt comfortable using Britain’s (I assume more accurately that they meant London’s) economic dominance and higher number of tourists per year to defend the marbles’ current location. I find it unreasonable and patronising to attempt to justify keeping the marbles in London on the basis that they will be seen by more people or better looked after. European countries talk of the need to support each other - surely giving Greece’s key monument back a large proportion of its artwork would help attract more people to the

city of Athens? The new Acropolis museum was designed to allow in natural sunlight reminiscent of the Athenian climate. The context in which they would be presented, should they return to their homeland, would be a more accurate representation of the context in which they were designed to be admired. As a whole, they would give visitors a greater chance to appreciate what they symbolise and the civilisation they represent. Whilst this symbolism may be replicated through casts in the British Museum, the environment cannot.

The frieze is a single work of art - it was never meant to be scattered across the globe. Yes, the British Museum is not the only second home to fragments of this masterpiece, but it is the only one with such a large quantity on a questionably legal permanent basis.

What frustrates me most is that another argument in favour of keeping the Parthenon marbles in central London is the ‘Slippery Slope’. They say that if these artefacts are sent back, all museums will be purged of their various historical evidence. Well, quite frankly, no; all we want back is what was wrongfully taken. Those in favour of justice are equally in favour of multiculturalism.

Mouki Kambouroglou If you’re interested, the Intelligence Squared debate is available both on YouTube and on their website.

If you’re interested in helping the Bring Them Back campaign, visit www.bringthemback.org to sign the petition.

Ancient Greek Theatre Why you should come to see Peter Pan the Musical Syrie Gwyn Palmer The school musical, Peter Pan, will take place in the last week before half term.

Those who have already booked tickets are likely in a state of high anticipation about the green tights and fairy dust, but I doubt that less than half of the student body will be in attendance. We live in a society where there is an excess of entertainment: Netflix, YouTube and the VLE ensure that we are never without something to do. We need only pick up a book or turn on the TV to be distracted from our lives, but in Ancient Greece it was a great deal more difficult to escape. We are so spoiled for entertainment that we are willing to pass on a free ticket to a musical, even one that promises exceptional acting and real fairies. For an Ancient Greek, however, a spectacle like Peter Pan might have been the highlight of the year.

As we know, religion was central to Greek life, and so it follows that dramatic festivals took place in honour of the Gods. In Athens, Dionysus, the God of wine, madness and theatre, was celebrated with two major festivals a year: the Lenaia, which took place in the winter and included a prestigious competition of comedies, and the City Dionysia, a week of entertainment that brought international audiences to

Greece. Prestige, rather than wealth, was the incentive to be involved in these competitions - for playwrights, actors and choruses alike. In fact, some of the plays performed at these festivals are still read and performed today.

The three wealthiest Athenians of the time were appointed as choregoi for the tragedies, and another five for the comedies. Although they had no choice in their own involvement, it gave them a chance to self-advertise - dressing their chorus in expensive costumes and producing a popular performance would ensure they maintained, or built up, their reputation in society.

Let us consider a performance of Peter Pan at an Athenian festival, on an Athenian stage and for an Athenian audience. In our modern production, we expect flying children, real mermaids and a fully trained dog in a maid's costume, but the standards were slightly lower 3000 years ago. The most impressive technology used on stage would have been a pulley and some weights - the actor would be harnessed, in his green tights, to a crane-like system that lifted him above the stage, called the mêchanê.

The mêchanopóios, a term used for the designer, operator and builder of the mêchanê, would balance the actor's

weight with suitable rocks and heavy objects, and try to keep him still as he acted. Once he was finished, the rocks would be removed to lower him gently back to the stage. Such a simple mechanism would be laughable in a modern theatre (albeit astonishing in the Bishop Centre). Myths were often incorporated into plays, and so the appearance of the Gods was common and the mĂŞchanĂŞ allowed them to fly realistically on and off the stage. Of course it had other creative uses as well - my personal favourite being the giant dung beetle a character uses to fly up to the Gods in the play Peace, by Aristophanes.

Peter Pan is a story about the inevitability of time passing and of growing up, and teaches us that we should not be afraid of adventure, and that trust and belief can do magical things. Like most children's stories, Peter Pan tries to pass on lessons of morality and happiness to its readers - something that it shares in common with Greek tragedies. Whilst comedies aimed to amuse and stretch the imagination of their audiences, tragedies tried to teach them. The plots of most tragedies had similar themes - the main protagonist, usually a good and innocent person, would made some mistake that led to a series of events that ruined his life. This 'tragic hero' would evoke both fear and pity from the audience, until he had some moment of clarity in which he realised his own arrogance and mistakes. The theme tragedies had in

common was the concept of fate and the intention of the Gods: that everything that happens to a person is already prescribed in their own destiny, and every downfall contains a lesson. So although the hero has suffered, he has also gained wisdom. Peter never recognises his own fears or mistakes, and so he will always stay a child in Neverland.

There are some aspects of our adaptation of Peter Pan that would have been similar to an Ancient performance the most obvious being the use of drag.

Women were not allowed to act in Ancient Greece, so the male actors would also play women, and we of course do the reverse (although I don't imagine anyone would complain if we found a real boy to join the cast, especially Wendy).

Although Peter Pan seems a lighthearted story, it has more in common with a Greek tragedy than a comedy. Good does seem to prevail over evil, and there are imaginative and moving moments, but, like a tragedy, the ending holds dark implications. Peter watches his friends and Wendy go back to their lives and grow up, knowing that he will never follow them.

The play finishes with a touching reunion of children and parents, whilst Peter watches from a distance, alone, and lonely.

So, can you, like, speak Ancient Greek?

Languages as life forms + why I shouldn’t have dropped Latin I used to pride myself on being the one offspring of my big fat Greek family’s latest generation that chose not to pursue any element of ‘classical’ studies past the age of 14. When I chose my GCSEs I was determined to leave ‘Gratin’ behind – unlike either of my parents or any of my aunts and uncles and grandparents, who studied (at least) Ancient Greek up until the age of (again, at least) 18.

Perhaps it was the experience of seeing my older brother slave away at vocab lists and translations (he took Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient History and Modern Greek to A2). Or maybe it was the result of many years spent listening to cringe-worthy and nationalistic interpretations of Ancient Greek history on the part of my grandfather. Most likely, it was that I, too, fell into the trap of the ‘dead’ languages argument, which states, quite simply, that there is no point in studying a language that cannot fulfil its purpose – to communicate with other people.

Though I regret some of my subject choices now, I still very much agree that Latin and Greek are dead. In part, the reason why I have come to such a clear conclusion is because I have understood that languages are alive.

That, like other life forms, they grow, develop, mutate, reproduce, and eventually die out. This may seem obvious to some, but I found myself surrounded by questions of language development as I grew up - questions regarding text language, abbreviations, slang, dialects and their relationships with national identity, ‘progression’ as we coined new words and ‘deterioration’ as others went out of use.

I’ve come to see text speak as language’s way of adapting to new technology, slang as a reflection of modern-day multiculturalism, dialects as evidence for the political and

emotional power of language, and our changing vocabulary not as a loss of wealth but as evolution.

So, if these questions are all regarding modern usage and modern application of language, why do I regret dropping Latin? Because I have found that every subject involves, to a greater or lesser extent, the study of what came before. Whether it is as prominent as in a history class, or hidden in the supplementary chapters of a Physics textbook, context provides substance for comparison, and comparison helps to evaluate change.

Therefore, in my study of modern languages, I lack an awareness of development. I know little of etymology and thus suffer more than I should with definitions. Older Greek literary texts (the 20th Century in particular seems to have produced writing more similar to the Odyssey than quotidian speech) are littered with extinct or endangered words and phrases that, should I have studied the roots and origins of my mother tongue, I would be better prepared to interpret. Rather oxymoronically, my lazy desire for an ease of reading would be satisfied with an extra subject or two. People (usually classics teachers) will tell you time and again that Latin and Greek feed into your study of modern languages, not only semantically but syntactically too (ever noticed how freakishly spotless their grammar is?!) yet like many good things, we don’t seem to realise their value until they’re gone.

In Greece, the education system forces you to align yourself with one of three areas of study; theoretical, empirical or technological. The first of the three is equivalent to a literary baccalaureate in France, where you take higher concentrations of Philosophy and

Language/Literature classes, whilst the second popped in the odd great-Greek-grandmother. entails much more Maths, Physics and And if you put any word followed by Chemistry. It’s a way of helping students ‘etymology’ into Google, I promise you that 9 specialise, but it’s also a reductive process out of 10 roots will be Greek or Latin. So, yes, that narrows the mind1. Whilst it’s obvious that Classics will immediately improve your knowledge of Classics will assist a student of vocabulary ninefold. But I’ve gone back on Literature in any Western language, from myself and started talking about languages Keats and the river Lethe to Borges and the again, rather than justify the time spent Odyssey, its assistance translating works already available in other ‘theoretical’ …context in English. It’s hard to see in subjects is not too hard praxis, but translation is a skill that provides to imagine. Topics one teaches discipline, precision and may encounter within substance for logic. These can be taken from History of Art (or just plain the study of any modern language, comparison, and History), Philosophy, Ethics any set of rules and exceptions, and certain social sciences comparison helps but Latin provides you with the - Psychology, Sociology, chance to gain such to evaluate Linguistics - are often proficiencies without developments of classical the considerable change. theories. Meanwhile, many pressure of verbal forget that scientific theories have been and application. Essentially, Classics is the most continue to be extrapolations on what was basic basis of everything. discovered (or thought to be discovered) by Archimedes, Pythagoras and Democritus, When choosing your IB, A-Level or GCSE amongst others. Therefore, studying both our subjects, you may be anxious to steer clear of cultural progression and the process that led traditionally ‘Private school’ subjects. History of to modern understanding of applied (or not- Art, Food Technology and Classics are the applied) mathematical theory can in no way be protagonists of this unjust category. I can’t deemed a waste of time or effort. So why not really explain why Food Tech is considered to just dip in to a translation or two? Here, I find be a subject of the elite when the study of the myself turning to typical language teacher subject is based simply on prior centuries’ arguments. sexist curricula, however, I can try to justify the other two using what little knowledge I have of When I wrote earlier that languages mutate the history of education. Broadly speaking, in and reproduce, it may have sounded a little most Western countries, the run up to hyperbolic. It may have seemed like I was democracy saw the creation of an educated getting carried away by my own poetics. But, middle or working class that overpowered the the truth is, most modern languages come archaic oligarchical system (usually an from ancient language families, and that is why absolute monarchy). Prior to industrial teachers will tell you that one language is a revolutions and the odd flirtation with liberalism gateway to (at least part of) another. Take this post-Marx, education in Europe was entirely article, for example. Many words will have white, male and wealthy. It was also focused similar-looking siblings and cousins in French, on power and the maintenance of power, the Spanish or German, but I’ve also purposely prime examples of which were the Greeks and 1

Can you tell I take IB?

Romans who held great cultural authority even in the classical afterlife. The word ‘Classics’ itself is supposedly derived from the Latin ‘classicus’, an adjective meaning ‘relating to the highest class’. So, when education was elitist, the subject matter became it too.

Naturally, when it was time for schooling to become universal, when education became a public/governmental expense, it began with the smallest and simplest – young children and the three Rs. As time went on, the sector grew and rights were gained and we arrived at our modern day system that provides free mandatory schooling until the age of 18. But, we maintained this idea of relative simplicity.

Our standard education is still largely focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic, with the added bonuses of social and natural sciences such as History and Geography. Despite the universalisation of education, the relatively small change in curriculum perpetuates scholastic stereotypes. Though education as a whole, as a human right and necessity, has evolved and adapted to changing sociopolitical climates over the years, the image of Classics has not. Education has become a universal obligation2, and so the previous view of it - as a luxury product for the wealthy who did not need to work - has remained a connotation of the subject matter. We uphold the impression that, on some level, whilst working class children specialise in practical subjects that can be implemented directly into the workplace, the upper classes see education as a leisurely pass-time and flounce around in white bed-sheets reading Ovid – and it’s not helped by the fact that the poster boy is very much Eton-and-Balliol bred3.

The reality is that no subject should be limited to a certain group of people, and the foundations upon which these preconceptions

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This is not to say it cannot be a joy!! :-)

3

Boris.

were formed are out-dated. Classics was for the rich when education was for the rich. We are privileged to no longer live in a society where education is inaccessible. Though the study of Latin may not be universal quite yet, many universities have adapted to provide ab initio courses that mean no student will be held back from the opportunity to study Classics by not having been to the ‘right school’.

Nonetheless, whether it’s choosing a classic path or not, be sure to choose not only what interests you but what will support those interests as they bloom. I titled this article the way I did because people will often ask me if I can understand or interpret something written in Ancient Greek. In fact, just last week, I was embarrassed to have to answer ‘what is it like reading the Iliad as a Greek speaker?’ with ‘Well… I read it in English translation because I can’t understand Ancient Greek syntax.’ The truth is, the Greek language has evolved as much as we have, and what I can speak is related to what I cannot in the same way that we are to gorillas or monkeys or Homo erectus. Though they share some qualities and characteristics, my Greek and my Ancient Greek are miles apart in terms of ability. And though the lack of one does not detract from my capabilities in the other, it’s presence would be a welcome enrichment. So, before you write Latin off as irrelevant to your A-level choices, even you future medics who seem to have triple science and maths lined up as a future tattoo, give it the second chance I didn’t.

Mouki Kambouroglou

Did the Romans discover America before Columbus?

Francesca Scott

Over the years several theories have emerged that the Vikings, the Polynesians, and the Chinese arrived before Christopher Columbus. Now, a new group of researchers has come up with another controversial theory - they say the Romans set foot in America more than a thousand years earlier. This theory has developed after archaeologists found what is believed to be a Roman sword on Oak Island, on the East coast of America.

Other finds include carvings of soldiers, coins, and native plants.

These researchers claim they have evidence that Roman ships visited North America “during the first century or earlier�, and after comparing the sword to others like it, they have discovered that they match.

However, many historians are disputing this, saying that artefacts like this are often dropped by collectors in modern times, and others believe that they were planted.

THOUGHT CORNER Whether, to you, artefacts represent days of trailing round museums after your parents (Classics road trippin’ ftw), or whether you have a heartfelt interest in them (ok, so, probably not many of you), they do have undeniable importance.

Yet, exactly how much significance we should give historical objects in the modern world is open for debate.

Cost: Ok, so money is a big problem the world over, it dominates news articles, history, politics, and economics lessons, not to mention our discussions over whether or not we will be heading to pret after school; but no one really thinks about the cost of artefacts. Are they so important that they should be bought, restored, maintained no matter the price? National museums are government funded, so this becomes more than a practical question but a moral one: is this what we should be spending taxes on? Over the course of the last year, however, even more focus has been brought to this debate because of ISIS. This group has not only been destroying irreplaceable antiquities (if you aren’t aware they shockingly destroyed Palmyra in May 2015), but it has also been releasing them to Middlemen for sale on the Black market. This puts countries such as Britain, and the Classical community more generally, in a really difficult position. Is the value of the artefacts irrevocably decreased knowing that the money for them has funded ISIS training and operations? Is the alternative - their purchase by oligarchs for private collections, where they won’t be seen by the public - any better?

Shifting value: Did Lord Elgin steal the Elgin Marbles? Does that matter if it meant they were better protected?

Should they be given back now? Has their value increased, decreased, or is it unchanged by having them in a London museum at eye height rather than on top of a building in Athens? This is a brief summary in question form of the debate over the Elgin Marbles, but it is more what we can learn from them and apply to classical artefacts more generally that I would like you to consider now: does setting alter value? There is a huge concentration of artefacts in Italy and Greece (well, duh) and this means that there is too much for them all to be properly protected or sheltered, but one of the great things I found about visiting Rome, etc, was seeing the sheer mass of ruins and antiquities littered around the city; so, would it be better to send them to other countries where they will be more highly prized because they are less common, but they would be out of place, or is their value greater where they are?

If you assume that their value is greater in their original setting, then exactly how great is this increase in value? Great enough to be worth long-term damage to the monuments? If you ever get the chance to visit Ostia (and I would highly recommend it: not far from Rome, amazingly well-preserved, very few tourists, and hardly anything is closed off so you can wander at will), you will see piles of fallen pillars, walk along disintegrating mosaic pathways, observe crumbling stone carvings, and even encounter a 1st century AD engraving in the metro station. There is

simply so much that it has become inherently less valuable, and it is decaying day by day. So, should we distribute this wealth of classical artefacts around the world where they can be easily enjoyed by more, or would they be less well understood if not in their setting? And is it moral to remove them from their setting, even if to preserve them - the major argument over the Elgin Marbles, it could be said?

Past & Present: Conflict or Harmony?

So, I am assuming that you all think that ancient monuments are just as important as I do (dear reader, you may be the decider of whether this was an irrational assumption), but are they more important than the present progression of society? And are the two - the past and the present naturally in conflict?

There are layers of history beneath every city. In Rome, for example, their metro system is consistently held back from extension because as they dig down they find more and more irreplaceable history. Yet can/should a modern city have its development hindered in favour of something that existed over a millennia ago?

This might all seem distant to you - the problems of Italy and Greece, perhaps - but have you ever thought of what might be beneath your feet here in London? What we might be digging through to put in that sub-basement or that new tube line?

Victoria Paines Senior Classics Society runs every Tuesday lunchtime at 1:30 in MG5

Celts: Art and Identity review by Julia Marano Celtic, a word originally used to describe outsiders, has been redefined to express a feeling of unity and belonging amongst the people who can claim Celtic heritage. How did this word evolve so radically in just a few thousand years? If that sounds like a question that you feel inclined to answer, then the British Museum’s vibrant exhibition, Celts: Art and Identity back in January was the perfect opportunity to start your search for an answer.

The title of this exhibit can be misleading since the curators’ objective is not to show a single “Celtic identity”, but more a cultural label uniting various peoples spanning different nations.

“Celtic identity” is fragmented and scattered across many different cultures and nationalities.

The exhibit leads you along the progression of the “Celts” from 2,500 years ago to today through these various cultures as the world “Celtic” adopts and abandons different meanings.

The path begins around 500BC, from the first recorded mention of “Celts”, discovered in ancient Greek literature to describe the “barbarians outsiders to the north”, then continues to 1700 where the term Celtic was redefined to describe the languages, cultures and traditions of the people in Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales, regions that were never conquered by the Romans.

The exhibit takes visitors on a visual tour from a Battersea shield to a modern football shirt to tell an ever-evolving British and Irish story.

Along the way you will encounter many extraordinary artefacts (as expected in any exhibition endorsed by the British museum). These include intricately carved shields and cauldrons, beautifully crafted golden torcs, and even some renaissance art to mix things up.

In my opinion, any trip to the British Museum is guaranteed to be a worthwhile experience for two reasons. Firstly, all the exhibitions in the British Museum are expertly curated and without fail offer an array of breath-taking pieces to look at. Secondly, the building itself is so beautiful that even if you don’t find anything particularly special in the exhibit – though this is highly unlikely – the striking architecture of the museum is enough to deserve a few hours of your time. So this weekend, instead of wasting an embarrassing amount of time on Snapchat or Instagram (we all do it), head on over the British Museum and learn something new about the ever-fascinating Ancient World!

Greece VERSUS Rome: Boris Johnson against Mary Beard On November 19th I was lucky enough to attend the ultimate clash of civilisations, Greece vs.

Rome; Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and avid classist, was championing Greece, and Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge argued the case for Rome. Personally, I have always been of the opinion that the former was superior due to Greece’s contributions to the world in terms of literature and philosophy, and I was intrigued to find out if this predisposition would be reaffirmed by Boris, or if I would be swayed by Mary’s argument that Rome was the better of the two.

Boris began his argument by reiterating that Greece gave us not only philosophy, rational inquiry and historiography, but also Rome, as Roman writers copied the Greek style of writing, showing the widespread Greek influence. The Greeks also invented comedy, as can be seen by the genius comedic playwright Aristophanes, whose numerous plays such as Clouds and Wasps are still widely read today. Boris further emphasised it was in ancient Athens where democracy was born under the leadership of Pericles, thus showing how values that we hold dear today such as freedom of speech in fact originate from Ancient Greece. Also, in Athens political satire was a popular theme in plays, whereas Roman playwrights would never make fun of their emperors through fear of punishment, demonstrating how Greece was a more open and less oppressive society than Rome.

Mary Beard rebutted Boris’ arguments by reminding the Mayor that Greece was not just Athens, and that although there was democracy in Athens, the rest of Greece was ruled by tyrants and oligarchs. She also reiterated that the Romans produced some of the most read literature such as the Aeneid, portraying how it isn’t only Greek writing that has had an impact on the world.

Rome’s organisation of big city life, including aqueducts and public lavatories, Mary highlighted was Rome’s main strength, as was the fact that unlike Greece, Rome had a mechanism for becoming Roman, with slaves in their millions being freed and becoming citizens. Mary concluded that despite Boris arguing Greece gave us Rome, in fact the Romans gave us Greece, as today we see Greek culture through Roman spectacles, as the Romans did not preserve anything Greek which they were not interested in.

Despite Mary’s excellent points, I remained loyal and cast my vote towards Greece at the end of the debate; unfortunately, Rome prevailed with over 50 per cent of the audience agreeing with Mary’s arguments.

Francesca Van Niekerk

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On the evening of Friday 4th September, over 40 current and former staff and students joined many local Hammersmith and Chiswick residents to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Ancient World Breakfast Club. An initiative of former Head of Classics, Jenny Gibbon, the club was established in 2005 as a weekly lecture series to promote the study of the ancient world among members of the wider community.

Since that time interest has grown considerably – membership is currently in excess of 150 – and the club has attracted some of the country’s top classical scholars to speak on subjects as diverse as Homer and Housman, Sparta and Silchester. Undaunted by the early hour, or perhaps lured by the promise of croissants and coffee, enthusiasts of all ages now come to Godolphin and Latymer at 8am each Friday of term for their weekly dose of intellectual edification.

For the 10th anniversary celebrations we were privileged to welcome back the distinguished historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes to speak on the subject of ‘The perils of putting Classics on TV’. Fresh from producing the excellent series Genius of the Ancient World for BBC Four, Bettany had many humorous anecdotes to share about the challenges and rewards which come with seeking to make Classics accessible to a wider audience. Members of the club needed no persuading of the value of that task: many had provided memorabilia for the occasion which attested to the range of activities – from theatre trips and holidays to further study – which had been inspired by their shared love of Classics and the forum which the Ancient World Breakfast Club had provided for its expression. It was evident throughout the evening that the club had been the starting-point for numerous life-long friendships, and as the celebrations drew to a close the talk among many was of how to celebrate the next big milestone.

If you would like to learn more about the Ancient World Breakfast Club or attend one of its talks, please email Mr Vettese (avettese@godolphinandlatymer.com). Membership is free and is open to all: no prior knowledge of Latin and Greek is required or expected. Talks are held at school most Friday mornings during term time between 8am and 9am, with a breakfast of pastries, fruit, tea and coffee available beforehand. The full programme for each term can be found on the school website via the ‘Community’ tab.

Date

Speaker

Title

26th Feb

Dr Rosie Wyles University of Kent

“Translating Costume”

4th March

Professor Stephen Hodkinson University of Nottingham

“New Approaches to Classical Sparta”

11th March Dr Pamela Bickley Godolphin & Latymer (formerly Royal Holloway)

“Ovid’s Metamorphoses - Shakespeare’s favourite reading?”

18th March Professor Mark Smith Oriental Institute, Oxford

“Conceptions of the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt”

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Famous Classicists Before you get your hopes up that Britney Spears is going to be on this list I thought I should give a disclaimer: this list, for the most part, may not be overwhelmingly surprising… However, I look at this in a positive way; we aren’t surprised that these people studied classics because they have successful, intellectually stimulating careers and, generally, seem like bright people. Studying classics is a sign of intelligence and logical thinking – call me biased – and I think this list helps to prove that.

Julia Marano

1. Sigmund Freud What springs to mind when you think of a psychiatrist’s office? Perhaps a patient lying on a sofa, divulging their innermost secrets to said psychiatrist? Well, this stereotype comes from none other than Sigmund Freud and his infamous couch. One of the most influential minds of the 20th Century, Sigmund Freud fathered psychoanalysis, a set of theories and techniques for analysing and treating mental illness. Freud’s method was sometimes known as the ‘talking method’. Freud received a rigorous classical education at the Sperygymnasium of Vienna and then went on to study medicine at the University of Vienna.

2. Stephen Fry Fry is no doubt an extraordinarily colourful character. He is a British actor, comedian, author, screenwriter and director, known for his somewhat unPC, yet comical approach to many topics. The first play he wrote was entitled, Latin! Or, Tobacco and Boys – sounds like a dilemma that could be found in the minds of a few fellow Dolphins…

3. C.S. Lewis We all have C.S. Lewis to thank for providing us with ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’, and in turn C.S. Lewis has Latin to thank for enabling him to write it. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch. But, C.S. Lewis did study Classics at Oxford, and I think his success (like most peoples’) can be partly attributed to his education.

4. J.K. Rowling Another hugely influential author, J.K. Rowling also studied classics at university.

Everyone reading this has probably either read, or pretended to read, Harry Potter at some time in their lives. You may have guessed from the abundance of Latin phrases used in spells, that J.K. Rowling had a background in classics and indeed, you would be correct.

5. Boris Johnson Boris Johnson is probably one of England’s most enthusiastic advocates for a Classical education; he even went so far as to hint that his degree in classics was far superior to our Prime Minister’s degree in PPE. Another of my favourite quotes from Boris Johnson that called upon his classical background was when he addressed the London Assembly as ‘Great supine protoplasmic invertebrate jellies’, definitely worth watching on YouTube.

Regardless of your opinions of Mr Johnson, he is undeniably successful in his field and I think if you asked him, he would agree that studying classics helped. So basically, study classics at Oxford and you too can be a flamboyant mayor of a major city.

6. Chris Martin Last but not least, Chris Martin is lead-singer of one of the most successful bands of the millennium. Nowadays, it seems like most rock stars don’t need/or don’t want to go to university, but that was not the case for Martin. He went to UCL and received a degree in Greek and Latin. And thank goodness Chris Martin did decide to study Classics at UCL, where he would meet his future band members. Once again, Classics is responsible for a huge artistic addition to our society. For the more observant Coldplay fans, or at least the more classically minded, you may have noticed a sign in the Christmas Lights music video that reads “credo Elvem etiam vivere”, I won’t translate that because if you’re reading this magazine, you should really be able to translate it yourself!

Classics Tour: Pompeii and Rome, October 2015 Elena Margetts

The welcoming heat that greeted us as we stepped off the plane in Naples more than made up for our early 4am start at Gatwick that morning. The afternoon was spent exploring Sorrento, a popular tourist town, conveniently located for the sights of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Our first full day was characterised by complete contrast in the weather, which would require some careful outfit planning. In the morning we made a chilly and mist covered climb up Mount Vesuvius, whose volcanic eruption in 79 AD brought about the destruction of Pompeii and the neighbouring town of Herculaneum. Paradoxically though, without the accompanying ash of the eruption, which for centuries has preserved these towns at the point of their demise, we would not have the benefit of this historically significant time capsule. Though the mist failed to clear at the summit of Vesuvius, it was amazing to stand at the crater of this infamous natural landmark.

In the afternoon the sunglasses came out as we explored the island of Capri, home to the reclusive and unpopular Emperor Tiberius.

At Pompeii, the world of Caecilius came to life when we visited the houses, baths and forum so familiar from the Cambridge Latin Course. You could even see the stepping stones left in the streets and the ruts left by carriages. Later we visited the sight of the former bustling Roman port of Ostia, the setting of the Roman Mysteries books by Caroline Lawrence.

The highlight of the visit was Rome itself, for me, a tick-box of delights, of all the famous buildings I had longed to see. I was struck by the majestic grandeur of the Colosseum, one of Rome’s most recognisable landmarks. Built at around the same time that Pompeii was destroyed, the Colosseum could seat 50 000 spectators and its arena could be flooded to recreate sea battles. We walked through the impressive Arch of Titus, before exploring the Roman Forum.

After a much needed gelato at the beautiful Piazza Navona, we visited the curious structure of the Pantheon, with its portico front and rotunda back. Our trip ended with a tour of Rome by night, which included the illuminated Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.

This trip is a must for all classicists and I would urge you to go when the opportunity arises!

 

Games etc.

Cristina Duckworth

English to Latin Crossword

Famous Characters of Ancient Times: Word Search

The Ancient World in 2016 The British Museum

The Ashmolean, Oxford

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The Louvre, Paris

The Acropolis Museum, Athens

Mouki Kambouroglou