Goin' to Oxford (Ohio, that is)

As any JCLer at Mt. Greylock will tell you, JCL Conventions are a confabulation of classical culture, contests, corny puns, and general Latin tomfoolery. National Convention even more so. This year's NJCL Convention is at Miami University in Oxford Ohio, starting Monday, and running through Saturday. Thus, it is my sad duty to put the Public Vlog Maroon on hiatus whilst I'm away. I can't guarantee that I'll have web access (though I am taking my XO just in case), so check back in a little over a week! I'll be posting one or two photos from the Convention.

Troy Trilogy

It makes me quite happy whenever I see classical literature being re-appropriated into 'popular' culture - movies, music, graphic novels. (Some Classics snobs might consider this a bad thing. Ignore them.) It's especially gratifying for me when I see my own personal faves make their way into the mainstream. Consider the Troy Trilogy, a series of three (duh) books by the author David Gemmell. I picked up the first in the series, Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow a couple of weeks ago to while away some idle summer hours. I was hooked. The trilogy is a sort of alternate-history take of what preceded the Trojan war, and follows some of the major characters involved from a completely different angle than the usual. The central character of the first book is a fellow named Helikaon, a prince of Dardania. (By the way, Helikaon is what his mother calls him. His father Achates insists on calling him by the thoroughly unmelodious name Aeneas.) Known around the Mediterranean as 'the Golden One', Helikaon/Aeneas has made his reputation as a sort of bigger-than-life adventurer, ridding the seas of pirates (who are secretly supported by the war-mongering king of the Mykene, Agamemnon). It goes on from there, but it's an entertaining and engaging read. Check it out!

The Aeneid: The Musical

Well, not exactly. But, whilst browsing the interwebs this morning, I happened across the site of a project devoted to developing a "soundtrack" to the Aeneid. You can check it out, and download mp3s of the work, at http://vaeilium.indigetesdii.org/ .

Lavinia

If you've done any background reading on the Aeneid (and, at this point in the summer, I surely hope you have!), you probably know who Lavinia is - King Latinus' daughter, promised in marriage to Aeneas. Phenomenal author Ursula K. LeGuin, who has been writing for years, and has accumulated awards such as the National Book Award, multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, and others, has just published (2008) her latest novel Lavinia. It tells the story of the Aeneid with Lavinia as narrator.

Buy this book! It's exceptionally well-written (if you know LeGuin's work, this shouldn't surprise you), and it takes a well-known work of literature in a refreshingly new narrative direction. Plus, it's simply a rollicking good read.

Thought of the Day...

You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.
-Norman Douglas, novelist (1868-1952)

The Aeneid in Renaissance Art

Lest you assume that the only people who cared about Vergil's epic poem were the Romans (and we pesky Classics scholars)...

The Renaissance, that flourishing of literature and the arts in 16th-century Italy (OK, OK, Europe generally. But it started in Italy.), drew immensely upon classical themes, literature and culture for its subject material. Boticelli's Birth of Venus; Raphael's School of Athens; and, more relevant to our curriculum in the coming year, the image posted above, Federico Barocci's Aeneas' Flight from Troy, ca. 1598. Can you identify the lines from the Aeneid which the painting depicts, and all of the persons in the scene?

Tribute to Bill Creran

Bill Creran was my Latin teacher when I was a mere stripling lad in high school. He passed away earlier this year, and I had the honor to speak at his funeral ceremony. He was a true gentleman scholar who inspired in me and in others a sincere appreciation, respect, and love for classical studies.

Te saluto, Magister; requiescas in pace.

Usher: Latin scholar

Ma Keeley has said it many times - you can't escape Latin. Here's yet another instance for ya. Consider these lyrics from Usher's recent popular song "Yeah":

Me and Ush once more and we leaves em dead/
we want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed

Now compare with the final verses from an epigram by Marcus Valerius Martialis (40-102 CE):

Si te delectat gravitas, Lucretia toto/
sis licet usque die: Laida nocte volo.

Understanding the cultural references (who Lucretia and Lais were, respectively) is essential to 'getting' Martial's point. By the way, if you are concerned about propriety, be grateful that Usher saw fit to limit his use of Martial to this (relatively innocuous) couplet - the rest of the poem is a bit less, shall we say, circumspect...

Salutationes Aestivae!

The video speaks for itself...