Cool stuff from the Vatican Library

Just thought I'd share. I kind of wish I could get a closer look at some of the manuscripts.

Slide Show: Treasures from the Vatican Library

Winter break reading begins

I haven't completely figured out what books I'm going to try to get through this break, but I have begun the first one on my list: War and the Iliad, containing two essays on the Iliad, by Simone Weil and Rachel Bespaloff, both written during the second World War.


I really enjoyed Christopher Benfey's introduction, and have read through the beginning of Weil's essay. Will post my thoughts when I've finished the book.


Any suggestions on other things I should try to read? Perhaps should go for something besides classical literature or criticism for once - Dostoevsky? Woolf? Pynchon? More children's fantasy novels?

Thank you, unnamed deity in the Greek pantheon with jurisdiction over finals week

It's over. Done. I could not be happier. 5PM on Thursday: cracked out and exhausted, but so glad. Drank a victory beer, cleared out my library desk, sat around Commons, showered (getting the feeling of library off of oneself is the most glorious thing), played beer pong, got slightly drunk, cried at Jen for an hour or two about boys and life (mostly induced by severe sleep deprivation I think), before passing out watching "Merlin." Yesterday, a lovely dinner with some absolutely lovely people at 3 Doors Down (oysters and beef carpaccio and risotto) before a trip to Pix for dessert and "Archer." Loki is the cutest with the new collar that Sarah has given him, complete with bells for the holidays. Early bed time on Jen's living room futon makes me a happy (well, at least well-rested) camper.


 I have five plus hours until I leave for the airport, and am sitting on Jen's couch, eating instant Pad Thai and petting Echo the cat, who is determined that my hair is a plaything and keeps trying to swipe at it with her paws. No obligations whatsoever, which means my brain is on vacation, and I've been watching really crappy movies on Netflix (and when I say really crappy, I mean really crappy). For the first time since August, there is no impending schoolwork looming over my day—an utterly bizarre experience. No Greek translations, no readings on agrarian reform in the 2nd century BCE, no esoteric philosophical topics to puzzle and stress over. Not really sure what I should do with myself - begin a translation of Pindar?


...JUST KIDDING LOLZ (...okay, maybe not...)

Halfway there!

Just finished my take-home Greek exam, which, surprisingly, made me feel a lot better. And in spite of sleep deprivation, anxiety, and not being as productive as I should have been, this past day is fairly indicative of one of the reasons why I do actually love Reed. Even though we're all in the same boat and under extreme duress, everyone has been wonderful - encouraging, commiserating, and working hard (not to mention the awesome dance break - Disney and Kanye!). This is going to sound trite, but, it's true, I don't think I would be able to survive this kind of a week anywhere else, without this community, without my friends.

mox moriar

Oh god oh god oh god oh god. I do not know how I am going to manage to finish all of this insane, intact, and grad-school-worthy. At least my library lobby study contingent has been awesome - songs, food, mutual exclamations of "WHY WORLD WHY," and being woken from naps (necessary).


If I don't finish this paper by 8AM, am screwed. I don't even know if I have time to study for my Greek and Latin finals. Am tempted to just take them as soon as I finish this paper. And then finish writing my Latin paper which will almost inevitably slay me.


I almost feel like I am slowly losing my mind. However, if I can finish everything this week, on time, and not have a psychotic break or existential crisis, I am so ready for anything else Reed has to throw at me.


AHHHHH

COINZ pt 2

I love using "propagate" in papers. Not to mention "break the yoke."Also I think I might be becoming a bit bonkers. OVERWORKED AND UNDERSEXED = worst feeling ever. Really wish this could be remedied. At least in a few days, the former will no longer be the case, although the latter will likely persist. Unfortunately.


I think this paper, if I can actually finish it, is going to be possibly one of the most interesting papers I've ever written. I'm proposing a new translation of a section from Appian that would completely eliminate any arguments over a certain aspect (re: coinage and a title) of Caesar's investiture in 44 BCE. Really exciting! Also really time-consuming to write. I just don't know when to stop when it comes to numismatic/historical background...

Fill in the blank: Ulrich von Wilamowitz-________

Classics department party was a blast. We watched ridiculous youtube videos (see below for an example), listened to music, and consumed delicious antipasti. Our Greek class proceeded to do our recitations - a success - and each received two printed/(fake-)bound copies of everyone's compilations. Sonia attempted to make it look like our very own Green and Yellow, which was absolutely adorable. She really is such a wonderful professor, and I hope beyond all hopes that she gets tenure. After that, Classics Jeopardy, for prizes. Despite not performing as well I'd hoped in the German Philology category, I left the event as the proud owner of a printed article from 1914 entitled "The Unity of the Enclitic NE." I've started reading it and boy, is it a gem - oh the prose, the prose! Only disappointing thing was that the champagne Erik brought was never opened, and thus Classics major drinking night did not happen. When I ran into Kirk later that evening, we decided that we're going to make sure this will actually happen at some point. Because really, Classics majors together in a pub? Who knows what kind of brilliant commentaries on ancient texts or embarrassing face-plants could happen?


One of the videos that Lindsay (and I) made the class watch. Ellen was particularly enthusiastic about the Macedonia/My Sharona one:



Currently, am endeavoring to survive the library. More on that boring stuff later.

Everyone should go watch "Jason and the Argonauts" right now.

Our final Greek class of the semester was, predictably, wonderful, even though I was so hungover that I was essentially incapable of rational thought. Sonia brought in lots of delicious Mediterranean food, which we availed ourselves to. And instead of translating or even talking about the Argonautica, we Netflix-Instant-ed "Jason and the Argonauts," an awesome and ridiculous film from the early 60s, WITH CLAYMATION MONSTERS! No joke - the special effects (intensely admired at the time) were created by the same guy who did the original "Clash of the Titans." After this class, however, "Jason and the Argonauts" will forever hold a place in my heart. Giant killer bronze statue! Blue harpies! Lots of short tunics! Medea wearing purple eyeshadow! And who could forget the FIGHTING SKELETONS?!?!!!

Cicero, you blow my mind

SO MUCH FATE AND CAUSALITY.

Tempus fugit? (Ridiculously clichéd, I apologize)

It has only begun to hit me that it is already the end of the semester. Two more days of class, but a massive amount of work that will probably trample me alive like Hannibal's elephants did to the Romans. (I simply adore those elephants - Polybius's account of the Second Punic War is actually fascinating and I highly recommend it).


I did have a meeting with Ellen today to discuss my Roman History paper that left me feeling much more confident and pleased about what I have been working on (an examination of the portrait coinage of Julius Caesar in the early months of 44 BCE before his death and its placement within the broader context of Caesarean self-representation). She was very supportive and approved of all my ideas and theories, gave me a couple things to think on, and then told me we should have dinner sometime and talk about numismatics. I always forget that Ellen is actually extremely kind and supportive under her very intimidating and imposing intellectual exterior. She's absolutely wonderful!


What is worrying me the most at the moment is my presentation for Latin tomorrow on Cicero's De Fato. The work is fragmentary, mildly incomprehensible (at least to a non-philosophical person like me), available to me in only one very literal (and even more incomprehensible) translation, and there are hardly any secondary works or commentaries written on it. To say that I am terrified would be an understatement. I've been trying for weeks to try to get this presentation rolling, but I just have no idea how to convey this extremely complex philosophical content in simple and understandable English prose. WHY CICERO, WHY??? My only consolation is that even in grad school, unless I decide to specialize in it, I will probably never have to read another philosophical text of Cicero's again! The rest of the night is going to be me married to my copy of the text, and hopefully something will come out of that.


Greek class was also a gem today. Will likely procrastinate later this evening and post some of those tidbits.

What I received in my email inbox this morning makes all the miserable library days ahead worth it

I AM A REAL CLASSICIST! I AM BEING PUBLISHED IN AN ACADEMIC JOURNAL! I FEEL SO VALIDATED! WIN!

Academic masochism ahead

The next couple of weeks will likely be accompanied by a multitude of tears, panic attacks, sleepless nights, pages and pages read, and pages and pages written. But despite my complete abject terror, I'm excited, giddy almost. My fingers are itching to churn out pages of thoughts and analyses. I've rediscovered how much I love listening to classical music whilst I work. I can practically feel my heart in my throat - nervous anticipation. My side of the library desk looks as if it has been ravaged by a particularly harsh hurricane. Jesse has colonized Francis' half of the desk, relentlessly working on her thesis edits and formatting so that she can turn it into the registrar and finally get those shiny plastic golden laurels. Bring it on, Reed College! We can do this! (or at least, I hope we can...)

I feel like Athena is about to burst out of my skull

What did my hungover self just waste an hour doing? Not watching TV, or sleeping, or puking my guts out. Instead, I was voting on my preferred translations in the Latin version of Facebook.


This makes the fact that I, currently fuzzy-brained, cannot get myself to do any substantial work a little more bearable.

Paper topics

Am debating whether I should write my final research paper for Ellen/Roman History on coinage in the Social War (potentially awesome conclusions could be made - not a widely studied subject) in the context of how it helps establish an independent identity for the rebelling allies, or focus on early Imperial portrait coinage and its role in solidifying Augustus' claims to power. 


Or do I not write about coinage at all? Mostly I just would not know what else to do. Clodia/Lesbia? Only that would be a bit of a cop-out considering we spent an entire conference on her portrayal in Catullus and Cicero. I certainly will never write another paper on Sallust (too many painful memories from last year's stolen computer/backpack incident when I had to recreate 15 pages of lost essay, rewrite all of my research notes, and buy Columbia University's library very expensive replacement books). I've already done work this semester on Cato and the Gracchi.


We have an annotated bibliography due on Friday. I have a thesis and bibliography for the Augustan topic already, but if I want to write on something else, ideally I should decide by tomorrow so I have enough time to do the annotations. Bleargh.


In an attempt to find a GIF of crazy-eyes!Octavian from the tv series "Rome" to demonstrate my current mood, I inadvertently discovered a livejournal community with Vergil/Horace slash fanfiction. Internet, you are one weird world.

This is kind of a silly thing to get excited about but...

The Classics department holiday party planning is in the works!!! Sonia wants all of us third-year Greek students to memorize one of the epigrams we worked on for our anthology projects, and recite it, in Greek (in meter!), and then in our own English translation. The likelihood that I will forget something and embarrass myself a tad is moderately high, but regardless, it's going to be lots of fun. Lindsay and I proposed to Sonia our collective thoughts on how we could FOR SURE incorporate modern reality television in a classical context (Growing Up Gracchi, Pimp My Chariot, Are You Smarter Than A Barbarian, etc etc). We're dorks, plain and simple.


Greek today involved me enthusiastically defending the LSJ entries for several translations that were up in the air. Was teased a fair amount for that, but I retain my stance! μά is not always used with negative assertions! A fairly long digression also ensued over the technicality of the word πέλεκυς, which, on a basic level, means "axe", though the term can be applied to both sacrificial and battle axes (wherein lies the problem - what kind of axe would have been used in this specific context?). Fun times to be had in academia.

Scheduling snore snore (this is extremely boring)

Had a meeting with Sonia this morning, who, in addition to being my professor, happens to be my academic adviser within the Classics department. Our goal: to determine my course schedule for the upcoming semester, which could play a large role in deciding what subject will be the focus of my senior thesis.


As it stands, it seems like I will be taking Greek with Wally (on Aristotle's Poetics), Latin with Nigel (Martial, mainly), Art History, and a Special Topics in Ancient History with Ellen (Barbarians in the Ancient World). I'm still waiting to hear from the Anthropology department as to whether or not they are giving me credit for my archaeological coursework from over the summer. If they do, it means that next semester I will definitely be writing my junior qual (which, for Classics majors, is essentially a mini-thesis), and thus have to decide now first off what class I want to be qualling in, and in addition, whether I should do an independent study of Homer in the spring as well, if I want to work on either the Iliad or the Odyssey for my thesis. STRESSFUL TIMES.


On the non-stressful side, coinage presentation on Wednesday last went swimmingly. Even though I ended up speaking for over 40 minutes (whereas everyone previously had presented for only 10-20), it seemed at least like everyone enjoyed learning a bit about numismatics, which is an extremely small and little-examined field for undergraduates.

Bookshelf love

It's nerdy and more than a little depressing, but one of my favorite things at Reed is my study desk in the library. It's in the basement (sometimes lovingly referred to as a circle of hell or the abyss), but it's cozy, warm and well-lit, which I appreciate more and more as the days grow darker and the outside world increasingly tends towards the cold and rainy. Francis is my desk partner, though he is often not here, so I am left with this huge space upon which I can spread out all of my notes and coffee cups and heavily annotated articles. The best part of my desk, however, is the bookshelf. Classics books upon classics books upon classics books: lexicons and Loebs, Cambridge commentaries and Cicero. It's lovely. Perched in a corner of the shelf is my "Love Reed" squishy owl (excellent for the occasional stress-relieving squeeze) and my coffee mug, which, rather appropriately I think, reads "No Sleep Till Hades". Post-it notes (some, to-do lists; others, notes from Francis which always cheer me up) cling haphazardly to its corners. I love being down here, strange as that might sound - it's an academic cocoon away from the occasionally harsh realities of my real life. And it makes me proud to be a classicist and student here at Reed.


This is more of a musing rather than anything of substance (which I heartily apologize for), but I thought I'd write it here anyway.

COINZ

It is 6:40 in the morning. I have at last finished reading through and annotating the fifth and final book for my presentation on Ptolemaic numismatics. I CANNOT THINK ANYMORE! Attic standard weights being reduced by tenths of a gram somehow indicate complete social change by appealing to the Egyptian peasantry outside of urban centers. Also, ELEPHANT'S SCALP = IMPERIAL SUPREMACY. Maybe I'm just stir-crazy because I've been slaving away in the 24-hour ETC computer labs that are eerily empty and sterile and my cigarette breaks (which in an ideal world would be relaxing) have turned into a raging battle between me, my nicotine, and the cold rain. Also could use some sleep. But that's not going to happen!


Now I really want an elephant scalp. Or at least an imitation of one. Or maybe just a coin with one on it.

What Aristotle really wanted to know

We're translating some of Theocritus's Idylls in Greek class over the next couple of weeks, and bucolic poetry is great fun, I must say.


Idyll 11, our assignment for today, is all about the love Polyphemus (if you remember, the cyclops from the Odyssey) has for Galatea, a sea nymph. Which of course led to superprof!Sonia introducing us to a question raised by Aristotle himself: since Poseidon (his father) had two eyes and Thoosa (his sea nymph mother) had two eyes, how did Polyphemus end up with only one eye?!?! We came to the conclusion that maybe Aristotle should have had a good long chat with Gregor Mendel.


It almost sounds like a bad (or awesome?) joke: Aristotle and Mendel walk into a bar....

In which I come to know, like Socrates, that I know nothing

In an attempt to figure out how to actually read the two (mostly defunct) blogs that I follow, I was prompted by the website to create my own so here I am. I was a disastrous keeper of diaries as a child and a previous attempt at a blog fell mostly by the wayside, so don't get your hopes up, non-existent readers.


However, what I hope to discuss here are my day-to-day experiences and confrontations with the ancient world as a student of  Classics (the crème de la crème of academic disciplines), interspersed with smatterings of my musings on life, friends, love, and velociraptors, and with a hearty dose of tidbits and curios found on the internet.


A further introduction will appear in due course (i.e. when I am not studying for my Greek midterm on Apollonius's Argonautika), but in short: Elizabeth. Classics major, Reed College, Class of 2012. New Yorker. Now Portlander. Utter nerd.


And now the "quote" of the day, which is quite apropos I think: ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα.


Cheers.