Antiquity’s Influence on Cutting-Edge Runway

Antiquity’s Influence on Cutting-Edge Runway
By Anna Fighera

Most accept classical influence as the sort which informs our present philosophical, political and legal fields. What would modern law, policy, and philosophy be without the guidance and inspiration of ancient thinkers? Despite acknowledgement of such relevance, many think classical influence ends there…

The Hive

The Hive
By Cate Simons

During quarantine, I’ve spent much of my time outdoors. Outside, surrounded by nature, I’m able to slow down and separate myself from some of the anxiety I’ve lately felt about the general state of the world. In the last few months, this passage from Vergil’s Georgics has been very much on my mind, and I’m especially drawn to Vergil’s efforts to portray bees in human terms…

BLM x CLST: A Series of Interviews with the Faculty of Penn Classics — Part 3: Professor Cynthia Damon

Future Directions and Resources
By Elizabeth Vo-Phamhi, Sara Chopra, Cate Simons

For the third installment of our Black Lives Matter & Classics series, we invited Professor Cynthia Damon to talk about the relevance of the Black Lives Matter movement and the current reassessment of past scholarship in the field. She also provides advice for fostering inclusivity in our classrooms and suggests reading material and resources for us to become better allies by listening, reading, and learning…

Bar the Dawn from My Bed

Bar the Dawn from My Bed
By Alicia Lopez

One of my favorite parts of studying Classics is stumbling across little nuggets of relatable content. While of course, there are always big themes that span most works of literature (heroics, sacrifice, love, loss, etc.), I treasure the little similarities, like wanting to stay in bed, that are still wildly relatable thousands of years later…

BLM x CLST: A Series of Interviews with the Faculty of Penn Classics — Part 2: Professors Kimberly Bowes and Sheila Murnaghan

Looking Back, Thinking Forward: what Black Lives Matter means in our own department and discipline
By Sara Chopra, Cate Simons, Elizabeth Vo-Phamhi

In the first interview of the Black Lives Matter & Classics series, Professor Emily Wilson discussed the translation and reception of BIPOC voices in classical literature. In our second installment in this series, Professors Kimberly Bowes and Sheila Murnaghan provide critical considerations of the exclusionary past of our field and discuss strategies for cultivating a climate of inclusivity here in our department, especially in light of recent statements made by members of peer departments…

Graecia Capta: Catullus and Philodemus

Catullus 85 and Philodemus AP 5.131
By Mati Davis

The famous saying by Horace, “Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit (In being conquered, Greece herself conquered her ferocious conqueror)” (Book II, epistle 1, lines 156-157), describes the way in which Greek art and culture seeped into Roman society and inspired Roman authors, artists, and architects…