Author: Discentes

The Mēchanē in Prometheus Bound: Recognizing the Role of Technology on Stage

Posted on by Discentes

The Mēchanē in Prometheus Bound: Recognizing the Role of Technology on Stage
By William Gerhardinger

Prometheus Bound, henceforth PB, poses an insoluble scholarly puzzle. In addition to its authorship and date—and, in fact, intertwined with them—matters of its stagecraft have given rise to a heated scholarly debate. Most prominent among these is the question of how Oceanus’ seemingly aerial mode of transportation (284-87, 394-96) was achieved.2Alan Sommerstein suggests the effect was achieved by using a flying-machine—namely the mēchanē, a sort of crane which lifted actors…

Read More

Kubrick’s Spartacus: A Legacy of Mediocrity

Posted on by Discentes

Kubrick’s Spartacus: A Legacy of Mediocrity
By Taína Monegro

The concept of mystery has played a paradoxical role in the lives of humans: we are reverently fearful of it and enticed by it. This makes the study of classics deeply magical. It remains a mystery that continually eludes historians, offering mere morsels of itself at a time. Moreover, the greater reality remains ever-present: while worshiping at the increasingly stingy altar of this fickle mistress we call classical studies, time clamors on, pulling us further away from the ancient past we seek to decode. This may be why cinematic portrayals of the classical world are so often woefully short. For those of us who cling to these morsels of the past, what makes most classical stories so magical cannot coexist with the magic of cinema; mystery clashes with reality. In the case of Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 blockbuster Spartacus, I argue that it was a conglomeration of the two – the latter filling in the cracks of the former – that led to the film’s attempt at doing the legend of Spartacus justice…

Read More

Plutarch, Life of Antony Chapters 4 and 24.6–7

Posted on by Discentes

Plutarch, Life of Antony Chapters 4 and 24.6–7
By Noah Apter

Of all the classical historians on offer to us, what appeal does Plutarch have? What, if anything, causes him to stand out amongst the likes of Tacitus, Suetonius, Thucydides, Herodotus, and others? I believe the allure of Plutarch’s writing is that he captures the humanity and psychology of his subjects with greater depth than any of his contemporaries or those before him. There is no greater example of this than his writing on Mark Antony. Plutarch remarks on his jests and camaraderie with fellow soldiers, his great generosity, and (briefly) his efforts to deliver justice to those who were wronged…

Read More

Seismic Activity in Campania Throughout 62-79 C.E. and the Archaeological Implications

Posted on by Discentes

Seismic Activity in Campania Throughout 62-79 C.E. and the Archaeological Implications
By Everett Meckler

The city of Pompeii and the surrounding region, while best known for the 79 C.E. eruption of Vesuvius and being “preserved” for posterity, was also subjected to an often concomitant natural disaster: earthquakes. While the site provides a wealth of knowledge and a window into the Roman world, the extraordinary circumstances that color modern scholarship must be fully understood. In this regard, the major earthquake the region suffered in 62/63 C.E. has long been incorporated into the scholarly inquiry of Pompeii, owing largely to its record throughout Book 6 of Seneca’s Natural Questions and a brief mention in Tacitus’ Annals (15.22.2). However, a growing number of scholars have concluded that Pompeii experienced a series of earthquakes from the 62/63 C.E. earthquake until the eruption of Vesuvius.1 This essay will synthesize and assess a diverse array of evidence with a particular focus on the water network of the city for this subsequent seismic activity and clarify the implications of such activity on interpreting the archaeological evidence at the site of Pompeii…

Read More

Trans Achilles Among the Maenads: Queer Movement on Skyros

Posted on by Discentes

Trans Achilles Among the Maenads: Queer Movement on Skyros
By Katherine O’Neal

Within Statius’ Achilleid, Achilles reveals his true gender twice. Both times come after an expression of gendered movement, which in the text are called “Bacchic rituals.” Gender expression is thus tied to movement in the Achilleid, but this movement is paradoxical, something that Kelly Nguyen identifies, wherein “mobility [is] both a preserver and a disruptor of heteronormative, patriarchal structures.”1 Nguyen is drawing from queer diasporic theory (the queer nature of movement across boundaries, especially borders, e.g., through immigration), but the basis of her analysis, her focus on the act of movement, reflects Statius’ treatment of Skyronian dance…

Read More

The Troubled Lover at a Convenient Time: A First-Generation WOC’s Odyssey of Classical Studies

Posted on by Discentes

The Troubled Lover at a Convenient Time: A First-Generation WOC’s Odyssey of Classical Studies
By Zinuo Shi

             On my second day of Greek class, I was still recovering from my very first college all-nighter and catching up on weeks of missed material. As I made my way over Severance Hill, I stopped by the lake, a ritual common among Wellesley students questioning their life choices. At this pause, I realized I was finally on the trajectory I had envisioned for myself at seventeen. I thought I had prepared myself, as a first-generation woman of color, to navigate a field dominated by white men for centuries. Yet I could not shake off the feeling of being distanced, different and detached…

Read More

Vulpis et Ciconia

Posted on by Discentes

Vulpis et Ciconia  
By Dara Sánchez

The poem “Vulpis et Ciconia” tells a tale in which the Fox’s cunning nature does not come to its advantage. In this fable, a Fox invites a Stork to dinner but gives her a plate with liquid broth, which restricts the Stork from eating while the Fox enjoys her meal.1 In response, the Stork invites the Fox to dinner and puts the food in a vase, disabling the Fox from enjoying her dinner as the Stork satisfies herself. The lesson readers are meant to get from this, as explained in the promythium and re-emphasized by the Stork as a dialogued epimythium, is that: harm must not be done, but when it is, the one who caused harm must endure the same punishment for there to be justice…

Read More

The Anatomy of a Misunderstood Woman: An Examination of Helen of Sparta

Posted on by Discentes

The Anatomy of a Misunderstood Woman
By Lily Burkin

Greco-Roman depictions of religious and mythological women provide a unique lens through which femininity can be seen wielding influence over humanity, while also remaining subject to limitations compared to male counterparts and villainization when they threaten the social order. An infamous example of a woman shamed for her unusual actions is Helen of Troy, the countless narratives about whom—when synchronized—paint a complex and contradictory picture of her motivations within the Trojan War. Despite the influence Helen exerts over powerful male figures, narratives of the Trojan War attempt to strip her of autonomy and reduce her to the “most beautiful woman in the world,” even as she displays shocking levels of emotional and intellectual depth in her struggle for control over her personage…

Read More

Magic, Religion, and Social Stigma

Posted on by Discentes

Magic, Religion, and Social Stigma
By Fiona Green

James Frazer, a visionary classicist and anthropologist, reshaped the academic landscape with his profound insights in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Segal, 1). In his book The Golden Bough, Frazer proposed a conception of the distinction between magic and religion. Magic, he argued, was akin to science because it trusted in fundamental laws which governed the world and could be used to one’s advantage if one knew how to manipulate them. A magician uses these laws to compel gods and supernatural beings, whereas religion consists of  “a belief in powers higher than man and an attempt to propitiate or please them” (Frazer, 50). Thus, for Frazer, religion consists of submitting to and persuading supernatural beings…

Read More

Roman Ghost Stories and Superstitions on Societal Behavior

Posted on by Discentes

Roman Ghost Stories and Superstitions on Societal Behavior: Analyzing Pliny the Younger’s Letter 7.27, Petronius’ The Satyricon, and Mostellaria
By Aidan Jones

Ancient Roman literature has commonly portrayed ghosts in a satirical sense with the use of plays and short stories; however, it is clear that ghost stories have greater effects on Roman culture and society. By analyzing Pliny the Younger’s “Letter to Sura,” Petronius’ “Dinner at Trimalchio’s” in The Satyricon, and Plautus’ Mostellaria, we can determine how these texts reflect beliefs of the supernatural and hauntings, helping us understand the societal fear associated with ghost stories…

Read More