History of the Peloponnesian War
By Noah Apter
Pericles’s Funeral Oration comes down the centuries as one of the most difficult pieces of ancient Greek literature to properly translate. To us classicists, it seems that Thucydides wishes to help us sharpen our teeth on his grammar. Why? It is in the nature of speeches to differ from narrative texts, the former tending to be “live,” while narratives deliver recollections of events past…
Women, Barbarians, and Gendered Xenophobia
By Diotima Belmehdi
In Agesilaos, the Athenian historian Xenophon recounts that while attempting to rile up his troops against the Persians, King Agesilaos of Sparta did the following…
On this day, May 15, 2023, another class of Classical Studies majors has passed through the doors of Claudia Cohen Hall for the last time as students. While the hardships of global disruptions marred large swathes of their undergraduate experience, the class has nevertheless paved a unique path through this aged institution. Every year—to mark the momentous occasion that is their undergraduate graduation—Discentes publishes a profile on each of these remarkable students…
Latin Epitaphs
By Dara Sanchez
Observe traveler, the epitaphs of a long-gone era. In the field of classical studies, scholars mostly spend time looking over the grand works of Roman elites. Of course, we learn a lot about Roman society in this way, but with these translations, I wanted to highlight funerary epitaphs and get a glimpse of the people who were once beloved as daughters and wives or even had the more complicated status of being freedmen or enslaved…
Iliad, Hector, and Andromache
By Doulin Appleberry
In this excerpt from Book 6 of the Iliad, Hector is speaking with his wife Andromache for the last time before his death. Andromache begs him to stay, but he insists he must go fight. I have translated the Greek text, originally in dactylic hexameter, into English iambic pentameter blank verse…
Seth, a Dynamic and Enigmatic God
By Will Byun
Multiple debates concern the true nature of Seth, Son of Nut. Since he is described as the god of confusion and disorder (te Velde, “Seth”), one may be tempted to compare him to Loki of Norse mythology, or even perhaps to Hermes of the Greeks, both notorious for being mischievous tricksters. However, Seth’s character is more complicated than this…
The Rex Nemorensis and the Cult of Diana at Nemi
By Erin Schott
Even the hunter can become the hunted. This popular trope can be found across our modern films like Jurassic Park and Predator, but its origins lie in the ancient world. There is, perhaps, no better representation of this theme in antiquity than the myth of Actaeon…
An Examination of Severan Women and Their Power in the Royal Family
By Anna Komisarof
The Severan dynasty controlled Rome from 193 to 235 CE following a seizure of the state by Septimius Severus. A North African native, Septimius Severus tried to emphasize the legitimacy of his dynasty throughout his rule. However, the failure of the male line and short marriages by later emperors meant that the legitimacy of the Severan dynasty came from the maternal side, as women were the most constant figures within the royal family…
Virtual Rome and Rome Reborn®: The Latest Developments in the Architectural Documentation of Rome
By Lily Nesvold
Have you ever wished you could walk around Rome during ancient times? Well, now you can. Recent technological developments—new software that allows for more accurate recording of ancient structures—have enabled architectural documentation of the Roman Forum to reach new levels with virtual three-dimensional reconstruction…
Are the Romans Better Than the Greeks in Philosophy?
By Hanzhao Kuang
In a 2012 survey, Philosophy Now asked seventy-five academics to vote on the five most important/interesting philosophers from history. Among respondents, many Greek thinkers were popular choices: Aristotle came in first with forty-four votes and Plato ranked third with thirty-one votes. But Roman philosophers came short: Cicero, a famous Roman philosopher, received merely two votes…