Bulls, Borders, and Banknotes: Europa and the Shaping of a Modern European Identity
By Jason Huang
Recent scholarship on the geography and geopolitics of the European Union (EU) has found the entity to be much more territorially complicated than its name suggests. A quick glance at a map of the EU today reveals that, quite paradoxically, not all European regions are a part of the EU and that not all EU territories are within continental Europe…
The Triumph of Life over Death
By Kailia Utley
Exploring the influence of Classical Antiquity on the Italian Renaissance in art pieces that commemorate the lives of prominent individuals such as the Emperors Constantine and Titus from the Roman Empire, and the humanist scholars Leonardo Bruni and Carlo Marsuppuni from the Florentine Renaissance.
Kindred
By Citlali Meritxell Diaz
Niobe and Medea were both mothers who, through their actions, brought about their own children’s end. Mocking Leto for only having two children, Niobe attracted the goddess’ wrath, resulting in the death of her fourteen children at the hands of Apollo and Artemis, Leto’s progeny. Similarly, Medea’s own wrath against her unfaithful husband struck down her children. She killed their children and his new wife, leaving him effaced in his bloodline…
Roman Matrons and Sexual Morality at the Convivium
By Erin Schott
Scholarly uncertainty abounds concerning Roman banqueting practices, but one of the largest gray areas is the role of women at feasts (convivia). Katherine Dunbabin and William Slater devote a single paragraph to women in their nearly thirty-page overview of Roman dining, describing the evidence as “minimal.” The lack of evidence available to reconstruct essential aspects of women’s lives, such as how they ate, is deeply problematic. It suggests that scholars might at least delve into what minimal evidence is available…
Emily Wilson’s The Iliad Book Launch
By Riley Glickman
Following the success of her translation of The Odyssey, Penn’s favorite translator and resident celebrity classicist is back! Tuesday, September 26 marked the launch of Emily Wilson’s new book, a translation of The Iliad. The Free Library of Philadelphia in Center City hosted the book launch with a discussion, followed by a book signing for those who attended. The moderator of the talk was Penn’s very own Professor Murgnahan. Through Professor Murgnahan’s carefully guided questions, the packed auditorium spent an hour listening intently…
Upcoming Events at the Penn Museum
By Erin Schott
For any Philadelphian interested in history, the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology offers a plethora of artifacts and exhibits. Among other treasures, it houses the largest Sphinx in the Western hemisphere and the headdress of Queen Puabi from the royal tombs of Ur. The Museum hosts events that allow people of all ages to learn about the collections while enjoying themselves. Here are a handful of in-person and virtual events that the Museum is offering in the coming months. We encourage kids and adults alike to attend these events to learn more about both ancient history and current events…
The Nobel Prize: A Modern Honor Steeped in Ancient Origins
By Devin Casano
Crafting one’s posthumous legacy is a task that many people spend their entire lifetimes pursuing, largely because of the inescapable nature and unknowability of death. For many, the pursuit of a fond legacy is a potent testament to the human desire for enduring significance and immortality — the hope that we may leave behind footsteps for future generations to follow and ensure that our identity and contributions live on for eternity.
A Compilation of Important Women From Roman History
By Matthew Breier
Ancient Roman society clearly demarcated male and female roles. Women were expected to act as dutiful daughters, wives, and mothers full of virtue, honor, and chastity. With unquestioned constantia (steadfastness), fides(loyalty), and pudicitia (sexual virtue), women spent their time in the home contributing to economic production and were not welcome in the political world…
Lucan’s Witch
By Erin Schott
From Morgan le Fay to Hermione Granger, witches captivate the imagination. Their motives and magical prowess enthrall the little child in all of us who yearns to cast a spell. And since there is no time of year when the witch receives more attention than Halloween, I thought this would be an appropriate moment to reflect upon the genesis of the contemporary witch by translating a passage of Lucan’s Bellum Civile. This “genesis” of the contemporary witch lies in Lucan’s Erictho, a frightening Thessalian sorceress whom Sextus Pompey has asked to reveal his father’s fate. Erictho has just told Sextus Pompey that she will use her dark arts to reanimate a corpse, which will then tell the fate of Pompey Magnus…
Negative Ethnic Stereotyping and Punica Fides
By Brooke Boyd
Punica fides, literally meaning “Punic faith,” is a derogatory Roman idiomatic expression synonymous with treachery; it alludes to the stereotype that Carthaginians had an inborn ethnic flaw that gave them a propensity for disingenuousness and faithlessness. The expression probably stems from allegations that the Carthaginians caused the Punic Wars by breaking several treaties. However, extant literary evidence suggests that the phrase did not enter the Roman vernacular until several generations after the Third Punic War’s conclusion, long past the point when there were any Punici in North Africa at whom the slur might be directed, though other negative ethnic stereotypes about Punics existed throughout Roman history…
