A Review of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Television Series

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Review of the Television Series
By Erin Schott

Students typically become classics majors by one of two routes: either their parents force them to take Latin in high school (my situation), or they read Percy Jackson. Rick Riordan’s popular book series provides an easy, fun entry point into the world of Greek mythology for young readers. Recognizing the series’ potential to draw in new majors, the Penn Classical Studies department offers a freshman course centered around Percy Jackson, and on March 20…

Nature’s Prominence

Nature’s Prominence
By Imaan Ansari and Caroline Pantzer

We prepared a poem centered around the myth of Daedalus and Icarus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. We focused on the phrase, “nātūram novat,” meaning “he altered nature,” and explored how Daedalus’ desire to alter nature affected both characters throughout the story. Daedalus yearns to be a master craftsman, overstepping his status as a mortal to create wings for his son Icarus, who ultimately “flies too close to the sun” and dies. In our poem, we retell the story of Daedalus and Icarus, displaying how “nātūram novat” becomes incorporated into their journey.

Bulls, Borders, and Banknotes: Europa and the Shaping of a Modern European Identity

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…

Kindred

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…

As a Budding Classics Student, Only Frederick Douglass Can Save My Education

As a Budding Classics Student, Only Frederick Douglass Can Save My Education
By Hunter Ryerson

Just before my ninth birthday, my father drove me to a Confederate graveyard deep in the American South. A statue of a gray-coated officer loomed in the afternoon light. At the time, I barely understood the profound implication behind those rows of crumbling gravestones set in the red clay ground: that these men and boys had died for a cause of oppression…

The Nobel Prize: A Modern Honor Steeped in Ancient Origins

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.

Beyond the Gladiator: a Guide to Ancient Roman Sports

Beyond the Gladiator: a Guide to Ancient Roman Sports
By Erin Schott

The gladiator is an iconic symbol of ancient Roman sports, and rightly so. His brutal battles in the Colosseum provided entertainment for Romans of numerous socioeconomic backgrounds, ranging from the senatorial elite to the slave class. At the same time, the gladiator is such a famous symbol of ancient Roman sports that gladiatorial combats tend to overshadow other forms of athletic competition…

The Very Best Men in Greek Mythology

The Very Best Men in Greek Mythology
By Maggie Yuan

Nearly every classics student that I’ve met was obsessed with Greco-Roman mythology as a child. It didn’t matter whether we read D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths or Percy Jackson, we were all fascinated by this ancient world filled with trickster gods and dashing heroes. But looking back, the stories themselves were pretty intense for a readership of children…

Plague and Politics: The Combination of Disease and Narrative in Thucydides’ History

Plague and Politics: The Combination of Disease and Narrative in Thucydides’ History
By Joshua Rose

At this point in the Covid-19 Pandemic, it should be unnecessary to reiterate just how devastating the virus has been over the past several years. And yet, even rolling past the third year of masks and intermittent lockdowns, we are constantly given new updates on the serious toll Covid has taken. One particularly grim new statistic shows that the US death toll from Covid will soon reach one million people…