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
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
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
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
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…
Ancient Greek Pancakes
By Adrian Altieri
Although the concept of a pancake, especially one with toppings like chocolate, fruit, or whipped cream, may seem like a more modern idea, a particular version was a staple of the Ancient Greek breakfast. This type of pancake, referred to as a “girdle-cake” (ταγηνίτης, tagenites) by the Athenians or a “griddle-cake” (τηγανίτης, teganites) by the Anatolian Greeks, is a mixture of wheat flour and water, fried in olive oil, including either sea salt, honey, or sesame seeds…
The Truth of the Human Function
By Samantha Costello
What is the meaning of life? As humans, we have all probably pondered this question at some point in our short existences. In fact, it is my understanding that this question has plagued humanity since the beginning of time…
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…
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…
“… Different and Again Different Waters Flow”
Change and the Logos of Heraclitus
By Syed Riza Qadri
Heraclitus’s fragments on change and the impermanence of nature read like reminders of one’s own passing existence. “It is not possible to step twice into the same river” seems to say (DK 22B91), “Yesterday is gone, and today shall be gone tomorrow.” But as one reads through these extant writings of the philosopher, the thought that some day one shall be gone as well doesn’t feel morose…
