Category: Articles

Circe: A Human Witch? Reviewing Madeline Miller’s “Epic”

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Circe: A Human Witch? Reviewing Madeline Miller’s “Epic”
By Olivia Wells

If you’ve read the Odyssey, you remember the enchantress Circe. While the legendary epic doesn’t tell us much about her background, we know she’s wily like Odysseus; she has magical powers and turns men to pigs, seemingly for fun. In a new retelling of this familiar story from antiquity, Madeline Miller expands the witch’s short role in the Odyssey into a full novel, Circe, which illuminates her story in a feminist light while harkening back to Homer’s epic…

Barbarians: Ancient History, Reimagined

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Barbarians: Ancient History, Reimagined
A Review of the New Netflix Series
By Sara Chopra, Margaret Dunn, and Olivia Wells

As the three Articles Editors of Discentes, each of whom happens to focus on a different aspect of the ancient world—Sara reads classical languages and literature, Margaret studies classical civilizations, and Olivia dedicates her work to Mediterranean archaeology—we decided to watch Barbarians ourselves and share some of our own thoughts on the popular series. Should Barbarians be the next show on your winter break Netflix binge list? Our answer—yes. Read our full review of its first season below to learn why…

Discentes’ Spring 2021 Course Guide

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Discentes Course Reviews
Our guide to Classical Studies and Ancient History course offerings this spring
By Sara Chopra

To give our classmates a better understanding of each course beyond its prospectus, syllabus, and PennInTouch description, we asked several members of our staff to reflect upon their past experiences with several of this year’s offerings. Read below to hear their thoughts, whether you’re a seasoned Classics major, considering a minor, or simply looking for an exciting course to fill a gap in your schedule…

A Semester at Pembroke College, Cambridge – Studying Classics Abroad

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Supervisions at Cambridge
By James Nycz

Studying abroad had been a goal of mine before I even arrived at Penn, but through my Classics courses I realized that studying abroad in Europe would allow me to explore a whole new experience of Classics. Not only would I actually be able to live in and visit the same places where the boundaries of Rome once extended, but I would also be able to witness and understand the long tradition of Classical scholarship that still exists in places like Britain…

Antiquity’s Influence on Cutting-Edge Runway

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Antiquity’s Influence on Cutting-Edge Runway
By Anna Fighera

Most accept classical influence as the sort which informs our present philosophical, political and legal fields. What would modern law, policy, and philosophy be without the guidance and inspiration of ancient thinkers? Despite acknowledgement of such relevance, many think classical influence ends there…

Damnatio Memoriae: On Facing, Not Forgetting, Our Past

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Damnatio Memoriae: On Facing, Not Forgetting, Our Past
By Mati Davis and Sara Chopra

On a rainy July 1st day several weeks ago, a crowd gathered along Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia to cheer on construction crews as they lifted and lowered a statue of the Confederate general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson from its pedestal. For many onlookers, the toppling of Jackson’s figure in their city —formerly the capital of the Confederacy—symbolized a step toward reshaping its racially oppressive past…

Culina Quarantina: A Series of Roman Recipes – Garum, Liquamen, Caroenum and Posca!

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Culina Quarantina: A Series of Roman Recipes – Garum, Liquamen, Caroenum and Posca!
By Alicia Lopez

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and baking to help pass the time in quarantine, so I decided to look into what cooking would have been like in Ancient Rome. Here are some of my favorite ancient recipes to help get you through quarantine. Bonam fortunam!

Culina Quarantina: A Series of Roman Recipes – Sweet Cabbage and Cato’s Roman Bread

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Culina Quarantina: A Series of Roman Recipes – Sweet Cabbage and Cato’s Roman Bread
By Alicia Lopez

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and baking to help pass the time in quarantine, so I decided to look into what cooking would have been like in Ancient Rome. Here are some of my favorite ancient recipes to help get you through quarantine. Bonam fortunam!