Erin Schott

A Review of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Television Series

Posted on by Discentes

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…

Read More

Penelope’s Wait: A Translation of Ovid’s Heroides Book I Lines 1–50

Posted on by Discentes

Penelope’s Wait: A Translation of Ovid’s Heroides Book I Lines 1–50
By Erin Schott

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey have endured for thousands of years because they tell stories still true to the human experience. The Iliad recounts the horrors of war and the egotism of those in power, while the Odyssey narrates an arduous homecoming to a place that is not the same as before…

Read More

Roman Matrons and Sexual Morality at the Convivium

Posted on by Discentes

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…

Read More

Upcoming Events at the Penn Museum

Posted on by Discentes

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…

Read More

Lucan’s Witch

Posted on by Discentes

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…

Read More

Beyond the Gladiator: a Guide to Ancient Roman Sports

Posted on by Discentes

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…

Read More

Daedalus and Icarus: A Tale of Many Metamorphoses

Posted on by Discentes

Daedalus and Icarus: A Tale of Many Metamorphoses
By Erin Schott

In his fifteen-book magnum opus, Ovid recounts over 250 myths. These range from the disturbing and violent (Procne and Philomela) to the sweet and innocent (Baucis and Philemon) and all shades in between. Yet what unites this seemingly disparate set of myths is the poem’s title Metamorphoses, for each myth describes a change or evolution…

Read More