Classics Department In this issue: What s hot and what s not in the Ancient World Flora Barber s latest Classic: Roman armour from cereal boxes Good idea, but no. January s most misunderstood Latin The best Greek writer you ve never heard of Ask Athena: problem solving for the Classical citizen Longest words in Greek Macaronics by Year 10 Mrs Baird s favourite websites pr. Kal.Feb MMXIII CAESAR Salad THE CLASSICAL NEWSLETTER- ISSUE 1 1 obol (the price of a one-way trip to the Underworld) scribenda et legenda Welcome to the first issue of Caesar Salad...scribenda et legenda, and congratulations to Lizzie Jones, Year 10, who suggested the name! Thank you to all those who have contributed to this issue and we look forward to receiving more from you for next time! MY CLASSICS SUMMER VENTURE After a little inspiration from some books I was reading, I decided to create my own armour. In the summer holiday of 2012, I decided to start another project. This time it was even more complicated and source demanding than any other crafts I have made. After a little inspiration from some books I was reading, I decided to create my own set of armour. I started with lots of research into Greek and Roman armour pictures. After a week I finally found one website that did various medieval, film and Classic designs. I adapted the instructions for different proportions, shapes, fittings, purposes and decorations. I ended up making 2 sets of armour (not for decoration) that include: 2 helmets (Greek) 2 helmet non-rub caps 2 chest pieces (Roman/Greek) 2 protective skirts (Roman/Greek) 2 sword holders (Roman) 2 shields (Roman/Greek) 2 ankle non-rub protectors 2 greaves (Greek) 2 bracers (Roman/Greek) After lots of PVA, newspaper, fabric, water, acrylic paint, hole punching and multi-tasking meal breaks, I finally finished in a couple of weeks (thanks goes to the Olympic equestrian team for keeping me motivated while getting glue absolutely everywhere). The bug carried on until the end of the holidays with many more bits and pieces being created. The pictures are of the test run that was carried out with my friend. Luckily, all of the parts passed with flying colours and are now resting at home. They showed no sign of damage (even when they were accidently sat on and dropped from great heights). I wonder what is next Flora Barber, Year 9 Longest words in Greek by Mrs Komar This month s long word is: σπερμαγοραιολεκιθολαχανοπώλιδες (spermagoraiolekitholachanopolides) greengrocery- market-women (Aristophanes Lysistrata). Try to fit it into as many conversations as you can in February. Good luck MSJ. FREE AND GRATIS INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE GODDESS WEEKLY
ASK ATHENA - GODDESS OF WISDOM Problem solving for the Classical Citizen I WANT TO TRY A shorter hair cut but my snakes are objecting, what should I do? Medusa, Cisthene Dear Medusa, you could try an up do which I m sure that your snakes would not object to quite as much but if you wanted a more dramatic look you could try changing your snake skins for a different colour. Anyway, they do say that electric blue is the new emerald green. I HAVE RECENTLY betrayed my wife which I understand is wrong but to get her revenge she killed our children, how should I deal with this? Jason, seen to be wearing a golden fleece Dear Jason, I don t think that there is much that I can recommend but you could try worshipping as many gods and goddesses as possible. LAST WEEK I WENT to the opticians to get my eye checked out. I found that I was short sighted and I need to see to look after my sheep but there are no glasses or contact lenses that fit me. What should I do? Polyphemus the Cyclops I can see that this situation is a bit problematic for you but there is something that you can do. If you buy a normal pair of glasses you could refashion them to one lens. I would like to thank everybody who has written into Ask Athena this week but I would like to state that praying to myself or any of the other deities may not have much or any effect on the situation. Please do not try and copy any of the examples set by others who have written in and I would like to inform you that no snakes were harmed in the creation of Medusa s new hair style. INSPIRED BY A.D. GODLEY S POEM MOTOR BUS (1914), MRS KOMAR S YEAR 10S HAVE BEEN WRITING THEIR OWN MACARONICS (POEMS IN TWO LANGUAGES). APUD SANTAM EVERYTHING ALIVE PRESENTS BEING FLUNG ELVES ON A HIGH by India Wilkinson Year 10 Good idea, but no by Mrs Komar Most commonly confused words in translations this month: tandem and tamen! Careful there! tandem at last tamen however CIRCA SANTAM ELVES GATHERED ROUND LISTENING INTENTE YOU COULD HEAR NO SOUND PRO SANTA THE REINDEER FLEW HIGH PULLING ALL THE PRESENTS ALL AROUND THE SKY SINE SANTA FESSI FROM THE FUN EVERYONE WENT BACK TO WORK CHRISTMAS WAS ALL DONE BY CHARLOTTE DAVEY YEAR 10 invitus? Invite? I can see why you said it, but no. invitus, sadly, has nothing to do with inviting! As ever, there have been far too many instances of dogs being eaten by Caecilius and his family in Book 1. Remember canis cenam consumit- the dog eats the dinner cena canem consumit- the dinner eats the dog. Poor old Cerberus. In the news this month The Pope is tweeting in Latin! LOL :D invitus unwilling canis dog cena dinner
By Charlotte Davey and Elizabeth Thomas, Year 10 Babies don t make great accessories especially hanging off curtain. Augustus might be a good emperor, but not a great dresser. What is up with the curtain round his waist?! He must love that curtain to want to carry round the pole as well Charlotte: 1/10 Elizabeth : 1.5/10 Valeria Messalina, third wife of Claudius, cousin of Nero, second cousin of Caligula and great-grandniece of Augustus, has got it all right using the baby, with a six pack may we just add, in the right way, to emphasise her lovely figure. Her hair beautifully braided and hidden in tight curls really does it for this strong woman figure. YOU GO GIRL! ITE PUELLAE! Charlotte : 8/10 Elizabeth : 7/10 Another Macaronic Tractori or To a Tractor by Lizzie Jones The noisiness tractoris. magna copia tractorum everywhere. I walk circum tractores, inter tractores. Hell on wheels as I get pro tractoribus. I m starting to run; they are going to run me over, cum suis amicis tractoribus!
The best Greek writers you ve never heard of by Mrs Komar LONGOS (about whom virtually nothing is known) is the author of the 3 rd Century AD Greek bucolic* novel, Daphnis and Chloe, a love story about a shepherd boy and girl. Goethe calls it a masterpiece beside which the good Virgil retreats somewhat into the background. I chose Longos because he seems, inexplicably, to have named his characters after my cats. *BUCOLIC is derived from the Greek word boukolikos ( rustic / pastoral ). Boukolos is the Greek for cowherd and, as such, indispensable in conversations with the ancients. Forthcoming Events (February): Sparta: Separating Fact from Fiction, lecture by Dr. Andrew Bayliss at the University of Birmingham, 7th February 2013, 5.30 pm. Year 9 trip to Bath, 25th February Year 8 Latin Reading Competition at St. Edward s School, Cheltenham, 27th February, 2.30 pm. Competition! Guess the weight of Apollo (Room 24) Answers to Mrs Komar or Mrs Baird asap. What has Classics got to do with me? Mrs Komar s thought for January Outside my cottage I had nothing but my school; but having my school I had everything. (Sir Ernest Baker). Our word school comes from the Greek schole meaning leisure, spare time, ease *. School is a place of its own: an escape from the mundane; an opportunity to indulge in the privilege of learning. Study Latin, Greek or Classical Civilisation and sweep aside limitations of time and place. Open your eyes and ears to the sights and sounds of millennia of intellectual adventure and you will discover yourselves. *The Latin for school is ludi games (connected with the verb ludo, I play ). My Favourite.Websites by Mrs Baird (in honour of Safer Internet Day) Learn about figures of speech from HOMER (not the C8th B.C Homer - Author of the Iliad and Odyssey but Homer Simpson..) http://grammar.about.com/od/rhetoricstyle/a/homerhet.htm The Classical Anthology is a collection of beautiful and memorable passages from Greek and Latin literature, each with a translation so that anyone can enjoy them. Anyone can contribute, whether you have a Doctorate, did Latin for a year at school, or none at all. The more contributions the better! http://classicalanthology.theclassicslibrary.com/ I love visiting the British Museum both for the building and the contents and the website is particularly exciting at the moment because of the upcoming, very exciting Pompeii exhibition. http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/pompeii_and_herculaneum.aspx Do you have a favourite Greek writer you ve never heard of? Let us know! I visit the isac cruises website because I am looking forward to the 3 continents cruise coming up in October Half Term. We are sailing. http://www.isacruises.org.uk/ TOP TIPS For Learning Latin Vocabulary This month s top tip comes from Sarah Carrington in Year 13: if you can t remember that ubi can mean where, think UBI UBI doo, where are you? If you have a top tip, tell us! In the next edition: Finch s and Hatt s Roman Horoscopes Why I love Classics Shocking interview with the U6th Classics Mentors, Robyn Annetts and Beth Barnes. Review of the Year 9 trip to Bath My favourite? by Mrs Baird Beth Barnes explains why Miranda is Plautus Plus all our regular features and much more!!! I mustn't forget Caecilius and the Cambridge Latin Course. http://www.cambridgescp.com/ Lpage.php?p=clc^top^home 01684 892288
Carthage news THE GODDESS WEEKLY Dido s sister Anna confides in MSJ Classics Student Bethany Stark HOW I HELPED MY SISTER COMMIT SUICIDE... Anna, sister to beautiful Queen of Carthage Dido, reveals to us what really happened that shocking and terrible day last week when Queen Dido tragically committed suicide: As I m sure most of you know my sister s beloved husband Sychaeus was brutally murdered by our wicked brother Pygmalion, after which my sister had to flee her homeland to found her own city Carthage in North Africa. Although heartbroken, she was a really great queen and leader, her people loved her, but after Sychaeus death she swore to herself that she would never love anyone else or marry, ever. Naturally this was a terrible worry for the family, no children to carry on the inheritance? Yet she was the favourite of so many other suitors, I was always slightly jealous of her popularity among the African chiefs she even rejected Iarbus! So as soon as my sister told me she had taken slightly more than a fancy to the handsome Trojan, Aeneas, hot off the battlefields of Troy, although I have to admit I was surprised at how consumed she seemed, I encouraged her as best I could. Thinking back to it, admittedly my words may have been a little harsh, but in my defense they were honest and truthful, I had the family s best interests at heart! I reminded her that she would waste away childless and alone should she not take this man, I would ve hated to see this unhappiness. Aeneas would certainly be a blessing to Carthage, the Trojans would be on our side and there were some designing aspects of the city Dido definitely hadn t got right, if you ask me. I also needn t have reminded her about the threats of war on Carthage from our brother in Tyre and the attack from any other African tribes for that matter. I rejoiced in my success for when I saw Dido and Aeneas together I knew they were meant to be, blessed by the gods. She clung to his every word when he told her battle stories from Troy and she took him on tours of the city under construction showing off its wealth and potential. From what I could see my sister was infatuated with love but it was after their marriage that I first guessed something wasn t quite right. She had always been so strict with herself since Sychaeus died and even the people were starting to notice a change in her, which didn't do her reputation any favours! Carthage s development was almost non-existent. We knew Juno certainly wouldn t be impressed- to this day I ask myself why I stood by and said nothing. The day she died was the worst of my life. I remember she had quarreled with Aeneas because he was leaving to fulfill some silly destiny, so had asked me to reason with him to buy her some time, to get used to living with the grief, and find out where he was going but it was as though his ears were blocked by the gods. Her depression frightened me a little but the next day she said she knew a way to rid Aeneas from her thoughts and asked me for a favour, to build a pyre so that she may burn all his possessions. Of course I obeyed, I was delighted to see some hope of improvement in her distress. Little did I know I was only helping her death. When I heard what she had done I was beside myself with grief I had helped my own sister to die! The entire palace was ringing with the sound of weeping. I tore through the crowd to the body, not only was I distraught with loss but angry that she could have deceived me in such a way, I could have helped her get over Aeneas. The guilt I now feel is unbearable, not only did I encourage her relationship with Aeneas but I provided the funeral pyre for her death. How can I go on living with this weight? 23rd November, A long, long time ago! Next time: Trojans fooled by huge wooden, Greek horse Unnatural storms, thought to be the work of an angry goddess, take the lives of many Trojans Aeneas visits Evander at Pallanteum