There was a fascinating array of talks exploring the relevance, impact and joy of learning about the ancient world. The keynote speaker, Professor Maria Wyke, posed the questions, ‘What are the specific technologies of film and television that determine how Rome now looks on screen? What periods of Roman History are selected for representation and why? Why does the representation of Ancient Rome change over time?’. Other talks ranged from ‘Milton’s Muse: the influence of classical epic on Milton’s Paradise Lost’, ‘Odyssean Oddities’, ‘The Masked Singer: Who is the real Dionysus?’ and ‘Treasures or Troubles: exploring the provenance of contested objects from the ancient world’.
It was also a very valuable experience for students to network with classicists from our sister schools and reconnect with students they had met at previous Classics events, including those from the ancient Greek summer school at Bryanston.
“My favourite talk was Maius Opus, all about asking the question whether the second half of the Aeneid is Virgil’s greater work even though it was arguably not as polished as the first half. I found it interesting how Goodhall commented on Aeneas calling upon the muse Erato even though the next books are about war. She spoke about how central love and passion are in causing this war indicating that this is the Iliadic portion of the epic. Moreover, the interpretation of the reason why Virgil uses Iulus killing Sylvia’s stag, a comparatively trivial matter beside Allecto’s effect on Amata and Turnus, was extremely interesting. This is because she suggested that perhaps Virgil is emphasising how silly it is for Romans to fight Romans, a direct link to his contemporary time. I took away that the second half of the Aeneid should not be skipped even though Virgil hadn’t finished editing it!”
Cara, Y13