DSFC Classics & Philosophy

Setting work for Year 12 just digging into Imperial Image and Odyssey. Without planning it that way it's a double @wmarybeard: masculine self-assertion as kyrios in Odyssey 1 and some work on military triumphs too.

@MostlyPrint I really like his Foreign Office, even though the humour has not all aged well.

Stiff Upper Lip, one of Lawrence Durrell’s less familiar humorous Foreign Office tales. Illustrated by Nicolas Clerihew Bentley, who was born #OTD in 1907. Bentley was also a publisher and writer (eg light-hearted satirical poems in Lilliput 1939). He died in 1978.

Time to write out some Leavers' prizes. I couldn't really see how it could not be @DAMendelsohnNYC 's Odyssey (although were there a nice Ahl Virgil edition...). I am hoping that this @PenguinUKBooks translation will replace the Rieu for @OCR_Classics at some point.

Made possible by an incredible team of experts at all stages of learning about classics @KathrynTempest #TwistedTransfers @litandphil @classicsforall @DeveralCapps @DSFCOfficial @QESFC @rgs_classics @DurhamHighSch @TeessideHigh @Dunelmia @classicsforall

@DAMendelsohnNYC That would be brilliant

@DSFCclassics Clearly I’ll have to come to Durham to say hello when I’m in the UK to promote the book!

@DAMendelsohnNYC's notes to his Odyssey are really good. The focus he has put on self-control notes has formed the basis of a revision exercise looking for instances of this control in Od and for its absence in others. I'd put money on his notes being cited in the A-Level.

We already used his essay on Aeneid, so not even a new name to learn.

A year's wait is almost up. I loved @DAMendelsohnNYC's Cavafy and use his essay on Virgil in class, so have very high hopes for this.

@UChicagoPress @DAMendelsohnNYC But sadly not open to UK. I'll have to buy one if transatlantic trade is still allowed by then.

We're giving away 100 copies of Daniel Mendelsohn's landmark translation of THE ODYSSEY on GoodReads! Register for the giveaway and find out more here: buff.ly/TksmeJE

Marking mocks and have enjoyed hearing the stoic Sage described as "The Stoic Influencer". That sounds about right.

@AntigoneJournal @grok @elonmusk Alternative, and less combative, reading would be that referring to a historical figure you do not believe to be a living god as "our Lord" is uncomfortable and feels dishonest, so rather than seek to change an established dating system, you rephrase it. "Less honest"? No.

Asked @grok / @elonmusk about BC/AD vs BCE/CE and received a refreshingly honest, and sound, response.

Every year when we embark on Seneca in @OCR_Classics, we think of @lizgloyn and are grateful!

Reading @wmarybeard's Emperor of Rome. How have I got until today without knowing Augustus had a pet goat he took with him on sea voyages!? Greek anthology IX. 224

@LEJenksBrown I'm quite looking forward to it myself.

@blueraspbaby5 "Start in the middle" is the advice on books she received and gives. It's the proem to the Odyssey.

but yes exactly

@Durham_Classics Tickets bought.

Check this double bill showing of Euripides' "Elektra" (trans. Emily Wilson) and Aristophanes' "The Women at the Thesmophoria" (adapted by Samantha Dotson). durhamstudenttheatre.org/whats-on/elekt… . There is a concession price for Classics Society members, bringing the ticket down to only £6!

@p_historians @DocCrom @antmoose @chapps @AncientRomeLive @roamintheempire They had some gall I think.

Some of the male priests of the goddess Cybele went through self-castration in order to serve her. We only have one word to describe their piety : yeeeeowch. #CheekyFacts #AncientRome

@Lindsay_Powell Romanes eunt domus

"Unlike the senator sitting outside the cafe with his newspaper, the daubing of “irrumabo imperatores” on a wall of Rome by cover of darkness is perfectly believable." theconversation.com/graffiti-was-a…

@Earnshaw_K @DianaJSpencer @NevilleMorley I just listened to this after having taught bk6 of the Aeneid yesterday. You mentioned Virgil says somewhere "poets lie about the underworld". Would you connect that with the gates of ivory? We have been trying to decode that image.

I’m on Californian time atm so not heard it all yet, but I can say that this was *so* fun to do. Melvyn Bragg was generous & encouraging, and it was really nice to sit down with @DianaJSpencer and @NevilleMorley to chat about Virgil’s Georgics! 🌾 🐝 bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

@Ray_Mears In Borneo on a school trip this year I remembered Ray Mears saying "knock out shoes in the tropics". I did so and this little fellow came out! Could have kissed him!

Ray Mears latest interview with This is money - thisismoney.co.uk/money/meandmym…