Day: August 14, 2012

On Your Classical Conference Calendar This Week …

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

We added the following to the Classical Conference Calendar (see tab above):

Calls for Papers:

  • The Decapolis: History and Archaeology (UOxford … deadline not specified but the conference is in July 2013)
  • Conflict in the Peloponnese (deadline October 1o)
  • Change and Identity in Ritual and Poetry (UTSA … deadline Oct 31)

Conferences:

  • Revenge and Gender (Bristol), September 5-6
  • Associations in Context (Copenhagen), October 11-13 (info to come?)
  • Ancient Cosmologies (St Andrews), November 2-4
  • The Sound of Latin (Oxford), November 8
  • AMPRAW (Birmingham), December 10-11 (registration by Oct 31)
  • ACL Institute (Memphis), June 27-29

CONF: The Sound of Latin

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Seen on the Classicists list:

Conference: The Sound of Latin
Jesus College, Oxford (Ship Street Conference Centre)
Thursday 8 November, 2-6 p.m.

The Oxford Classics Faculty is giving advance notice of this conference, which will take place on November 8. Further details will be sent round in October. The title is self-explanatory.

Armand D’Angour, Jesus College, Oxford: Phonemic variations in Latin verse

Wolfgang de Melo, Wolfson College, Oxford: Laws of early Latin versification and why Plautus abides by them

Roland Mayer, King’s College, London: Ictus and Accent: to beat or not to beat

Llewelyn Morgan, Brasenose College, Oxford: ‘An almost unlimited range of effects’: the nature and force of ‘elision’

James Morwood, Wadham College, Oxford: Hidden Quantities in Latin: how to recognize them and why they matter

John Penney, Wolfson College, Oxford: Spoken Latin and Latin Verse

Ian McAuslan will read a passage of Latin poetry.
All are welcome.

Medea … Vodka?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

We’ve been searching for assorted products appropriate for our Ultimate Classics Conference (see, e.g., here) and last night my spiders came back with a mention of Medea Vodka (“The Most Loved Vodka in the World” … I’m thinking one better not go back to drinking Smirnoff or Stoli after) … I’m sure we could put it in our Caesars, but I doubt any Classicist would dare drink it. I’m sure folks will understand if I don’t put it on the catering list) … the bottle is cool (not Classical) though:

Also Seen: Thucydides v Jonah Lehrer

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

As you might be aware, Jonah Lehrer has been coming under fire of late for admitting that he made quotes up while writing his biography of Bob Dylan (i.e., he put words into the mouth of his subject to suit his purpose). I’m happy to say that I’m not the only one who (briefly) thought of Thucydides’ methods, as Robert Zaretsky (who does French history at the University of Houston) has written an OpEd in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Here’s on paragraph that caught my eye for different reasons, however:

In a situation Thucydides would recognize, the ridiculously young and improbably successful Lehrer — author of three bestselling books, an immensely popular lecturer, and staff writer for The New Yorker, all at the age of 31 — spurred the envy not of Olympus, but our blogosphere. Ever so slightly like Alcibiades, the young and gifted Athenian portrayed by Thucydides as the tragic victim of his overreaching, Lehrer brought upon himself our own age’s Furies — bloggers and internet vigilantes — enraged perhaps as much by his worldly success as by his professional sloppiness.

Bloggers as Furies … but guilty of envy themselves? In any event, read the whole thing at:

From the Italian Press: Patrician Burial from Riardo

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Not a lot of detail in this one other than the fact they appear to have found some black-figure terracotta fragments, some roof tiles, and some polished/shaped stones. I can’t quite figure out if they think this is actually a necropolis or a villa site or both …  here’s the first paragraph from Corriere del Mezzogiorno:

Un nuovo sito archeologico è venuto alla luce sul territorio di Riardo. È bastata un’aratura più profonda per riportare in superficie resti antichissimi fra cui cocci di vasi a vernice nera, terrecotte, contenitori, tegole, vasi e rocce ben levigate e squadrate. Rapidissimo il sopralluogo della Soprintendenza di Caserta — con il funzionario Antonio Salerno responsabile dell’ufficio dei Beni Archeologici di Calvi Risorta — che ha delimitato la zona e inviato la necessaria comunicazione ai proprietari del fondo e ai carabinieri di Pietramelara, competenti per territorio. Immediatamente sospeso ogni intervento sul fondo agricolo in attesa di ulteriori accertamenti da parte della Soprintendenza. La scoperta, secondo alcune indiscrezioni, potrebbe assumere una grossa importanza anche in considerazione della sua ubicazione. La prima ipotesi indicherebbe la presenza di una struttura, probabilmente una grossa villa fortificata. Il sito si trova nei pressi del Campo dei Monaci e vicino alle sorgenti della Ferrarelle. […]

The article goes on, but seems to be talking mostly about things found at other sites in the area. Not sure what Riardo would have been called in ancient times …