Aeneid Progress

Thanks to a very talented group of students under the supervision of Dr. Lucy McInerney (B.A. Dickinson ’15, PhD Brown ’24), the DCC edition of Vergil’s Aeneid is now complete through Book 2. The initial release back in 2016 only covered the then AP selections. It was always my intent to expand the coverage, and the opportunity to complete Books 1 and 2 came this summer (2024) with the pilot Dickinson College Commentaries High School Online Internship Program. 

The inaugural 2024 program served a total of 24 students over the period June 24 through August 2. Five were rising juniors (class of ’26), 16 were rising seniors (’25), and three had just graduated. Ten were from public schools, 10 from private schools, and 4 from parochial schools. The states represented were PA (7), NY (5), MA (4), NC (3), CA (2), TN (2), and VA (1).

Two  groups (of four total) worked with Lucy on gathering notes for the Aeneid. They drew on a variety of published and public domain commentaries. They met on Zoom five days per week for 50 minutes and read Latin and chose and edited notes on their own, before and after the daily sessions. They completed the so-far uncommented selections of Books 1 (177 lines) and 2 (330 lines). The group from Book 1 finished early and was able to do some final proofreading on the work done by the Book 2 group. Lucy cleaned up the results, and I did a final editing pass, adding some hyperlinks, fixing formatting, and adding a few notes of my own where I thought they were needed.

Huge thanks are due to the students and their teachers:

The Book 1 group was Felix Chen (The Harker Upper School, San Jose, CA, teacher Scott Paterson), Victoria Greco and Madeline LaJoy (Shenendehowa High School, Clifton Park, NY, teacher Keziah Armstrong), and Bridget Bauman (East Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, teacher Jenni Hoffman).

Zoom group of 8 or so people

The Book 2 group was Maeve Cannon and Imaan Ansari (Trinity School in New York, NY, teachers Peter Aronoff and Eric Casey), Lily Moore (San Luis Obispo Classical Academy High School, teachers Sarah Weinschenk [Dickinson ’84] and Pamela Bleisch), Thea Blakley (Central Magnet School, Murfreesboro, TN, teacher Lindley Henson), and Xan Matuch (The Haverford School, Haverford, PA, teacher Andrew Fenton).

Kentucky Neo-Latin Symposium 2024

I am excited to attend my first Kentucky Neo-Latin Conference this week, organized by the amazing Jennifer Tunberg and Laura Manning. The program does not seem to be freely available online, so I reproduce it here.

KLFC Neo-Latin Symposium program screenshot

Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 9:10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Via Zoom

Latin and Scientific Discovery in Australia and Peru; Learning Latin in Mexico

Organized by: Jennifer Tunberg, University of Kentucky. Chaired by: Terence Tunberg, University of Kentucky

9:109:20 Welcoming Remarks

9:209:40

“Flora in the Antipodes: Baron Ferdinand von Mueller’s Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.” Peter James Dennistoun Bryant. Independent scholar, Conventicula Lexintoniensia

9:4010:00

“A Medical Thesis by a Peruvian Mulatto Towards the End of the Colonial Period.” Angela Helmer (University of South Dakota)

10:0010:20

“What if the earliest students of Latin in the Americas were… Aztecs? Indigenous Latin in early colonial Mexico.” Ambra Marzocchi (Brown University; University of Kentucky alumna)

10:2010:50 Discussion

10:501:00 Pause

Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 1:00 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. via Zoom

Translation, Style, Censorship: 4 NeoLatin Texts, ss. 1618

Organized by: Laura Manning and Jennifer Tunberg, University of Kentucky. Chaired by: Milena Minkova, University of Kentucky

1:001:20

“Moro, Maumethanus, or both? Descriptions of Islamic believers in Archangelus Madrignanus’s Itinerarium.” Shruti Rajgopal (University College Cork, Ireland)

1:201:40

“Cleansing the Channels of Expression? The Early Prose Style of Bonaventure Baron (16101696)” Jason Harris (University College Cork, Ireland)

1:402:00 Discussion

2:002:20 Pause

2:202:40

“Quanto Elegantius, Tanto Difficilius: on the Latin of Jacobus Trigland III’s Diatribe de Secta Karæorum” Justin Mansfield. Independent Scholar

2:403:00

“Timui ne a censoribus italicis prohiberetur: An analysis of prepublication censorial interventions in Gian Vittorio Rossi’s Pinacotheca” Jennifer Nelson (The Robbins Collection, UC Berkeley School of Law

3:003:20 Discussion

Friday, April 19, 2024 – 10:00 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. via Zoom

Empire and Colony in Europe and the New World: Four NeoLatin Perspectives, ss. 1618

Organized by: Julia Hernández and Laura Manning. Chaired by: Leni Ribeiro Leite (University of Kentucky)

10:0010:20

“Luisa Sigea’s Syntra (1553): Framing Feminine Space at the “Hesperian” Margin of Empire.” Julia Hernández (New York University)

10:2010:40

“Epic emulation of Vergil’s Georgics in Basílio da Gama’s Brasilienses Aurifodinae.” Dreykon Fernandes Nascimento (University of Espírito Santo)

10:4011:00 Discussion

11:0011:20 Pause

11:2011:40

“Translating AntiImperial Dissent in NeoLatin: Antonio de Guevara’s Horologium Principum.”  Matthew Gorey (Wabash College)

11:4012:00

“Traveling to Lisbon: Maffei’s Historiae Indicae (1588) and the Portuguese Empire.” Christopher Francese (Dickinson College)

12:0012:20 Discussion

12:2012:40 Closing Remarks

Dickinson Summer Greek Workshop 2024: Xenophon, Cyropaedia

DICKINSON SUMMER GREEK WORKSHOP: JULY 2226, 2024 

Moderators: Prof. Norman B. Sandridge (Howard University) 

Prof. Scott Farrington (Dickinson College) 

For the 2024 Dickinson Summer Greek Workshop we will read selections from Xenophons Cyropaedia, “The Education of Cyrus. Xenophon’s consideration of the best education for a just ruler, often described as a “historical romance,” contains elements of biography, philosophy, history, fiction, and political science. The crown jewel of Xenophon’s literary output, the Cyropaedia enjoyed great popularity in Republican Rome, was considered essential reading by Scipio, Cicero, and Cato, and has much to offer Hellenists of every stripe. Book cover for Loving Humanity, Learning, and Being Honored: The Foundations of Leadership in Xenophon's Education of Cyrus (Hellenic Studies Series) showing a Persian king in a garden.

Leading our workshop will be Prof. Norman B. Sandridge (Howard University), author of Loving Humanity, Learning, and Being Honored: The Foundations of Leadership in Xenophon’s Education of Cyrus (Center for Hellenic Studies, 2012). 

The workshop will take place on Zoom from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. EDT. We hope that this format will allow participants from around the world to join us. 

TO APPLY: Please email Mrs. Stephanie Dyson, Classical Studies Academic Department Coordinator (dysonst@dickinson.edu). Include your email and the name of the workshop you plan to attend. A non-refundable fee of $200.00 is due by June 1, 2024, in the form of a check made out to Dickinson College, mailed to Stephanie Dyson, Department of Classical Studies, Dickinson College, Carlisle PA 17013. 

 

Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop 2024: Luisa Sigaea

July 9–14, 2024

The Dickinson Workshops are mainly intended for teachers of Latin, to refresh the mind through study of an extended text, and to share experiences and ideas. Sometimes those who are not currently engaged in teaching have participated as well, including students, retirees, and those working towards teacher certification.

The 2024 workshop will be conducted both in person ($600) and online ($400) and consist of readings from Luisa Sigaea de Velasco. (biography from womenwriters.nl.)

painted portrait of a woman in high collar dress, with Latin text at the side from her book,

Source: El Plural.com

Luisa Sigea is a very unusual example of a female scholar for both Portugal and Spain. Educated by her father, Diego Sigeo, Luisa was particularly famous for knowing Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, and Arabic as well as some modern languages. In 1542, she went with her sister to Queen Catarina’s court. Here they were at the service of the king’s sister, D. Maria of Portugal. Luisa had access to the royal library and could dedicate herself to her literary pursuits. Her most famous works, produced during these years, are: Duarum Virginum Colloquium de vita aulica et privata, a bucolic dialogue filled with classical topoi, and Syntra, a poem dedicated to her patron (D. Maria). We also have some letters, including letters sent to Pope Paul III. Sigea was by far the best and most renowned female scholar of her age.[1]

Texts for the workshop will be provided, based on the best modern editions.

Moderators:

Leni Ribeiro Leite, Associate Professor of Classics, The University of Kentucky

Ashley Roman, Adjunct Professor of Latin, Dickinson College

Fees, Meals, Facilities, and Lodging

The fee for each participant is $600 for those attending in person, $400 for those attending online. The fee for in person attendees covers lodging, breakfast and lunch in the Dickinson cafeteria, the facilities fee, which allows access to the gym, fitness center, and the library, as well as wireless and wired internet access while on campus. The fee does not cover the costs of books or travel, or of dinners, which are typically eaten in the various restaurants in Carlisle. Please keep in mind that the participation fee, once it has been received by the seminar’s organizers, is not refundable. This is an administrative necessity.

Lodging: accommodations will be in a student residence hall near the site of the sessions. The building features suite-style configurations of two double rooms sharing a private bathroom, or one double and one single room sharing a private bathroom.

Daily Routine

The first event for those attending in person is an introductory dinner at 6:00 p.m., July 9. Starting July 10, sessions will meet from 1:00p.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day, with mornings left free for preparation. The final session ends at 4:30 p.m. on July 14.

To Register

Please email Mrs. Stephanie Dyson, Classical Studies Academic Department Coordinator (dysonst@dickinson.edu). Include your email, physical address, phone number, and the name of the workshop you plan to attend. A non-refundable fee is due by June 1, 2024 in the form of a check made out to Dickinson College, mailed to Stephanie Dyson, Department of Classical Studies, Dickinson College, Carlisle PA 17013.

For more information, please contact Prof. Chris Francese (francese@dickinson.edu)

[1] Sofia Frade, “Hic sita Sigea est: satis hoc: Luisa Sigea and the Role of D. Maria, Infanta of Portugal, in Female Scholarship,” in Women Classical Scholars: Unsealing the Fountain from the Renaissance to Jacqueline de Romilly ed. Rosie Wyles and Edith Hall (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), p. 48. (preview from OUP)

Conventiculum Dickinsoniense 2024

July 15-21, 2024
20 people eating at round tables

The Conventiculum Dickinsoniense is an immersion seminar designed for those who want to acquire some ability at ex-tempore expression in Latin. A wide range of people can benefit from the seminar: professors in universities, teachers in secondary schools, graduate students, undergraduates, and other lovers of Latin, provided that anyone who considers applying has a solid understanding of the grammatical essentials of the Latin language. A minimum requirement for participation is knowledge of Latin grammar and the ability to read a Latin text of average complexity – even if this reading ability depends on frequent use of a dictionary.  But no previous experience in speaking Latin is necessary. Sessions will be aimed at helping participants to increase their ability to use Latin effectively in spoken discourse and to understand others speaking in Latin. After the first evening reception (in which any language may be spoken), Latin will be the language used throughout the seminar. Participants will be involved in intensive activity each day from morning until early evening (with breaks for lunch and mid-afternoon pauses). They will experience Latin conversations on topics ranging from themes in literature and art all the way to the routines and activities of daily life, and will enjoy the benefits of reading and discussing texts in the target language. Activities will involve both written and spoken discourse, both of which engage the active faculties of expression, and each of which is complementary to the other. The seminar will not merely illustrate how active Latin can be a useful tool for teachers, it will show how developing an active facility in Latin can directly and personally benefit any cultivator of Latin who wishes to acquire a more instinctive command of the language and a more intimate relationship with Latin writings.

Moderators:

Prof. Milena Minkova, University of Kentucky

Prof. Terence Tunberg, University of Kentucky

We can accept a maximum number of 35 participants. Deadline for applications is June 1, 2024. The participation fee for each participant will $600. The fee includes lodging in a single room in campus housing (and please note that lodging will be in a student residence near the site of the sessions), two meals (breakfast and lunch) per day, as well as the opening dinner, and a cookout at the Dickinson farm. Included in this price is also the facilities fee, which allows access to the gym, fitness center, and the library, as well as internet access. The $600 fee does not include the cost of dinners (except for the opening dinner), and does not include the cost of travel to and from the seminar. Dinners can easily be had at restaurants within walking distance from campus.  Please keep in mind that the participation fee of $600, once it has been received by the seminar’s organizers, is not refundable.  This is an administrative necessity.

Registered participants should plan to arrive in Carlisle, PA on July 15, in time to attend the first event of the seminar. This first event is an opening dinner and welcoming reception for all participants, which will begin at about 6:00 p.m., in which all languages are acceptable. The actual workshop sessions (in which Latin will the exclusive language) will begin early the next morning on July 16.

For more information and application instructions write to: Professor Terence Tunberg:

terence.tunberg@gmail.com

Public Speaking: Secrets from the Classical Tradition

Fighting racism, or any wicked, or simply wrongheaded, idea, ultimately demands attempts at persuasion, person to person. All non-violent activism and efforts at social change depend on rhetoric. It is fashionable now to believe that persuasion—the political kind, anyway—is something of a mirage, that much of our thinking is “motivated,” driven primarily not by argument and evidence but by self-interest, tribal loyalties, enduring personality traits, and demographic facts. Identity comes first; the rationalizations that make us feel that we are correct in our prejudices hobble along after. So argues Ezra Klein, for example, based on many psychological and political science studies, in Why We’re Polarized (2020). The role of the art of rhetoric in this model is not to persuade, but to activate and weaponize identities and their powerful latent drives. Politics in this view is best understood not as reasoned civic dialogue but as a high-stakes all-in partisan combat. Persuasion exists, but as a dog tied to the cart of identity group competition—so say the studies.

Classical authors from Aristotle to Demosthenes, Cicero to Quintilian, understood that the antithesis between identity and reason posed by such focus-group-and-psychological-study-wielding social scientists is entirely false. Common sense chimes in with Aristotle’s Rhetoric, which is really a brilliant exploration of psychology and emotion: persuasion is real, but not entirely rational. Eloquence uses reason and emotion, responds to identity and trades in argument. It is founded on the audience’s predispositions, its prejudices and existing opinions, but lives in the art of the orator. The orator’s moral responsibility as a citizen is significant because persuasion has real consequences, sometimes life and death. And the weapon of demagoguery is always at hand. Virtually every classical historian explores this dynamic, not to speak of the orators themselves and the rhetorically trained and gifted classical poets and dramatists. There is no more central topic in the classical canon than the techniques and ethics of persuasion, and no more burningly relevant aspect of the classical tradition today.

The power, delight, and social utility of eloquence, the universal desire among educated people to possess it, and the perception that the classical texts had unique keys to understanding it, lie behind the dominance of classical Greek and Latin in antebellum educational curricula. Caroline Winterer’s The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780 -1910 (2002) describes how students were willing to put up with punishing pedagogical regimes of memorization and humiliation to acquire access to the “world of words.” In the pre-industrial economy, classical study was the main route away from agricultural work to professional distinction as a lawyer, doctor, or preacher. But as Winterer emphasizes, the classical texts were not just a toolbox for professional success. They came with a set of values seen as key for maintenance of a republic, values that put checks on self-interest and party passion. Later, as grueling preparation in Greek and Latin proved inessential for success (hello, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln), the rationale for the classics shifted to their more ineffable aesthetic qualities, the wisdom and inner perfection to be found in the deep study of classical culture. The practical, rhetorical-political rationale for the classics shifted to the background. This inwardly directed self-cultivating focus of the classics as it developed in the later nineteenth century was the legacy of classical teaching to the humanities in modern academy, argues Winterer.

Why not revive the tradition of classics as a route to effectiveness in the world via eloquence, minus the Precambrian teaching methods? Many students are anxious about speaking in public, though they know the ability to do so is valuable for almost every profession, career, or ambition.  Despite its importance, public speaking is absent from most college curricula. It falls in the cracks between academic disciplines. Classical studies is well placed to meet this educational need. A judicious selection of classical theory and models, combined with modern insights and examples and abundant practice, will improve students’ skills, deepen their appreciation effective speaking, and help them critique unprincipled persuasion and demagoguery. Perhaps most importantly, it will help them get attention for ideas and causes they care about. Classical texts could help them change the world.

One problem is that classicists don’t consider themselves qualified to teach “speech.” Another is that, for many students, speech carries unpleasant reminders of being forced to watch the greatest hits of American political oratory and encouraged to speak in public in pompous platitudes. Then there is simple ignorance of what classical rhetoric is actually about. The peddling of that trio of abstractions, logos, ethos and pathos—terms dimly understood but somehow profound—and the focus on rhetorical devices (more recherche Greek terms) represent all that is irritating and pretentious in classical teaching. Then again, Aristotle’s Rhetoric is no easy read, and ancient rhetorical manuals are forensic in orientation and remote from the needs of the English language. Unfortunately, modern speech textbooks do little to improve on the pedantry of some of their ancient predecessors.

Luckily, materials are starting to become available that could form the basis of a contemporary public speaking class with a classical spin. James May’s How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion (2017) well translates key passages from the oratorical works of Cicero, helpfully introduced and annotated, and (bonus) it includes the Latin texts. Veteran journalist and teacher Roy Peter Clark publishes “x-ray readings” of contemporary speeches, like Greta Thunberg’s UN Speech and Obama’s Philadelphia speech on race, which are essentially classical-style rhetorical analyses without the intimidating verbiage. The Harvard Business Review has for years been publishing brilliant, undogmatic essays on persuasion in a business context, many of them with unacknowledged classical content, such as Jay Conger’s “The Necessary Art of Persuasion.”

One way to avoid the platitudinous reputation of “speech” is to focus on real life rhetorical challenges, like giving a pep talk (Sallust’s Catiline delivers two excellent ones), motivating people to take a looming threat seriously (Demosthenes’ life’s work), or apologizing (Aristotle has excellent advice, Rhet. Book 2, section 3). One can then pair classical precepts with modern examples, which students can find themselves and contribute to the discussion. Ditch logos, ethos and pathos (essentially an analytical framework) in favor for the practical trio of inventio, elocutio, and actio, that is, framing (coming up with arguments to suit a particular situation and audience), style (using memorable language), and delivery. This is Conger’s model, a stripped down, non-forensic version of the classical system. Students tend to be fixated on actio and neglect inventio and elocutio. Conger puts these in balance and adds the insight that an effective persuader/manager must listen as well as talk.

Classically informed analyses of modern speeches, such as Clark’s, or the wonderful essay on Kennedy’s Inaugural by Burnham Carter, Jr.[1] can help to focus attention on tailoring a message to a specific audience and paying close attention to word order, metaphor, sound, clause length, and the like. The classical stylistic criteria of correctness (words in common use, properly designating the things you want to say), clarity (meaning is immediately understandable, avoids excessive abstraction and euphemism), ornamentation (use of tropes and figures to add vitality and polish), and propriety (parts make a whole and the whole fits the occasion) apply to every speech and serve nicely as part of a rubric.

One way to keep the classical content lively is to read about famously high stakes rhetorical moments: the Mytilenaean debate (Johanna Hanink’s How to Think about War: An Ancient Guide to Foreign Policy [2019] excerpts and translates this and all the key speeches from Thucydides), the conspiracy of Catiline, Caesar and the mutiny at Vesontio, Marc Antony at the funeral of Caesar. Truly strong translations of key speeches from classical orators and historians, read aloud and recorded by good actors, would be a great help. Samuel Rowe has made a start by recording the first half of Cicero’s first Catilinarian in a compelling style, though the translation is the nineteenth century one by Yonge.

A syllabus constructed along these lines worked well for me, and the class drew a group more diverse in every way than the ones I teach in a normal classical civilization class. Since some of their speeches were about their own lives, experiences, and interests, I got to know the students better than in any class I have ever taught. Every teacher will have favorite speeches from classical works, so the problem is more one of choice and presentation than of finding suitable material. The balance of ancient and modern, of Aristotle and TED talk, will depend on what the students are ready for. But I am convinced that the vitality of classical rhetoric, its powerful conceptual framework, its ethic of public service, and its stylistic excellence, can speak effectively to contemporary problems and inspire today’s students.

 

 

 

 

 

[1] “President Kennedy’s Inaugural Address,” College Composition and Communication 14 (1963), 36–40.

Gonçalves’ Lexicon Magnum Latino-Sinicum

I am delighted to say that, at long last, our digital version of the Lexicon Magnum Latino-Sinicum by Joaquim Affonso Gonçalves is available online. This was a very challenging digitization project for me as a non-Chinese speaker, because of the sheer amount of data wrangling and massaging that was necessary, and because of the large number of people involved. It was made possible by the efforts of many volunteers, and in particular by the extraordinary work of developer Lara Frymark (Dickinson ’12), whose salary was paid by the Roberts Fund for Classical Studies at Dickinson College.

Search interface for the for the dictionary.

Developer Lara Frymark created the interface with Heroku.

The source is Joaquim Affonso Gonçalves, Lexicon Magnum Latino-Sinicum, 3rd edition (Peking: Typis Congregationis Missionis, 1936 [1st ed. Macau, 1841]). Also at Archive.org. The book was scanned at the Dickinson College Library from a copy kindly provided by the Firestone Library at Princeton University. The long process of digitization involved many twists and turn. A sketch of the process is here.
 
I trust this will be a useful resource for all Chinese speakers learning Latin. Still, the source work itself is quirky, old-fashioned, and imperfect. Our developer Lara Frymark, without whom nothing, has included a “suggest a translation” button for error reports and suggestions of any kind. Hopefully in the long run that will allow the community of Chinese-speaking Latinists to improve this resource. We also made the source data freely available, and others are more than welcome to build on and leverage what we have done.
 
This project has brought me into contact with many amazing Chinese-speaking Latinists at all levels from high school to R1 all over the world. God bless Digital Humanities for making possible this kind of joyful collaboration. My hope is that, in a time of increasing US-China tension, scholarly collaborations like this will continue and have positive effects, however small and localized. Thank you all, and onward!

A Greek Reader by Charles Anthon

This week a new project for DCC begins, the digitization and editing of A Greek Reader by Charles Anthon (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1840, with editions up through 1854). This work is itself a selection and reworking of Frederic Jacob’s 4-volume behemoth, Elementarbuch der griechischen Sprache für Anfänger und Geübtere, published in many editions in the early nineteenth century. If you believe the long, hostile, and anonymous review in the Boston-based North American Review of 1840, Anthon largely plagiarized his selection and translation of Jacobs from the 1832 Boston edition by Hilliard and Gray. But this is unfair. Anthon’s notes are new and extensive, and very useful to beginners. The review eventually admits this, but then roasts Anthon for giving too much help in the notes, a flaw that will, it asserts, utterly destroy standards of scholarship in the United States. Student friendly, this Anthon, my kind of guy. Stephen Newmeyer’s appreciation in Classical Outlook 59.2 (1981-82), pp. 41-44, gives a good summary of his remarkable career at Columbia College.

nine people in separate boxes on a Zoom call

Team Anthon as of May 23, 2023: Scott Smith, Chris Francese, Nick Morris, Haydon Alexander, Ryan Saputo, Jillienne Robinson-Warren, Mandy Porter, Barry Brinker, Meagan Ayer. Not pictured: Keziah Armstrong.

The book contains two “courses.” The shorter first course contains brief sentences exemplifying specific morphological features, such as declensions or conjugations. The longer second course consists of short to medium-length passages thematically arranged: Aesopic fables, anecdotes of philosophers, anecdotes of kings and statesmen, and anecdotes of Spartans. There is a section “natural history” (i.e. interesting critters), a section of mythology, mythological narrations, mythological dialogues (from Lucian), and a long section on geography. Then there is a series of extracts from Plutarch (“History and Biography”) mostly about Athenian statesman. There follow several poetic extracts from Homer and Anacreon, among others.

page of Greek text

The “First Course” gives short sentences which drill a particular declension or conjugation.

Our merry band of students, professors and other volunteers intends to digitize most of the work this summer using Bruce Robertson’s web-based application Lace: Visualizing, Editing and Searching Polylingual OCR Results. Once we have a digitized text we can begin editing and presenting the text with running vocabulary in DCC style. The current plan is to cut down somewhat on the geography section, which gets a bit dull, omit the Homer selections, since we already have a growing edition of Homer’s Odyssey on DCC, as well as Books 6 and 22 of the Iliad.

We plan to modernize the work by taking out some of the gendered language in the notes, and we will probably include extra passages that compensate for the reader’s masculine and Atheno-centric biases, which go back to Jacobs. This is an old work, and a resurrected Anthon will certainly not suit the needs of every teacher or student. The goal is to put a large amount of relatively easy Greek in the hands of readers with full running vocabulary lists and links to our version of Goodell’s School Grammar of Attic Greek. We are collaborating also with the Greek Learner Texts Project led by James Tauber and connected with Perseus. This will hopefully go part way to rectifying the imbalance between the sorts of lower intermediate resources available for Latin and the much smaller amount of such material available for Greek.

There are many such Greek readers from the 19th century, Greek Learner Texts Project is working on some of these. Our group consists of students from Dickinson, the University of New Hampshire, teachers, and some volunteers from the DCC community, all ably led by Professor R. Scott Smith from the University of New Hampshire. We’re very excited about this project. It’s a little different than what we have been publishing so far on DCC, but I trust that it will find a niche on our site. In the long term we could augment with other material from other Greek readers into a kind of super mega Greek reader. But for now we’re going to focus on Anthon, since his notes are so helpful for beginners. It will probably take a least a year to complete, more likely two, so if you would like to get involved in some way, please do let us know!

Dickinson Summer Greek Workshop 2023: Plutarch, Bravery of Women

DICKINSON SUMMER GREEK WORKSHOP: JULY 17-21, 2023 

Format: online only

Moderators: Prof. Mallory Monaco Caterine (Tulane University) and Prof. Scott Farrington (Dickinson College) 

Our text for 2023 is Plutarch’s Mulierum Virtutes (“Bravery of Women”). Unlike Thucydides’ Pericles, Plutarch believed that the names of virtuous women ought to be widely known, and he produced this book, he tells us, to prove that womanly virtue and manly virtue are one and the same. Join us and delight in unsurpassed examples of courage and bravery from all over the ancient world. Learn how the Trojan women selected the site of Rome, how the women of Salmantica faced down Hannibal’s thugs, and how Valeria and Cloelia escaped the grip of Tarquin’s sons.

Photo of a smiling Mallory Monaco Caterine in a dress

Mallory Monaco Caterine, Tulane University (PhD, Classics, 2013. Princeton University) Image source: Tulane University.

We will read the Greek text with vocabulary lists in the style of the Dickinson College Commentaries. We hope that this workshop will lead to the creation of a new commentary for DCC, and workshop participants will be invited to participate in that project. 

The workshop will take place on Zoom from 1:00 to 4:30  p.m. Eastern Time, US. 

TO APPLY: please email Mrs. Stephanie Dyson, Classical Studies Academic Department Coordinator (dysonst@dickinson.edu). Include your email and the name of the workshop you plan to attend. A non-refundable fee of $200.00 is due by June 1, 2023, in the form of a check made out to Dickinson College, mailed to Stephanie Dyson, Department of Classical Studies, Dickinson College, Carlisle PA 17013.