Roman Horror!

At the NJCL Convention, one of the workshops that was held was about the influence of Roman tropes that inspired modern horror films that we very familiar with today.
He cited various different themes amongst Greco-Roman literature, including but not limited to, cannibalism, vampires, the undead, demons and so forth.
One story was entitled Thyestes by Seneca. In it, the brother of Thyestes has chopped up his children and serves them to Thyestes, as well as their blood in the wine that Thyestes has been drinking. Atreus, the brother, is delighted to tell Thyestes that his children will "always be with him" while bringing forth their heads on a platter to show his brother.
There were other stories, that one is the most disturbing to me so it seemed the most appropriate to share.
Personally, I am not the biggest fan of horror movies because they inspire paranoid thoughts and make me have weird dreams. My sister, however, loves it, especially anything about zombies.
I still clearly have Gaul on the brain because I was thinking yesterday about how one would go about writing a horror movie set in Gaul involving the Romans. The Gallic religion is ripe with superstition and human sacrifice, so it could end up being a really cool mesh.
I've started jotting down some ideas, but I need still need to research some other Greco-Roman horror stories.
This topic is really starting to fascinate me, so there will definitely be more to come.

Wake Forest Inspirational Convention

My class is over for the summer at UGA. My group did our project and I even turned in my paper early (I didn't know I'd have access to wifi here). I had a short respit yesterday. My mom even stayed over Tuesday to get my cats since I wasn't able to take them to their house myself.

This trip to National Convention started for my 3 Latin babies and me at 7am. The drive, though filled with the infectious and colorful personalities, was a tedious 5 hours. I'm so sick of driving I could throw up.

After we got our room keys and other vital information to get settled in before General Assembly. Wake Forest is small enough with clear signs of where specific buildings, that it didn't take too terribly long to the dorm. My co-pilot found the map after we parked the car.

......

We've been here for almost a whole day now. My girls are at colloquia, aka a workshop, and I am taking a break before we have to meet for our 2nd general assembly.

Being here as an adult, a teacher, leaves only my imagination to wonder what it must be like to be here as a student. These kids are busy almost the entire time. Not only do they have academic tests and a quiz to test your Classical knowledge, but they have athletic and artistic competitions as well. It is truly astonishing! I must add that one of my most favorite parts is that most of the kids are self-motivated and don't require their sponsors to constantly hound them to participate.

I, unfortunately, did not have the luck to have attended a high school with a Latin program. We had Spanish. Not that Spanish isn't worth learning, it just doesn't seem to light a fire in your soul the way Classics does for these Latin students. I feel a disadvantage when I'm speaking with other sponsors or chaperones, who have their own experiences as delegates at these conventions where most of them also probably gained the passion for teaching the language in high school.

I wish there was some way that Georgia could offer Latin in every high school in the state. I'm sure some people still believe that Latin has no relevance in modern world since it's a "dead" language. Obviously, these people barely paid attention in their Spanish or French classes to realize, that Latin is the mother of all things. These people also haven't witnessed the amount of academic rigor and enthusiasm at both State and National convention to realize that these students have brought this "dead" language back to life and it is thriving!

Those of you who have children that are not in high school yet, remember that if you want your child to really be challenged academically and grow a network of friends nationwide who are just as intelligent as your child could be, sign them up for Latin.

http://www.camws.org/cpl/educators/TCAsurvey2.pdf

From Bacchus to Mercury

Memory shouldn't only be a reflection in the perfect and imperfect tenses, but also a guide for the future. When I was 14, I was en route to getting baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church in my hometown, one of the steps that I had to participate in every week was Lectio Divina. Now my memory of the process may have slightly altered over time, but basically what you do is read a section of the Bible and with a relaxed mind, you pick out the words that stick out to you the most. It was like the Luscher color test, but with words. Because those words stick out to you, your brain and heart are trying to tell you something and it's your task to figure that out. 

Fast-forward 10 years and you have me sitting here, forever changed by this process and always aware of the power that words have over me.  Instead of reading scriptures out of the Bible, I read the ancient poems and stories from Greece and Italy. 

Bacchus and his crazed followers fascinated me first. The unadulterated creativity that he could inspire seem to rival the muses, my first literary loves. Now, I feel the shift again...to the swift-footed Mercury. He seems to permeate every page I read. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips, text about Gallic/Celtic religion and The Infinities by John Banville, center around Mercury. 

If you happen to be Greco-Roman mythology deficient and believe that Mercury is only the messenger of the gods, let me just tell you. Mercury is also the god of travelers, commerce, thieves and healing. He not only has winged shoes but also at times a winged helmet and carries the caduceus. He also guides the souls of those who have just died into the afterlife. I don't know where this inspiration will take me, like most things in life, but I have to follow. 

The wings, I think are what get me the most. 

Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens

There comes a point when scientific evidence and literary sources fail us in regards to knowing and understanding our ancestors. We can only assume what wacky and wild things went on back in the old days. So, I wonder, if the Doctor were to work with archaeologists and historians, would we know more about antiquity. I'm sure most of the time that the Doctor is saving this world and that, but if he is the master of time, would he have the ability to multi-task his way into doing both? 


How do we know that the ancient Celts and Romans weren't really involved with this? 


Dr. Who, can you spare some time? 

The Druid Path...supposedly

Today, Dr. N was on her soap-box in class, but for good reason. The particular subsection of Celtic culture that we were going over today, or at least attempted to begin was "Death and Burials." Death, without any help from Hollywood or popular culture, is intense and tumultuous...and not even for the person who's passed.
The main point that I think Dr. N was trying to get across, in reference to the Celtic culture, is that we have no certain idea about the intent of the types of burials that have been found by archaeologists and therefore must be careful to NOT make assumptions and to base all interpretation on facts.

But there's no written record, so how do we know anything for certain.

This brings me to this guy and Druids. Now, it is completely possible that some modern version of paganism has sprung up and some people, especially those in Europe, may want to call it Druidism.

Let me reiterate...THEY DIDN'T WRITE ANYTHING DOWN.

In fact, in De Bello Gallico by good ole JC, he even emphasizes in Book 6.14 that:

That practice they seem to me to have adopted for two reasons; because they neither desire their doctrines to be divulged among the mass of the people, nor those who learn, to devote themselves the less to the efforts of memory, relying on writing; since it generally occurs to most men, that, in their dependence on writing, they relax their diligence in learning thoroughly, and their employment of the memory.


So, as you watch this video, take what this guy says about Druids with a grain of salt and ask yourself, "Why didn't he mention anything about sacrificing humans or horses?"

Focus on the Finish Line

The whole point of this blog thus far has been to document the journey that I experience as I go through graduate school. So far, my focus seems to be on how I'll make it to Athens in one piece.

Today, one of my good friends was kind enough to take me to Athens on her motorcycle. Without the tortuous feeling of my right leg trying to maintain a steady balance on the gas pedal (I have no cruise control) and the arduous focus on the road, I was able to let my mind wander and enjoy the scenery. The majority of the trip to Athens from Augusta takes place on the backroads through McDuffie, Wilkes, and Oglethorpe counties. When I drive, it's just a blur of trees and tiny towns. On the back on a motorcycle, you can spot the broken stone wall near Rayle, the broken down house hidden in the only trees left in a cleared out forest and the plethora of different smells that would be otherwise filtered by air conditioning.

My mind traveled from thought to thought seamlessly. Then I began to think about the saying, "It's about the journey not the destination."

The actual journey that I have been making each day to class seems to taking up most of my mental and physical energy. So, maybe, just maybe, it's not so much about the journey for me. I'm sure in the grand scheme of things it is, but not for July 2012. Even with that, I can't wrap my head around the fact that I will be spending the foreseeable future working towards becoming a Classicist and maybe/hopefully/definitely an archaeologist.  All I see is the finish line.

It's like when I run. On an actual course, as opposed to a treadmill, most of the time I'm focusing on each mile number that I can subtract from 3.1 or 6.2. I'm not stopping to smell the flowers. When I'm running on the treadmill, I have to keep my glances upwards so I won't see how far I have gone or have to go, otherwise I'll slow down or stop.

Perhaps the strain of driving 4 hours a day is meant to make me focus more on that academic finish line, help me adapt to the blisters, bruises and pain that is bound to face me no matter what decision I make.

I think we had just crossed into Columbia or McDuffie county, when I had a "Real Jillian" moment. The veneer of emotional and internal chaos faded away and my real voice said "Why would you ever let something like that try to break you. Find a way to get through this."

Backroads Auspices, part I

The past week, as I drive the 96 miles to and from Athens, I have spotted several very distinct birds. The first of note, was a red chicken about to fulfill his fate by crossing the road. That same afternoon, I saw three vultures (or maybe buzzards, they flew into the woods adjacent to the road before I could get a good look at them) eating roadkill. The next day, there was a discarded chicken. Then today, I saw a turkey standing in a pasture. 

As an Classicist Apprentice, I can help but wonder, what do all these bird sightings mean? Is there something good or bad down the road for me? 

Archaeology is far from Indiana Jones.

The fun of taking Classics courses is that each of your professors has a specific field that they themselves studied in the process of getting their doctorates. MPP wrote an entire book on Ovid's Fasti, the Doctor was an expert on early imperial Rome, and the Mater Familias could talk for hours on end about amphorae from the Kerameikos. My professor for Caesar's Gaul is truly an archaeologist. For this post I would simply like list a few very pivotal quotes that she has said in only 3 classes about archaeology. 

"Archaeology tell you what people do, not what people think...literary texts tell you what people think." 

"We have fallen out of love with maps." Couldn't agree more.... 

In reference to archaeological digs "Since you are destroying it, you'd better record the hell out of it." 

and my favorite "Women are bearers of culture." 

Book VI: Gauls versus Germans

            Two of my most favorite series in the entire whole are Rome and I, Claudius. I can watch them over and over again. Two scenes in particular have been brought to mind in the last day and a half. The first, from Rome,  is when Brutus, Cicero, Cassius and few other senators are looking below at the new senators, Gauls appointed by J.C. (Julius Caesar, not Christ). They are absolutely disgusted by the influx of new senators to begin with, but Gauls! It's an outrage! The scene from I, Claudius is a little more comical. It's just after Caligula has been assassinated and Claudius, in fear of his own life, hides in the curtains. After the Praetorian Guard have pulled him out from behind the curtain and proclaim the he become emperor, the German guards come storming in. One of the guards have to explain to one of the Germans that this is the new emperor. The German guard seems confused for a second until the Roman shouts "Kaiser" then "emperor" again. The camera goes to the German guards face and he says "Ja?!" and the Roman responds "Ja!" half laughing at him.
          I would not have given a second thought to these scenes if it hadn't been for the homework we had been assigned yesterday. Our group was assigned Book VI. Since there are 4 of us in the group and 44 chapters, we were able to divide them equally: 11 chapters each. I wasn't able to check my email last night to see which 11 were mine, so I opted for reading the whole book to be on the safe side. Now before all of you who know my reading habits get all in a tizzy, a book is like a chapter and a chapter is about the length of a paragraph, so not that horribly long. Holly had offered me a ticket to the Greenjackets game, so I packed up my Loeb edition of the Gallic Wars, and headed to Lake Olmstead.
           The first couple of chapters were about the conspiracy against the Romans by the Treveri tribe, etc etc etc. My section was basically a comparison of the two main groups that existed in Gaul: the Gauls (of course) and the Germans.
            The way that Caesar described the Gauls would make you think that he was describing the tough older brother of Rome. The first description is of the differences in their class system.
            Throughout Gaul there are two classes of persons of definite account and diginity. As for the common folk, they are treated almost as slaves, venturing not of themselves, never taken into counsel. (Book VI.13) 
 He even uses the term plebes for the Gallic lower classes instead of something like vulgus. Without much more description of the common people, he names the two upper classes of the Gauls. The first are the Druids. The Druids are in charge of almost every judicial and religious matter that happens. They can even ban you from participating in sacrifices, which likens you to a petty criminal. The coolest thing about the Druids, though, is that they learn all of their verses by memory. It's not that they can't write, Caesar evens states that when they do write, they use Greek letters.  This is the quote from my Loeb translation: 
       ...the assistance of writing tends to relax the diligence of the student and the action of the memory. (Book VI.14)
The other group are the Knights. The Knights are basically like a typical Roman patrician family. The men are expected to be in some sort of military service, the have the power over the lives of their family, and so forth. The only exceptional thing is that it is shameful for a son to be seen in public with his father unless he is fit for military service. Talk about earning your father's love. Oy!
The Gauls have other distinguishing characteristics but I'm more excited to talk about the Germans. The Germans in the time of Caesar were so beautifully simple. Let me clarify, that I don't mean simple as in dumb, but simple as in no-frills self control, living off the land so to speak. The Germans sought out toil and hardship and remained chaste until they were, minimum, 20 years old. It weakened the zeal of a warrior to do otherwise. They didn't even live in the same place for more than a year at a time to keep themselves from becoming attached to the land.
The rest of the description of the Germans was in one of my group members section, so I didn't read too much more, though I do plan to.

In my mind, Germans win the awesome factor.

This is why Classicists learn German, to avoid this confusion.

Start at minute 5:40 and go to 6:34 to see how the Praetorian guards explained to the German guards that Claudius was their new emperor. It's really adorable actually.

A different kind of 4:20...

My first day of graduate school began at 4:20 a.m., if you count when my first alarm went off. 4:45a.m. is the time that I forced both feet on the floor. I was smart enough to prepare a lot of things before I went to bed the night before, but I still somehow got onto I-20 much later than I had intended. I was a little less nervous heading to Athens than I did when I took the Latin Proficiency Exam, but nervous none the less. The drive was tedious.  The Arctic Monkeys and The Stills kept me from getting too dangerously distracted.

          

      I got to the UGA campus with exactly 46 minutes to spare.  The bookstore wasn’t too hard to locate. In fact, I was delighted how easy it was with the “CAMPUS BOOKSTORE” on the outside. Sometimes the world throws you one. In my pre-class mind, the bookstore was crowded and people were rude and no one would help me find my books. In the real world, there were probably a maximum of 10 people in the entire store, which makes the bookstore at Ole Miss look like a lemonade stand.  The textbooks were on the 2^nd level. I was greeted by a very pleasant bookstore nerd who helped me find my book and guided me then to the register.

           

     I hiked up the sidewalks towards Park Hall. I made it to the front door just before the humidity induced an asthma attack. The room for Archaeology of Caesar’s Gaul was already occupied by other grad students/Latin teachers. I recognized some from the Georgia Junior Classical League State Convention this past April but by their expressions when they saw me, I doubt the memory was mutual. I found a seat in the back, not necessarily to hide from the professor but it was my closest landing zone.

           

      After about 10 minutes of sitting there quietly, half looking through my new textbook, half eaves dropping on the people in the front of the room, a guy set his stuff down in the seat next to me. I looked up at him briefly and thought he looked incredibly familiar. I chewed on it for a minute, and realized that he had gone to Ole Miss and was one of the few other true classics majors in my classes.

          

      The professor, who I later classified as a happy mix of Molly and Ajootian and detests being called ma’am, didn’t even begin lecturing before giving us our first assignment...which was group work. I dread group work like the plague. Sitting there waiting for her to let us choose ours made me empathize with my own kids and also realize the importance of pre-choosing groups for them.  Luckily, my Ole Miss comrade remembered me so he and I and two other people from the class made our group.

      Our very first homework assignment was to find specific descriptions of Gauls in Caesar's De Bello Gallico. Each group was assigned a different book. Ours was Book VI. 

It would have been a decent class except for the fact that an English class kicked us out. I would have stayed  longer in Athens if I wasn't paying by the hour for parking. I headed back home, worked out, ate something, then did my homework at the Greenjackets game. I read better in chaos, less distractions.  

My first day of graduate school ended at 10pm.