Ovid goes meta by telling stories about people telling stories. Discussion Prompts What’s the deal with the house of Cadmus and the very specific form of madness resulting in people thinking other people are animals and killing them with their bare hands? Why that specific curse? What do you think of Cadmus and Harmonia beingContinue reading “Roman Epics XXV: Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 4, or Bedtime Stories”
Category Archives: The Romans
Roman Epics XXIII: Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 2, or Hold Your Tongue!
Any number of individuals get in trouble for speaking rashly in Book 2 of Metamorphoses. Discussion Prompts Why is Juno so upset about Jupiter’s creation of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor? What would you do if you were the Raven? What does the story of Phaethon have to say about generations? Parenting? Hubris? What doContinue reading “Roman Epics XXIII: Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 2, or Hold Your Tongue!”
Roman Tragedy XII: Humanism in Roman Tragedy
Summing up our stoic tragedies Discussion Prompts Do these tragedies achieve their goal of teaching about stoic philosophy? Why or why not? If you were to use theatre to teach stoicism, what would you do? What do these plays have to say about being human today? What do these plays have to say about love,Continue reading “Roman Tragedy XII: Humanism in Roman Tragedy”
Roman Epics XXII: Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 1, or Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
It’s a new epic! And a new poet! Ovid is going to change. Or at least write about changes. Something like that. Another plug for the Galleria Borghese in Rome: This is where you can see Bernini’s beautiful, heartbreaking Apollo and Daphne. How that man managed to turn marble into flesh and bark and leaves,Continue reading “Roman Epics XXII: Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 1, or Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes”
Roman Tragedy XI: Pseudo-Seneca’s Octavia, or Definitely Not a Play by Seneca
You know it’s not going to be good when Nero is your husband… Discussion Prompts Why do you think this play was attributed to Seneca? Who is the best stoic? Why? Discuss the character of the nurse. How would you portray her? Directing questions: Vision, Setting, Dream Cast, etc. What does this play (and family)Continue reading “Roman Tragedy XI: Pseudo-Seneca’s Octavia, or Definitely Not a Play by Seneca”
Roman Epics XXI: Virgil’s Aeneid Book 12, or I Wonder If That’s How Virgil Wanted It To End
Wait. That’s the end?!? And as long promised, here is my favorite episode of Wishbone: Discussion Prompts Having watched the above, will you ever be able to read The Aeneid the same way again? What do you think of Aeneas’s actions at the end of Book 12? Juturna and Turnus. Discuss. Is this epic optimisticContinue reading “Roman Epics XXI: Virgil’s Aeneid Book 12, or I Wonder If That’s How Virgil Wanted It To End”
Roman Epics XX: Virgil’s Aeneid Book 11, or It’s Funeral Time!
It’s truce time! At least for a bit. Until it’s not. And once it’s not? It’s really not truce time anymore. Discussion Prompts AP Credit: Compare/contrast the funerals described in this book with those described in the Iliad. What do you think happens on Olympus after Apollo helps Arruns kill Diana’s beloved Camilla? Why isContinue reading “Roman Epics XX: Virgil’s Aeneid Book 11, or It’s Funeral Time!”
Roman Tragedy IX: Seneca’s Phoenissae, or I Think I Missed Something
What Phoenician women? No. Really. Where are they? Discussion Prompts Who is the best stoic in this play? What does this play have to say about parenthood and the relationship between parents and children? Write the fifth act of this play. Why do you think this play is called Phoenissae? Add a chorus to thisContinue reading “Roman Tragedy IX: Seneca’s Phoenissae, or I Think I Missed Something”
212. Roman Epics XIX: Virgil’s Aeneid Book 10, or A Study in Scarlet
My professor described this book as “a study in violence,” so… fair warning? Discussion Prompts AP Credit: Discuss the deaths in this book as sacrifices for the founding of Rome. AP Credit: Compare/contrast the events of this book with The Iliad. Why do you think Fate is more powerful than the gods? Does Aeneas haveContinue reading “212. Roman Epics XIX: Virgil’s Aeneid Book 10, or A Study in Scarlet”
Roman Tragedy VIII: Seneca’s Thyestes, or Well, That Explains the Curse
And this is why the House of Atreus can’t have nice things… Discussion Prompts AP Credit: Discuss human sacrifice in the family of Tantalus. Who is the best stoic in this play? Why? What do you imagine Seneca’s source material might have looked like? How might it have told this story differently? Why do youContinue reading “Roman Tragedy VIII: Seneca’s Thyestes, or Well, That Explains the Curse”
Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization 