Classics friends, a colleague and I are trying to put together a pedagogy panel for CAMWS on working with grad students specifically - if you teach in a grad or post-bac program we'd love more submissions!
Eduardo García-Molina
@egarcmol.bsky.social
Ancient Historian. Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. PhD UChicago. Seleukid Empire, ancient archives, Hellenistic law, inscriptions, coins, antiquity in video games, & otters. 🇵🇷 (Bayamón) & 🏳️🌈
Found out there’s a mod for StarCraft 2’s campaign that turns it into a roguelike. In other totally unrelated news, I’ve developed some writer’s block.
Morning affirmation on my way to the office on campus.
Me: “This drink is so watered down…” The Ancient Greek bartender who made it: “Awww thank you!”
The pomerium, the sacred boundary around Rome within which (among other things) weapons were prohibited, ensured that Roman citizens had both PvP and PvE servers.
Something historically satisfying about seeing House of the Dragon diverge from R.R. Martin's histories, themselves a composite narrative built on various sources and hearsay. People (and Martin himself) getting angry about this, welcome to the world of History.
My hot take: the best actor to play Odysseus is Bob Odenkirk.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night had imo the best modern Scylla.
Eduardo García-Molina@egarcmol.bsky.social · 4d agoI understand why Scylla was depicted in the movie as a monstrous barnacle, but I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed they didn’t go full post-Homeric Scylla as a giant naked woman with barking dog heads, snakey fish tails, smashing sailors with their own rudders.
I understand why Scylla was depicted in the movie as a monstrous barnacle, but I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed they didn’t go full post-Homeric Scylla as a giant naked woman with barking dog heads, snakey fish tails, smashing sailors with their own rudders.
Cat wailing and scratching at my bathroom door to be let in, we call that convention a para-claw-sithyron.
Frankly, I think the best thing to come out of this movie is the possibility of drag performances referencing Homeric works and the high likelihood of someone using the name Gagamemnon.
Missed the opportunity to call it Twigmalion
kottke.org@kottke.org · 6d agoThe trailer for Wicker (starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki). “An outcast in a fishing village commissions a husband for herself made out of wicker.” Looks unhinged (complimentary). (via @skullsandsheets.bsky.social) [youtube.com]
It’s been fascinating seeing a Greek tragedy unfold. We’ve hit the anagnorisis.
Laura Bassett@lebassett.bsky.social · 7d agoEven the rich immortality guy is giving up
Given that Rome often overshadows Greece and Latinization is so frequent, it’s only fair we try to give exact transliterations when rendering Greek names. As they say, an ai for an ae.
After being expelled, the Athenian tyrant Hippias sought the help of Achaemenid Persia, proving to be one of the first people in recorded history to travel to Turkey for an heir transplant.
My favorite part was when Odysseus said “I don’t sea people, I see people” and the whole theatre stood up and clapped.
There is no one original review of Nolan's Odyssey, they’re all the product of an oral tradition of going “hmm, not quite right" at Classics conferences.
They’re calling it the most poorly-timed interview on Nolan’s Odyssey ever. As the titans of the field weigh in, my own meager contribution towards the movie. Featuring a mute Polyphemus, my love for Sophocle’s Philoctetes, snd a cut scene reveals the power of the poem to negotiate a personal loss.
How does the film ‘The Odyssey’ compare with Homer’s epic poem? – News Bureau
news.illinois.edu
Backrooms and the Odyssey in one summer. Finally, film representation for us people with no sense of direction.
I realize there are bigger fish of reception out there, but House of the Dragon having a plot point be driven by medieval numismatics is pretty neat.
Your semi-regular Attalos and Helios morning cuddle update.
Andrew Tate to start writing Ovidian exile poetry.
Also, the “Our age of bronze is collapsing” line is the equivalent of “Somehow Palpatine returned” for Classicists, Ancient Historians, and Archaeologists.
Eduardo García-Molina@egarcmol.bsky.social · 2w agoTLDR: A good Odyssey, a great American war film.
Fire in the sky, political fracturing, a reduction in naval trade, economic uncertainty, agriculture is suffering due to plague, and the Odyssey is premiering? Welcome back, Greek Dark Ages.
My many thanks to Dalton and Alexander for agreeing to write this with me. Check out our discussion of the first Percy Jackson book by @rickriordan.bsky.social and its film and TV adaptations!
Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 3w agoNew Rhea Receptions essay to brighten your Thursday! @amyvandervelde.bsky.social, Dalton Greene, and Alexander Maltby reflect upon @rickriordan.bsky.social's gift to all Classicists - Percy Jackson and "The Lightning Thief"! Check it out 👇
The Odyssey is premiering today. I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of editors for volumes on classical reception suddenly cried out in terror.