Son of Atreus
@olwags.bsky.social
Einstein disguised as Robin Hood (Former Classicist, now mostly watching movies)
Saw the Sex Purge movie today. There’s a scene where they’re eating visibly cold pizza, but the actors are selling that good (“the best I’ve ever had!”) and that it’s hot out of the oven. Again, cheese was clearly not warm… A metaphor for the movie: clearly cold pizza we’re told is hot
The discourse is moving on from the Odyssey, but one thing I’d like to see more of from Classicists is long-term perspective, less “Nolan’s film is bad/good and here’s why”. What does his adaptation say about today? What does it say about Homer? How does it fit within the tradition?
I liked the Odyssey more as a movie the second time. As an adaptation, about the same. I wish it had Achilles
Nolan’s Odyssey was an awesome, if flawed, movie. Speaking only about Classicists, we tend to gate keep when it comes to modern adaptations in a way that does the field a disservice
Ethan Kocak@ethankocak.com · 2w agoI have a personal belief that the more a person is a nerd for something: dinosaurs, The Odyssey, etc, the less likely they are to enjoy a popular entertainment version of that thing.
I taught a few classes with Emily Wilson’s translation (a class on the epic tradition, a classical mythology class) and I quite like it. Her Iliad is good too. Her review of Nolan’s missed the mark by a wide margin. Maddeningly so
Lucretius is the Lin Manuel Miranda of his day. *ducks back into the shadows*
"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 3w agoAgain, the only equivalent I can think of is, like, "teacher sings entire AP Government course and it ranks on the Billboard 100 for ten weeks" kind of achievement. And yet mostly the De Rerum Natura collects dust in the popular imagination. 3/
The only good adaptation of Homer would be one true to its roots: Footage of a series of poets reciting the poem in its entirety, not necessarily in order, in various ancient Greek dialects.
Corey Atad@coreyatad.com · 3mo agofor @gqmagazine.bsky.social, i went in on the American accents in The Odyssey (why they're both good, and not actually that unusual)
Plato’s version of Socrates has him constantly asking his interlocutors to define their terms and the interlocutors famously took it well. But seriously, we need more definition in our discourse(s)
Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 4mo agoAfter seeing the aftermath of Abdul El-Sayed asking Olivia Reingold what she meant by a Jewish state, I became convinced it's a question that should be asked more often. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Saw my first Waymo in the Twin Cities. It had a support the troops ribbon magnet and was pulling up to Trader Joe’s. Heckuva of a combo
Halfway through the decade! What are your favorite films each year so far? 2020: Minari 2021: West Side Story 2022: Tár 2023: Killers of the Flower Moon 2024: Anora 2025: Sinners
Brian Tallerico@briantallerico.bsky.social · 7mo agoHalfway through the decade! What are your favorite films each year so far? 2020: Small Axe 2021: Memoria 2022: The Fabelmans 2023: Killers of the Flower Moon 2024: Anora 2025: One Battle After Another
Well, it certainly caught my attention and, as a piece of marketing, I’d say that means it worked. Hopefully the movie’s good!
IGN@ign.com · 8mo agoA new poster for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey just dropped:
I went to see Mad Max: Fury Road knowing basically nothing ahead of time. Getting up to leave after it was done, I looked back at my seat, knowing I’d never be the same again
Dave Levitan@davelevitan.bsky.social · 8mo agoRaising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences? Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
Did this program about a decade ago, in grad school, and it was one of the best learning experiences I’ve had. If you, try to go.
Evan Jewell@quidamabo.bsky.social · 9mo agoA reminder: we are very interested in having *school teachers* apply for the Classical Summer School, in addition to graduate students. Please pass this along to any teachers you may know!
*everybody who has paid off or is still paying off their bachelor's degree in classics* OK THANKS CHRIS I'VE GOT THIS IT'S GENITIVE OF SUUM GENUS, "HIS/HER/ITS OWN KIND," GENITIVE OF ATTRIBUTE, YOU GOT ANY MORE QUESTIONS LIKE THIS YOU CALL ME UP OK I'M RIGHT OVER HERE
Brandy Zadrozny@brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 9mo agocompletely outside of politics, this is so charming
Agree with this deeply until the Aeneid enters the conversation
the Mountain Goats@themountaingoats.bsky.social · 10mo agothe publication of posthumous work without the expressed & explicit consent of the author is wrong, and many great works of literature are none of our business; the "well, we don't really know what they wanted" gymnastics people do in order to publish work authors sought to destroy is also wrong.
Edina, MN. I’d also say Monticello (because of the more famous one) but that dang C can go both ways
Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com · 10mo agoWhat’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?
I used to sell Dippin’ Dots as my summer job during the 00s. If a customer asked me my favorite flavor, I always said vanilla. They only rarely got it, but it is. Truly. And vanilla Dots as a root beer float? That’s bliss
Emily St. James@emilystjams.bsky.social · 11mo agoMy wife has been talking for, like, five minutes about how much she likes vanilla ice cream, pausing every few seconds to insist it's not a bit.
Lost a spelling bee in elementary school because I thought there were two spellings for SENTENCE, one for the “prison” kind and one for the “group of words/phrases” kind.
Saimi Hanma ⚔️ サイミ@saimihanma.bsky.social · 11mo agoHello, I'm a professional author and I can never spell permanently or camouflage on the first try. Come, make me feel better and share your nemesis words.
Has to be that “ye” like “ye olde shoppe” wasn’t pronounced “yee” but the y is how they represented the now-lost letter thorn (þ, a th- sound)
Meredith Rose@mrose.ink · 12mo agoOk folks: what is your favorite fact that you share with people (maybe a bit too) eagerly?
Been out of the field for a minute but UChicago seemed like one of the bastions that would never fold only a few years ago…
Dana Stevens@thehighsign.bsky.social · 12mo agoWow. The University of Chicago, a world-class institution whose humanities faculty in the past has included Homi Bhabha & Lauren Berlant & Ralph Ellison & Hannah freaking Arendt, is getting rid of basically every graduate department involving the acknowledgment that other cultures & languages exist.
This idea also applies to what people say on the internet: You can just…not like a thing. You don’t have to announce it to the world. It’s much easier
Jane Coaston@janecoaston.bsky.social · last yr.I mean it's being extremely enthusiastic about not liking something or doing something, and having met people who are like that for any number of things (sports, for example), it's... very annoying.
The Fabelmans (his most recent) and before that, West Side Story (the next most recent)…then you have to go back a whopping 9 years to Lincoln.
I’m biased (come get the Green Apple Sucker Ice Cream!) but some of these foods looks mighty tasty. Some also look like they’d offend the gods for their hubris. Can’t wait to try them.
Minnesota Star Tribune@startribune.com · last yr.Hike up those stretchy pants: it’s time to start obsessing over what to eat first. The Minnesota State Fair has released the official list of new foods and new vendors making their debut at the Great Minnesota Get Together. bit.ly/44vPxUJ
You’re telling that a new writing medium was invented and in the shift to the new medium we lost volumes of the old medium? You don’t say! What a surprise!
