THE SEASONAL STENTORIANTHE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR

CLASSICS NEWSLETTERVolume 2, Number 1 Winter 2003

NEW 2003/2004CLASSICS COURSES

The Department ofC lass i ca l an d M o d e rnLanguages, Literatures, andCivilizations intends to offer anumber of new courses in thearea of Classics beginning inSeptember of 2003.

Among the new coursesplanned are one on Greekpoetry, one in Greek prose, onein Latin poetry, and one in Latinprose (Greek Drama will bedeleted from our offerings, butthe new arrangement will greatlyexpand our ancient literaryfocus). Next year we plan tointroduce only the Greek poetryand Latin prose to begin with.These will feature variousancient authors read intranslation.

Another new intro-duction will be a rotating topicscourse to be given every year.In 2003/2004 Dr. Max Nelsonwill present as the topic “Leisureand Pleasure in the AncientWorld”, which will includeexaminations of such aspects ofancient life as sex, intoxication,and games. In 2004/2005, inconjunction with the Olympics,Dr. Robert Weir will make thetopic “Sports and AthleticCompetition.” Further topicswill be announced.

C L A S S I C S’MOVIE AFTERNOON

The Department ofClassical and Modern Languageswill be hosting a Classics’ movieafternoon on January 22 from 3to 5 P.M. in Lambton Tower

7118 (the French Departmentconference room). The film tobe shown will be the not sohighly acclaimed Druids (2001),which concerns the GaulVercingetorix (played byChristopher Lambert) who leadshis people against the Romangeneral Julius Caesar (played byKlaus Maria Brandauer); Maxvon Sydow is also featured.There will be free popcorn.

All are welcome to attend!

“His people made him a leader.The empire made him arenegade. History made him ahero.”

CLASSICS TRIVIACORNER

ANCIENT TATTOOS

Tattooing, that ispricking the skin with needlesdipped in ink, is a very ancientpractise, first attested onmummies in Egypt (where it wasoften associated with religiousrites). The Greeks and Romansin general used tattoos forpunitive purposes, a prac-ticethat they seem to have borrowedfrom the Persians. Thus slaveswere often tattooed withinscriptions on the forehead orelsewhere on the face as apunishment for running away orotherwise being unfaithful.Condemned criminals were alsooccasional-ly tattooed with, itseems, a description of theircrime, usually on the hands orankles, and sometimes thishappened also to prisoners ofwar. At least by the fourthcentury A.D. Roman soldierswere tattooed (either on the armor hand) with the emblem oftheir unit so as to make desertionmore difficult; workers inImperial armament factorieswere also marked for similarreasons. We hear of some whowould attempt to hide theirtattoos, as by growing their hairlong, and in fact tattooscould even be removed byphysicians with the use ofcaustic agents.

The Greeks and Romansnever tattooed them-selves fordecorative purposes thoughsome of the so-cal led“barbarians” did. There are anumber of ancient Greek vasepaintings depicting Thracianwomen with tattoos of animals(such as deer) or of simplepatterns (such as spirals) on theirarms or legs. Thracian men alsohad tattoos, and this wasconsidered a sign of noble birth.Remarkably, the actual remainsof a Scythian warrior from thefifth century B.C. have beenfound with his tattooed skinpreserved by the cold of hisSiberian grave (as seen in thedrawing below, taken from T. T.Rice. The Scythians3 [London1961], p. 115, fig. 27). Certain inhabitants of Britain(especially the Picts, but also theCelts) would also tattoothemselves, largely with animaldesigns (such as boars or snakes)

and usually in blue. Finally itcan be noted that some Africanpeoples would, as they still dotoday, practise scarification.

Sources:

Jones, C. P. “Stigma: Tattooingand Branding in Graeco-RomanAntiquity.” Journal of RomanStudies 77 (1987) 139-155.MacQuarrie, C. W. “Insular CelticTattooing: History, Myth, andMetaphor.” Études celtiques 33(1997) 159-189.

S P E C I A LGUEST LECTUREJANUARY 8, 2003

Dr. Sabine Grebe ofthe University of Cambridgeand the University ofHeidelberg will present ap a p e r e n t i t l e d “ T h eConstruction of a CollectiveMemory: Secular and DivineAuthority in Vergil’s Aeneid.”This will take place at 12:00noon in Lambton Tower 6118(the conference room). Allare welcome to attend!

ONE MORELATIN PUZZLE

Due to the popularityof the Latin crosswordpuzzles in the last issue, hereis one more, which has beenvery cleverly designed for thisnewsletter by Dr. Jean-ClaudeSusini of the University ofToronto.

I II III IV

I

II

III

IV

I • Tribuo.II • Es. III • Quod est carpendum.IV • Quod relinquitur tarde

venientibus.

Solution next issue ...

SOLUTIONS FOR THEPUZZLES FROM THE

LAST ISSUE:

ANCIENT RIDDLES

Petronius (Satyricon 58): one’sfoot

Greek Anthology (14.22):silence

Clearchus (in Athen., 452c): a eunuch, a bat, fennel, andpumice

B I R D I A N A

I II III IV

I A P E R

II P O N O

III E N I M

IV R O M A

I II III IV

I A M O R

II M A R O

III O R I S

IV R O S A______________________

NOTAE ETOBITER DICTA

“This is a great initiative!”Neil Gold, Vice PresidentUniversity of WindsorOn The Seasonal Stentorian

_____________________

If you would like to submit ashort article, announcement,letter or puzzle to the Classicsnewsletter, please contact theeditor Dr. Max Nelson atmnelson@uwindsor.ca.

S T U D E N T B L O O P E R S

THE GREEKS

Without Greeks wewouldn’t have history. Buthistory, as we know, isalways bias, because humanbeings have to be studied byother human beings, not byindependent observers ofanother species.

The Greeks werefamous for their velour inbattle. Among the notedbuildings of Greece was theEsophagus, a temple toJupiter, and the Pancreas.The Calcium was a Greekbuilding with large brickwindows. The Greeksinvented three kinds ofcolumns: Corinthian, Dorc,and Ironic. Pheidias excretedmany statues on the acropolis.

Helen of Troylaunched a thousand shipswith her face. The TrojanWar raged between theGreeks and the Tories. Weknow about this thanks toHomer’s story (which he hadtranslated so the people couldread it) about Ulysses Grantand Iliad, the painful wife heleft behind. Penelope was thelast hardship that Ulyssesendured on his journey.Achilles was the boy whosemother dipped him in theRiver Stinx until he wasintolerable. Three timesAchilles chased the lifelessbody of Hector around thewalls of Troy. Not being verywell heeled, Achilles lost hislife. Later, the Trojans rode awooden horse that said,

“Beware the Greeks askingfor lifts.”

The Greeks wereimportant at culture andscience. U. Clid proved thatthere is more then one side toevery plain. Pythaga-saurusfathered the tr iangle.Archimedes made the firststeamboat and power drill.

Socrates taught thepeople to love God andcountry and lead a cleanChristian life. He was nothandsome. He went aroundgiving people advice and theykilled him. He died from anoverdose of wedlock. Platoinvented reality. Aristotlethought that to do virtuousacts was only a man’s way oftrying to gain notoriety. TheSophists justified them-selvesby changing relativeswhenever this needed to bedone. Lust was a must for theEpicureans. The Stoics werethe disciples of Zero andbe l ieved in noth ing .Anonymous and Ibid werenoted Greek authors.Alexander the Great sadlydied with no hairs.

In Athens, every-thingthey did was done in public.T h e y h a d p u b l i centertainments such as thepublic baths. In Sparta, allboys who were not able towalk were killed when born.Spartan boys only wereeducated; their mind was noteducated but their bodies.The Spartans had to enduregreat pain; if they were put todeath they should never showit. The Spartan phalanx was ahuge mass of men with nojoints and was thereforeawkward to move about. The

Spartan mother used to say toher son, “Return with yourshield or pawn it.”

King Xerox of Persiainvaded Greece but fell offshort. The most decisivebattle in the Greco-PersianWars was that one fought inthe Plains of Abraham. Theycalled the battle “Marathon”because they had to run so farto reach the Persians that itwas like a marathon race.

The Greeks could notread Latin even though it wasthe national language.Christianity was very easy tolearn so they adopted it.______________________

Sources:Abingdon, A. Bigger and BetterBoners (New York 1952).Henriksson, A. “Hindsight into theFuture.” Harper’s Magazine, April2000, 20 and 22-23.Henriksson, A. “His Tree Re-Livid.” The Detroit News, April 1,1983, A1 and 4.Shine, N. “Past Imperfect:Students Blunder Their WayThrough Hysteric Events.” TheDetroit Free Press, April 14, 1991,F3.Also viva voce from manyinstructors.______________________

In the next issue:

THE ROMANS