CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK On 15 November 2018, Mr Giulio di Basilio (UCD) gave a talk on ‘Socrates on Euthychia, or Whether We Need Luck in Life’ at 7.30pm. It was a very interesting paper which led to prolonged audience discussion: everyone seemed to have a view on what exactly luck was and how much we need it. On 22 November, at the Granary Theatre, William Mann presented a one-man show of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, featuring his own translation of the play. This thought-provoking and well-received performance concluded with a question-and-answer session which, among other things, offered valuable insights into the difficulties of working with stage blood. William returned to Cork on 16 January 2019, to give a talk entitled ‘Do you have to know Greek to translate Greek tragedy?’ Not all the audience were convinced of his approach but it made for a very lively discussion indeed, with considerable audience participation. On 29 January Professor Clare Rowan (University of Warwick) spoke on ‘Token Images of the Julio-Claudians’. At a very wellattended lecture, Professor Rowan introduced the audience to the widespread use of tokens in the ancient world, discussing what characterised them, what they show about society, and their value as an alternative currency. Dr Donncha O’Rourke of Edinburgh University spoke on ‘Flood and Cataclysm in Roman Epic’ on 14 March. This excellent and wide-ranging paper traced the theme of cosmic destruction by fire or flood in Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, Seneca, and Lucan. On 25 March Dr Martine Cuypers (TCD) spoke on ‘Crocodile Tears: a “Lament of Helen” from Petosiris’ Recycle Bin and the Hellenistic Reception of Euripides’. In a well-argued paper, Dr Cuypers suggested various models for and ways of rereading the ‘Lament of Helen’, a poem found on a fragment of papyrus. Although Dr Cuypers almost managed to derail her own talk by describing how the papyrus had come from a mummified crocodile (and that as a result an enormous number of crocodile mummies were destroyed by hopeful scholars), this paper gave a fascinating insight into the vibrant literary culture of Hellenistic Egypt. 10
May 2019 Spoken Latin at UCC continues to thrive and an interested group meets weekly for Latin conversation. Postgraduate students are already taking spoken Latin for credit and, for the first time, it will appear on the undergraduate curriculum in September 2019. The third Schola Latina (a week of immersive Latin) will take place from 5-11 June this summer. Please see https://www.ucc.ie/en/cnls/scholalatina/. Catherine Ware
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN Trinity’s Classics department was delighted to host many exciting lectures and events in the past months. The Classics Research Seminar, convened by Shane Wallace, included talks by Eleri Cousins (St Andrews) on Romano-British art, Raphaëla Dubrueil (TCD) on Sparta and theatre in Plutarch, Nikolaos Papazarkadas (Berkeley) on the refoundation of Thebes, and Nicoletta Momigliano (Bristol) on the Minoans. The department also hosted five sessions of the CAI Greek Reading Circle, convened by the indefatigable Liam Bairéad. Karen Radner (Munich) delivered the auditorial of our Archaeological Society; and Bridget Martin (UCD) addressed the Classical Association. Further noteworthy events included the Irish Hellenic Society 2019 symposium on Byzantium (with a lecture on Constantine by Rebecca Usherwood), the oneman Oresteia performed by Trinity graduate William Mann, a workshop around the correspondence of 16th-century Classicist Isaac Casaubon, and several activities associated with the Living Latin Project run by Anna Chahoud and Charlie Kerrigan. Martine Cuypers
CAI Languages Summer School 2019 The ancient Greek and Latin Summer School organised by the Classical Association of Ireland takes place at Trinity College Dublin from 4-14 June. Fees: €400 (€200 for OAPs and full-time students). For further information, please contact Dr Cosetta Cadau: cadauc@tcd.ie