CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND
May 2019
CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND The Classical Association in Northern Ireland has had a busy start to 2019. The Belfast Summer School continues to expand and, thanks to student demand, on 2 February a number of students met to refresh their knowledge of Greek and Latin. The weather was bright and sunny as we met in the Peter Froggatt Centre to consolidate, revise and learn new Latin and Greek grammar, and read texts in the original language. Latin students read some Catullus and Ovid, while Greek students read Xenophon, Lysias and Aristophanes. Next on the CANI agenda was a visit to Dalriada School in Co. Antrim as part of the CANI 4 Schools programme. Classical Civilisation AS and A2 students welcomed Dr John Curran and Dr Peter Crawford to their school on 21 February for a series of lectures which had been tailored to the school curriculum. Dr Crawford and Dr Curran (pictured below) spoke about such topics as ‘The End of the Roman Republic’; ‘The Rome of Augustus and Virgil’, and posed the question “what was the Aeneid for?” The day concluded with a mock trial of Gaius Julius Caesar, calling ancient witnesses such as Sulla, Cato, Cicero, Brutus, and Augustus.
On 7 March, for our first lecture of 2019, we welcomed Dr Des O’Rawe, senior lecturer in Film Studies at Queen’s University Belfast, to take us through the various screen adaptations of the Antigone myth. Dr O’Rawe focussed on three twentieth-century directors, the first of whom, George Tzavellas, created his 1961 film Antigone in Greece during a period of political scandals. In 1970 Liliana Cavani cast Britt Ekland as Antigone in I Cannibali (The Cannibals) and the film was set in Milan. More recently, Straub and Huillet’s 1992 interpretation of Antigone reflected on loyalty 6
and desertion in the Reich. Through visual extracts, Dr O’Rawe demonstrated a variety of cinematic techniques to the audience. We thank Dr O’Rawe for showing how essential film is in protecting and preserving ancient myth. In a digression from the programme, Armagh Robinson Library invited the Chair and Treasurer to launch its new temporary exhibition of 18th century manuscripts on March 12. These particular manuscripts featured the fables of Aesop and many were written in Latin. Helen McVeigh and Dr John Curran were glad to be of help and spent an enjoyable afternoon learning about the library and examining the many interesting books and manuscripts housed therein (below).
CANI’s annual schools’ conference took place on 14 March. Continuing our partnership with the Ulster Museum, a series of lectures were held in its lecture theatre, while our friends from Legion Ireland set up camp in the Welcome Area. The conference began with a talk by Dr Greer Ramsey, Curator of Archaeology at the Ulster Museum. Dr Ramsey, who was instrumental in bringing the Hoards exhibition to Belfast and which was on display at the time of the conference, began by explaining that the definition of a hoard is “two or more objects buried but never recovered”. He drew attention to Roman coins found at Newgrange, Roman rings discovered at Murlough Bay in Co. Down, and the 1500 coins and 6kg of silver in the Coleraine hoard. These finds may not necessarily be the proceeds of raiding and, as such, invite questions about the history of Romano-Irish relations.