Look at the screen

I have had a projector in my classroom for the first time since the beginning of term. I hesitate to call it by its familiar name - beamer – as when I said I had a beamer my grown up children thought I had bought a BMW (beamer in London speak). So a data projector or device that throws a large image onto a screen, or a blank wall in my case. I do not have a Smartboard which is an interactive screen you tough instead of pointing a mouse. You quickly learn not to emphasise a point by tapping the board smartly; if you do you risk losing the whole page and then have to rummage around getting it back. What difference does this make to my teaching? In fact quite a lot. We have the Cambridge Latin Course DVDs for Books 1 and 2 on the school network (yearly licence fee paid up, of course) so I am able to use the readings, dramatisations, and civilisation videos regularly. Much better to show a short 3 or 4 minute film, than to devote a whole lesson to catching up on the ones available once a week, as I was doing before. Perhaps the most irritating part of it all though is how quickly the pupils get used to this and accept it as normal, although I still think it is an amazing piece of new technology. In other classes it is also extremely useful. With an internet connection you can very quickly and easily find an image to illustrate a piece. I was going over an unseen translation from Cicero, one of the Catilines where he tells how all the senators deserted the benches when Catiline entered the senate-house. I had not thought of it before the lesson, but I remembered the painting of just this scene and within seconds was able to find it by Googling Cicero and Catiline and switching to images.

Mythological references and illustrations are now all within easy reach, and each teacher can quickly build up their own data base. Also available are resource banks, like the Oxbox for upper school Latin from Oxford University Press. This full of exercises, unseen translations, texts for practice, presentations and other activities including the latest thing: translation into Latin. (More about this later.) So no more chalk, no more squeaky markers on the white board and now nothing but PowerPoint. Perhaps, however, we should stop going on about this new technology and like the kids in the class just take it for granted and get on with the job of teaching using what kit is available to us. The lesson is still the same, the class have to pay attention to the material in the same way and they still have to work at it. New technology doesn’t make it easier, but it does broaden the range of possible material for any particular class. So it may be the case that we are not “dumbing down” but making more demands of our students after all. So everyone, pay attention to the screen.

Not taking a school trip

For the last eight years or so I have taken a school trip (or voyage scolaire) to the Bay of Naples and Pompeii. This has been for Latinists aged 14 or so (our 4th year) in their second year of Latin. They are familiar with Pompeii through the Cambridge Latin Course Book 1 and are pleased to see some of the locations in which the stories about Caecilius and Quintus take place. A trip to this area can also take in Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum, the Archaeological Museum in Naples, the Campi Flegrei, the Villa Oplontis and Paestum. Over the years the visits have evolved, both improving and declining. Visits to Herculaneum have improved a lot with a new car park for the bus, and no longer a need to walk a perilous distance to the site entrance. New excavations are also tantalisingly close: the Villa dei Papiri almost within sight of the traditional excavations. Pompeii is often as frustrating as ever with the House of the Vettii still closed after many years of restoration. Every year for the last four I have asked at the entrance “Is the House of the Vetti open?” Always the reply is “sempre chiusa.” Last year I was told the restaurant was also closed because of a dispute over the franchise. I didn’t dare ask any further about that. Who has the concession over coffee in Pompeii? Vesuvius is always a good excursion, although the weather can make this a bit uncertain as it will be closed if it is cloudy. Even the usually dependable Solfatara had changed last year. This live volcano near Pozzuoli is a winner with school pupils especially if they were taken around by Bruno. He must have been in his seventies, a retired teacher by my estimation who spoke good French and always amused and informed my pupils, showing them the volcanic phenomena of the region with a twinkle of enthusiasm. But last year I was told he was no longer available and school visits had to make special arrangements.

So this year I have said no. The demands of taking 30 14 year olds away have finally proved too much. I very much enjoy teaching lessons on the spot: talking about gladiators in the amphitheatre itself; giving a lecture on Vitruvius’ analysis of the Doric order in front of one the temples at Paestum; speculating on who lived in the Villa Oplontis in one of the bedrooms; showing the extent of the eruption by the wall of volcanic material rising up in front of the site at Herculaneum. But when we get back to the hotel at 18.30 or so the day has not finished and will continue through dinner (Are they all eating enough? Are they behaving at table?) and the evening (How to occupy them until bedtime?) and the night (Who is making that noise at 03.00? Are they all in their rooms?). The responsibilities of keeping them all safe, well, fed, healthy, getting enough sleep) are just too much, when parents are now so demanding over the safety aspects, the cost and their need to be constantly informed about the welfare of their offspring. (Can we have your mobile number? You will make sure it is switched on at all times?) I have begun to wonder if it is safe to let them go off for half an hour in Naples. Probably not, but they do have to learn to cope with different places. So for my pupils I shall have to leave to someone else the responsibility of giving them the experience of seeing the Bay of Naples with its ancient past and controversial present.

Partial to Martial 1

Euroclassicist has been amusing himself by making versions of some of Martial’s epigrams. Here are a few samples:

1.1

Hic est quem legis ille, quem requiris,
toto notus in orbe Martialis
argutis epigrammaton libellis:
cui, lector studiose, quod dedisti
viventi decus atque sentienti,
rari post cineres habent poetae.

Dear Readers, here’s the one to whom you’re partial,
Your favourite poet: M. Valerius Martial.
A crowd of you each day the bookshop crams
To buy his witty books of epigrams.
The praise you give him, gentlemen and ladies,
Is mostly given to poets down in Hades.
But he’s not ready for the depths of Hell:
In fact he’s here now, still alive and well.


1.4

Contigeris nostros, Caesar, si forte libellos,
terrarum dominum pone supercilium.
consuevere iocos vestri quoque ferre triumphi,
materiam dictis nec pudet esse ducem.
qua Thymelen spectas derisoremque Latinum,
illa fronte precor carmina nostras legas.
innocuos censura potest permittere lusus:
lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba.

If, o my lord, you condescend to look
At my small efforts in this little book,
Please do not let your brows in rage be furled
Although that fits the ruler of the world.
Triumphal jokes made in my lord’s procession
Are licensed by an emperor’s concession.
My jokes are like those of a cheeky comic;
Allow your frown, then, to be economic.
My poems must be rated as “18”,
But even if they’re filthy, I am clean.


1.10

Petit Gemellus nuptias Maronillae
et cupit et instat et precatur et donat.
adeone pulchra est? immo foedius nil est.
quid ergo in illa petitur et placet? tussit.

Jimmy wants to marry Jane.
He’s got gifts and flowers to give.
In fact she is a real pain,
But she’s got three weeks to live.


1.16

Sunt bona, sunt quaedam mediocria, sunt mala plura
quae legis hic: aliter non fit, Avite, liber.

Some poems here are pretty good,
Some scarcely worth a look.
But in the end, you need them all
To make up one whole book.

1. 23

Invitas nullum nisi cum quo, Cotta, lavaris
et dant convivam balnea sola tibi.
mirabar quare numquam me, Cotta, vocasses:
iam scio me nudum displicuisse tibi.

Cotta asks you to join him for food
In the baths with your kit off – how rude!
But he never asks me.
Why is this? Well, you see:
I don’t look too good in the nude.


1.28

Hesterno fetere mero qui credit Acerram,
fallitur: in lucem semper Acerra bibit.

All day he has the kind of stink,
Which must be due to last night’s drink.
He drinks so late his drunken haze
Is not last night’s, but still today’s.

Going to University

Part of Euroclassicist’s job is dealing with young people from all over Europe who want to go on to study at university in the United Kingdom. This has to be done through UCAS (www.ucas.com) which is the central admissions point for all UK universities. The main difference between entry to UK universities and those of many other European countries is that entry through UCAS is competitive: applicants receive conditional offers or rejections on the way admissions tutors assess their applications. Their achievements at school and their marks are part of this, but so is the reference or report written by the school on their progress, character, suitability for the course and their predicted marks in their final examination. Some courses require additional entry tests as well. In addition the applicant must write a personal statement expressing their motivation for the course and institutions they are applying to, as well as their background and interests. They must demonstrate in this personal statement their commitment to their subject and give clear reasons why the tutors should choose them instead of their rivals. A large part of my day is taken up in reading many of these personal statements, and then returning them to their authors explaining what could be improved or better expressed (and correcting plain errors) while endeavouring to make sure that it remains a personal statement and not one that has been completely rewritten. The remainder of the day at the moment is taken up with arranging for the writing of the references, writing them myself, and then editing those written by my colleagues for space and consistency of style. Then I try to squeeze in some Latin teaching as well.

What amazes me most about these applications is the number that come from young people of all European nationalities who want to go to study in English in the UK. Many have English as their first or second language and have achieved an excellent level of language skills. Some, however, take English as their third language and have studied it formally for only six years. Yet they are willing to commit themselves to a three year undergraduate course in what is neither their first language (or mother tongue) nor their second language as studied at school. The adaptability and ambition of these young people is admirable, and experience shows that they go on to make a success of their chosen courses. As a whole for all applicants, Geography is up this year and Economics, though still popular, is down a bit. Not many of them, although they are skilled and accomplished linguists, go on to study languages at university. Quite a few, however, go to study Law with a language or International Business or Management where they use their languages as an integral part of their course. We send a good number to do scientific and engineering courses each year. Imperial College London which is a specialist science and technology institution is very popular with my students. I even get an occasional student to apply for Classics, which flourishes at Oxford, Cambridge, London (University College and King’s College) and many others.
Many of these applicants wish to go to Oxford or Cambridge (or Oxbridge, as we call it/them). These world-class universities are very competitive and few in the end are chosen. The capacity to show that you are completely committed to your academic subject, to have all-round ability in every subject and to be a reasonably well-rounded human being as well is not granted to many and I always have some disappointed faces to deal with in January when the decisions have been made. For talented and ambitious young people, the first rejection in their lives is hard to take. But they bounce back after a bit and realise that Bristol, Warwick, Edinburgh and Imperial College are every bit as good, and are perhaps even better for them personally. These applications have to be completed by October 15th and the lucky ones will be interviewed in Oxford or Cambridge in the first week of December.

Chinese Semele

I told my Baccalaureate Latin class, as we were reading Ovid’s Diana and Actaeon, that the evening before I had been to see an opera in Brussels performed by Chinese and international singers, directed by a Chinese artist, conducted by a Frenchman, of an opera in English by a German composer based in England, based on a version in Latin by Ovid of a Greek myth. This extraordinary production has been taking place at La Monnaie/De Munt, the Brussels opera house throughout the month of September. The contemporary artist Zhang Huan has been the overall inspiration for the show, making his directorial debut in opera. He is best known as a performance and installation artist and has an exhibition on in London at the same time featuring a pig (don’t ask for more details). The root of this production of Handel’s Semele is a Buddhist temple taken down and reconstructed by Zhang Huan, first in his Shanghai studio, and then transported to Brussels for the performances (above middle). Behind this temple there is a long and tragic story, which is shown to the audience in a video during the overture, concerning the couple who were living in this abandoned temple for a time before Zhang Huan came to ask to remove it. It is a tale of love, jealousy, murder, arrest and violent death when the husband is convicted of killing one of his wife’s lovers and executed. Though not exact, the parallels to the story of Semele appear to be what attracted Zhang Huan to the project of directing his first opera. He fills the show with many elements of his art: the temple itself used as a set; sumptuous costumes (above middle) from both Chinese and European cultures; a group of musicians from Mongolia playing and singing traditional music; his trademark ash paintings (above top); and finally the wife of the temple couple herself bringing the drama to its conclusion. This whole creation was intrinsic to the performance and Zhang’s interventions in the opera (including cutting the last scene) cannot be separated from the whole experience. One of his sculptures has been placed outside the opera house (above bottom) and the audience have to walk through it, smelling the incense (which provides the ash for the paintings) as they enter. Then in the interval Aruhan and her Mongolian musicians perform their version of Semele outside under the legs of this sculpture. The opera critics in the newspapers I have seen seem to have been baffled by all this, and have concentrated on the things they feel comfortable with: the singing and the superb orchestral playing of Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset. However, what they have failed to indicate is that this is one of the most thought-provoking current opera productions, combining visual, musical, cinematic and dramatic effects in such way as to achieve a total artistic experience; and it does this without the predictable “shocking” tactics too often employed by European opera directors. At the very end, one of the ash paintings of a woman (Semele or the temple wife?) is shown on a screen in front of the stage. We see water trickle down over it, as slowly the image is washed away and Semele is dead and the show is over.

This is really a Classics blog and I haven’t gone into detail about Ovid yet, but the main thing to take away from this seems to be that Greek myth is so deeply ingrained in European culture that we take it for granted. Of course, a story about overwhelming passion that ends in violent death has to be Greek, and the sensational narratives of Ovid’s Metamorphoses are the means by which we have absorbed such tales into our archetypal consciousness. But how can this be the case for Chinese culture? When this production transfers to Shanghai will the cultural commentators there be asking: who is this writer Ovid? What does he have to offer us? Will there be translations of the Metamorphoses in bookshops in Beijing and Shanghai? How can European classicists respond to that? Zhang Huan has shown how such a cross-over between cultures can work and enrich both of them.

The Myth Painter

The Myth Painter 31st July 2009
J.W. Waterhouse The Royal Academy London


Classicists may well know John William (or Nino) Waterhouse (1849-1917) for his paintings of Greek Myths. The images are probably well-known as illustrations of texts of Ovid or Homer. Calendars using his paintings often sell well. Yet this is his first major exhibition in London for many years and shows the largest ever retrospective collection of his paintings. Many are in Tate Britain (though not always on display), others are in English provincial galleries, and some have come from as far as Australia for this show.

He has been out of fashion as a Victorian painter, often regarded as sentimental and conservative in style, and recently the young women who feature in nearly all of his works have been looked at with disapproval and a suspicion of an unhealthy fascination. His reputation ought to be enhanced by this exhibition for, whatever comparisons can be made with other more modern work being done at the same time, he is clearly a terrific painter.

Look at Circe Invidiosa, for example (above middle).

Reproductions cannot convey the quality of the green he has found to give this image its attractive yet troubling atmosphere. The story is from Ovid’s Metamorphoses 14 and shows Circe jealously poisoning the sea after Glaucus, who loves Scylla, has rejected her so that Scylla will be turned into a monster. Waterhouse’s women are almost always highly attractive yet slightly dangerous creatures. His paintings feature Circe, Ariadne, Proserpina, Penelope, Echo, the Sirens and the nymphs who tempt Hylas in perhaps his best known picture (above top).
Other paintings are based on figures from English literature: the Lady of Shalott and Miranda from the Tempest. While classics teachers may often use these images to illustrate the stories of Greek mythology and particularly the way they are told by Ovid, it is worth paying some attention to the context in which Waterhouse was working. The Pre-Raphaelite painters (Rossetti, Millais, Holman Hunt) were clearly a great influence, but Waterhouse was still painting in what appears to be a similar style long after the Victorian period and also long after Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon. This exhibition enables us to look at Waterhouse not just as an illustrator of stories but as an individual stylist and original painter. Is it the use of Greek mythology which makes him appear old-fashioned? Or is his use of unusual and troubling stories from Ovid a precursor of the kind of criticism now current for Ovid, which sees him not as an amusing but slight poet but as a subversive and ironic writer reworking and recreating the old stories in a new way? Perhaps we should not be saying, “Look at this charming portrayal of the Echo and Narcissus story” but “How does Waterhouse create a disturbing image of the young woman in this story?” There are also hints in the notes to the exhibition of Waterhouse’s possible interest in the occult particularly in the figure of Proserpina who seems to appear in many of his pictures although she is not named as such. Claudian’s poem the Rape of Proserpina seems to have been important to him. Questions can also be raised over possible misogyny in his portrayal of women as femmes fatales, always tempting the men in the pictures to danger, and over his fascination with young women, girls even, in sexually ambiguous poses. It may be thought however that here we are retrospectively attributing the unease of our own period back onto the late nineteenth century when a portrayal of childhood may have had very different connotations. This show seems to have been popular with the public who have been brought face to face with a demanding series of images based on Latin and Greek authors. Without a basic knowledge of the foundation texts that classicists seek to keep before the gaze of young people in Europe, the subject mater of these paintings would be baffling to many viewers. Should we really just read them as examples of significant form, of just a collection of shapes and colours, or should we know or have to work out what story the painter is trying to tell?

Helen at Shakespeare’s Globe

Complementing Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida is a new production of Euripides’ Helen in a version by Frank McGuiness. This is the first time the theatre, which reproduces the building of Shakespeare’s time, has put on a Greek drama http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/annualtheatreseason/helen/. One of Euripides’ lightest tragedies, it was played largely for laughs but the rapid production managed to slip from the comedy to the more serious almost seamlessly. Penny Downie was a sexy, lively Helen reaching up to the top of galleries with her appeals to the gods to rescue her from her fate of being abandoned in Egypt among barbarians.
For this is of course the real Helen: the one who went to Troy was merely an idolon. Menelaus (a strong and sympathetic Paul McGann) is shipwrecked on her shore on his return from the war and is surprised to find his real wife already there. These two fill the stage and the whole theatrical space, and take us through their disbelief, wariness and ultimate joy in their mutual recognition. This plot device of course enables Euripides to play with the idea of the war being fought for nothing, for an illusion: a thought that is always relevant to whichever war is being fought. It also enables him to include some clever wordplay over misidentification and misunderstanding. We can see the origin of all those future comedies of separation and reunification, of loss and restoration in Menander and Plautus and then the whole of European comedy, here in a so-called tragedy of Euripides. McGuiness’s version is in what is called “muscular” free verse, that is a kind of heightened poetic prose which suits the style of Greek drama well. It is the same solution adopted by Ted Hughes in his version of Racine’s version of Euripides (see the post above on Phèdre). Deborah Bruce as director has solved the problem of what to do with the chorus in the current fashion: a collection of individuals half recite their lines, half sing them to simple tunes (though the professional singer brought in to strengthen the music should have been left in the box with the musicians or incorporated properly into the chorus, not dressed in a dinner jacket and allowed to wander over the stage). I know the deus ex machina is difficult to deal with too, but the knockabout act of Castor and Pollux was unfunny and spoiled the hard work of the two principals.

A curious incident before the play started. One of the great things about the Globe is that you can often go along at the last minute and get a standing ticket for five pounds (six Euros), as was possible for Shakespeare’s public. (They paid one penny.) However to our surprise we were greeted with House Full posters and asked to wait for returns. While we were waiting a well dressed and well spoken woman came to the head of the queue offering two standing tickets. Someone in front of us took one and as we wanted two we passed her back to the person behind us who took the second ticket for five pounds. We continued to wait while a couple came up having a huge public row about whether to go the show or not (something about the last train, but not wanting to waste 40 pounds). Then the man who had just bought the standing ticket came back out of the theatre, furious. He had been sold a ticket for last night’s Romeo and Juliet, but in the transaction had not looked closely at the ticket. I immediately began to have suspicions abut the piece of street theatre we had just witnessed. Was this a scam too? Then a member of the box office team came up with two standing tickets and we got in just in time. Who would have thought that a) a Greek Tragedy would be sold out and b) that a rogue would pull a stunt like that outside the Globe? It was full of pickpockets, rascals and coney-catchers in Shakespeare’s time too apparently.