Strigil

Since you guys liked the Strigil so much, I thought I would post a coupla pix here of the item itself (with a glass jar containing olive oil for rubbing) and of a pottery shard that shows us how the ancients used strigils. I consider the strigil ominous looking and a dangerous thing to scrape oneself with ; I guess I am influenced by our modern concern for safety features and the ubiquitous plastic for every day items....but the use of metal to make items that are now plastic is not really that old, as I found out recently: a few weeks ago I drove with a friend to Arcadia (1.5 hrs south-east of Tampa) to browse around in antique stores. I was shocked and dismayed to see children's items and toys from the 50's and 60's (cribs, easy-bake ovens, trucks, etc.) made out of really sharp tin, which at parts was extremely jagged and rusty. I mean, these are your parents who played with stuff like that! Did I mention that I didn't see any child-seats for cars anywhere??!! I just love some historical perspective. The ancient world is much more contemporary than we think, and our modern (western) world is only as recent as a blink. The mind boggles....

Cras, O puellae puerique,

Magistra Vestra

Tampa Musuem exhibit

My daughter is a sophmore at Tampa Catholic High School and in English right now they are reading _The Iliad_ they have an assignment where they were required to go to the Tampa Museum of Art and view the Classical World Exhibition. Of course since it is due Monday we had to go today (it was assigned 3 weeks ago but of course last night was the first I'd heard of it). They had to choose 5 objects that reflect Greek culture and depict a character and describe it. So while she was wandering around with her friends (seems putting things off to the last minute is the norm with 15 and 16 year olds) I, too, perused the exhibit.

Many of the items are from around the time of Quintus and Horatia ;-) As I walked around I saw multae urnae. Many had eloborate drawings on them, they had handles and were many different sizes. One even depicted a drawing of 2 men carrying a large one suspended with a rope on a large stick. Many of the larger ones were labeled as amphoras, it said they were used to transport oils, wine and some kind of fish stuff on ships. Prof M? are amphoras different from urns used for water?

The most interesting thing I saw today was called a strigil, it is used to clean the body. The Greeks and Romans applied olive or other types of oils to their body and then an exfoliating agent, such as sand to the skin. The strigil was then used to scrape off the sand and oil also removing dirt and sweat. Afterwards they rinsed with water and dried off with a cloth.

Admission to the museum is free on Saturday's between 10 and 2 and you also don't have to pay parking then. It's pretty fascinating and you can be in and out in about an hour.

Tracy

Secret History

Lauren's comment on the 'Latin Made me Do it' ('Latina me iussit hoc facere'? 'Latina me compulit'?, 'Latina me fecit hoc facere'? Gimme some time here, and I will get it right and stylish...) urged me to recomend this excellent book to y' all (=vobis: it is the Dative case of VOS---and it means 'to you'---we will get to the dative soon, it will change your life!). Anyhoo, the book is called 'Secret History' and it is about a group of classics students in a small college in Vermont, who commit a series of heinous crimes urged by their readings in Greek (primarily) and Latin. I do not know how I lived without having read this excellent book (published in 1992). I mean, if you want to understand the tragic, deluded, sublime psyche of a classicist (or if you feel it stirring in you), you need to have a look, at least!

And if anyone finds any other books, movies, or other media that are classics related, please do share your recomendation here so that we can all know about it.

Ok, back to my coffee and grading---do not forget to send me any questions you have on chs. 8 and 39 respectively.

Salvete Omnes, atque Valete,

EM.

I want a Latin T-shirt!
Stacey B

Latin T-Shirts

Just a quick little disclaimer: Some of these shirts are potentially not the most polite (but since they're in Latin, only a few people will know)

(http://www.transl8t.com/)

I really would like to get one of these! I've actually been eyeing the Latin shirts on Jinx and Geeklabel, but I think these are much cuter!

- Sara C.

Latin 1 - TA Office Hours

Hey Latin 1 Students! It's your friendly class TA, Rachael!

I'm going to offer a weekly office hour on Thursday afternoons from 3:00 - 4:00 for anyone who needs extra help or has questions about anything. You can check the course's page at BlackBoard for more information.

~Rachael

PS - Professor, I forgot to ask you, what is the room number?

Addendum (thanks to Professor M): You'll find me in CPR 279, y'all.

favorites...

As I was helping some of the Latin 1 students study for the first test (that everyone did well on apparently - "yay!" for y'all!) on Wednesday, we got to talking about favorite Latin verbs...

My favorite is facere (to do, to make). It's a very purposeful verb. ::nods::

I thought that this would be a good topic for a Latin blog... So everybody who wants to answer, what's your favorite Latin verb?

(And if anyone in Latin 3 might be able to tell me what the homework for Monday's class is, I'd really appreciate it.)


~Rachael

Roman Triumph

Beginning Latin--

There is no better Sunday morning for the Latin teacher than the one the (good) grades are in! The class average in the first test was 91. 25 (turn to BB for more detailed statistics). This average shows clearly that you have been very successful in your understanding of basic Latin concepts (noun, verb, subject, object, etc.). The other two remaining tests are much easier in a way, because you will simply continue to add more information onto these basic structures that you have already mastered. If you have made it so successfully through the first third of the book, clearly there is no stopping you until the end of it!

So, as my mind is swimming with your success mixed with my morning coffee, I had this double vision of an ancient Roman triumphus and the closest equivalent I have ever seen in Rome. It was the night that the Azzuri (the national Italian team) won the soccer cup, summer of 2006. Rome positively exploded in a bacchic celebration, fireworks and music and cars and motorinos and the Italian flag everywhere. Standing in the middle of it all in the Piazza Venezia, I remember wishing (for the millionth time in my life!) that I were Italian instead of Greek. What a powerful tool the triumphal procession must have been in cultivating the national pride of the Romans, their sense of mission and duty to bring over the entire world under their sway...and, as successful Latinists, you too are officially under the Roman spell now, at least until December.

So, enjoy your well deserved success and your Sunday, and I will see y' all tomorrow!

EM.

test day

So the test in Latin 1 was today and it was not too bad, no surprises or anything. BUT I started on chapter 7 and I understand it...with my notes...it is going to take me a lot longer to memorize all these new endings and stuff, and it took me double the time it normally does to do the exercises because I was double checking the declensions of the nouns and all. WOW! it is hard but in a good way, a nice little challenge i guess. And I need to talk to a Nursing advisor because I was just taking Latin for fun but someone told me this week that 2 years of foreign language is required to graduate?? I knew that was true for some majors but is it true for all including nursing? anybody know? lol. Guess I will be taking Latin 2 in the spring whether I like it or not :) But of course I will like it.....
-Brandi

D'oh, I'm pretty silly

Oops, that last rambling post was by Sara Connolly. Me + Computer + Lack of Sleep = Crazy

Latin & 4 Years Olds: An amusing combination!

Perhaps I'm just being an overly proud parent, but I felt compelled to share my son's experience with Latin here. In order to help reinforce the grammar and vocabulary I have been teaching my 4 year old son the Latin as we learn it in class.

He's grasping the grammar fairly well thus far and is getting a huge kick out of the noun cases and suffixes; his name is Augustus and he was positively tickled to be able to decline his own name in Latin. There is another little boy in the class named Augustus (what are the chances, eh?) and my son told me in the car with great pride Tuesday afternoon that his class has "duo Augusti." As a result, my husband is teasing me for dooming our son to becoming a "dorkus maximus." :grins:

I am very pleased that we are starting the 3rd declensions now, so I can get him to refer to me as "mater" (and its associated cases) instead of "Sara" or "Saram." (It is hard to get on his case for calling me by my first name when he's actually using the accusative correctly; after all, I'm pretty sure I would have figured an accusative to be tattling on someone at the age of 4).

Anyway, I am probably just being overly silly with my ramblings on this subject. :smiles:

Hey y'all!

I won't be in class tomorrow - Thursday, September 13 - because it's Rosh Hashanah and I'll be in synagogue all day... So, if someone wouldn't mind posting what the Latin 3 homework on here sometime this weekend, I'd be so thankful.

I feel like I'm teetering on the precipice with the subjunctives and the passive voice... The deponents, believe it or not, seem to be helping a bit with the passives... I know that they don't translate passively, but they are formed like passives, so it's helping (and I'm oh-so glad that I don't have to try to learn even more suffixes right now! Can't tell you just how glad that makes me!). That just leaves all the subjunctives (I know I did disastrously on Wednesday's quiz. I was blanking completely, despite having an easier time with the homework... and I realized just too late that I had switched the endings of the future and the pluperfect around. D'oh!)...

This brings me back to my precipice metaphor. Not teetering in a bad way, but in a good way. I've *almost* got this. I know I have. I just don't know what's going to push me off the edge into total enlightenment yet. I have more questions about them that just might help... but it's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow afternoon when I can actually think about it and make sure I don't already know the answer.

~Rachael

By the way..

My name is Brandi Brannon and I wrote the previous post ("First Time") I am going to have to remember to sign my name at the end of these things!

First time

Hello! So I just remembered we could do this today and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to get on here :) Anyway
the first test is in 2 days and I am kind of excited, weird I know. I love Latin and I was able to take 2 years in high school but our school went through 3 different latin teachers while I was there. and my Latin 2 class was basically latin 1 retaught by a different teacher. So I am hoping the test goes well. I keep messing up the 2nd conjugations and conjugating them as 3rd but hopefully I will perfect it before thursday. Alright well I better go study now!!

Test

Beginning Latin---

You have now completed successfully the first 5 chapters of our textbook and it is time for the first test. This will be on Thursday 09/13, and it will take about 40 minutes to complete. Log onto Blackboard for a useful practice sheet under course documents (the one I handed in class Thursday). I also suggest that you retake the quizzes and practice on those too, checking your answers against the answer keys. You will find these quizzes also under course documents on BB. I am at your disposal for any questions over the weekend and, of course, throughout the next week. Take care y' all,

EM.

So Thursday has become my favorite day of the week for two reasons. 1.) It's the last day of the week that I have classes to go to... not that that is a hardship or anything since it's mostly Latin class now... 2.) It's "Supernatural" night... This show has nearly taken over my life. And they use Ecclesiastical Latin sometimes, so there *is* a connection... Sam and Dean also remind me of the myth of Castor and Pollux, so there's also a Classics connection right there...

Castor = Sam --->

Pollux = Dean --->

So... uh...

"Supernatural" airs on Thursday nights at 9pm on the CW (which, I think, is channel 4 locally)... so in about 18 minutes...



~Rachael

So... I'm graduating in December (::crosses fingers::), and because of that, I'm kicking the can around about what to do after that... (other than Latin 4 in the Spring as a non-degree seeking student and finding a job, any job, so I can make at least a little money...)

I've come to the tentative conclusion that despite my getting a BA in History, I don't possess the... ::searches for a nice way to say it::... correct character to be a Professional Historian... I have family in archaeology and education and law... nothing is really grabbing me right now though... nothing is saying, "Rachael! Do this!" So I'm still thinking, grad school? But studying what?

I noticed looking through the USF Graduate Catalog that there is a MA program in Classics, but that it is technically done through the University of Florida... It has piqued my interest... Methinks, I need to find out more about what this program entails.


~Rachael

passives

I finally figured out to sign into this bloggy-thingie (again!) and hopefully this posts for me. Well my question is a sorta question/sorta request...is there some kind of resource that was like the exercise we did in class today, where we took the active form of the verb, made it passive, then translated both sides? That kind of exercise would help me in understanding the difference between the two, cause the passive still is messing me up...in forming and in translatng...but if I keep practicing it should help (hopefully!). But now, I need to fight with my DVD player cause it's telling me no on the whole playing a DVD thing...stupid technology!
Stacy
(p.s. I totally wanna post this in webdings, but I'll spare the confusion and irritation!)

Passive Subjunctive Translations for Newbies

INTERMEDIATE LATIN---

Here is a chart that I have compiled beased on a single verb. We will qualify and expand our translations of the subjunctive once we get deeper into subordinate clauses. Hang in there! We will soon reach a comfortable cruising altitude, and then you can unbuckle.

EM.

Present Passive Subjunctive Translations (in independent/main clauses)

Expressing the Possible, the Wishful, the Hortatory

Cessare To delay

cesser I may be delayed/may I be delayed/ let me be delayed
cesseris you may be delayed/may you be delayed/ let you be delayed
cessetur He may be delayed/may he be delayed/ let him be delayed
cessemur We may be delayed/may we be delayed/ let us be delayed
cessemini You all may be delayed/may you all be delayed/ let you all be delayed
cessentur They all may be delayed/may they all be delayed/ let them all be delayed

Imperfect Passive Subjunctive Translations (in independent/main clauses)

Expressing the possible

Cessare To delay

cessarer I might be delayed
cessareris you might be delayed
cessaretur He might be delayed
cessaremur We might be delayed
cessaremini You all might be delayed
cessarentur They all might be delayed


Perfect Passive Subjunctive Translations (in independent/main clauses)

Expressing the Possible

Cessare To delay

Cessatus sim I may have been delayed (this morning)
Cessatus sis you may have been delayed
Cessatus sit He may have been delayed
Cessati simus We may have been delayed
Cessati sitis You all may have been delayed
Cessati sint They all may have been delayed

Perfect Passive Subjunctive Translations (in independent/main clauses)

Expressing the possible


Cessare To delay

Cessatus essem I might have been delayed (yesterday)
Cessatus esses you might have been delayed
Cessatus esset He might have been delayed
Cessati essemus We might have been delayed
Cessati essetis You all might have been delayed
Cessati essent They all might have been delayed

These translations work only in independent/main clauses. In subordinate clauses, the subjunctive (to subjugate) does not translate in English because it simply follows the context of the main clause and the verb that sets up the sequence of tenses.

Te mane excito, ne cesseris.
Te mane excitavi, ne cessareris. [Purpose]

Tibi impero ut cesseris.
Tibi imperavi ut cessareris. [Indirect command]

Cum cessatus esset, non venit nobiscum. [cum clause = circumstantial or causal]

passive subjunctive

I keep telling people to use the blog, but looks like no one has taken the advice yet.

Ah, well...

I'm taking my own advice and blogging a Latin issue:

I'm working on the passive subjunctives. It's coming along (I think - as with most things in Latin, I won't really get it until I've already gotten it, you know?). I'm confused about how each tense is translated to English in the passive subjunctive though... I'm not seeing a clear explanation of it in the textbook, but maybe I'm missing it.


~Rachael