How Latin Has Impacted My Education

As a history major focusing on the classics I have found Latin to be extremely helpful in my studies. Those who make it their living to study the classics use Latin to determine the past and to draw conclusions on some of our history's most important events. I see the impact Latin has when I am in my other classes and can translate names of books as well as some texts. Although I struggle when it comes to any language I have recently seen a great improvement in my understanding of the Language. I feel this is definitely one of the more important languages as it is viewed as the basis for all the Western culture. People call Latin a dead language, however this is misleading, Latin is very much alive in every language we speak. By learning Latin you can then have a better understanding of other languages such as Spanish and French. I look forward to continuing my education with the Latin language and improving upon my understanding of the language.
-Sean Phillips

latin experience

Even though Latin is not actively spoken today, it is the foundation of many languages that still spoken. I took Spanish in high school. I noticed many similarities in the vocabulary and grammar. The verbs are conjugated very similarly in both languages. I also was surprised by how many words in English can be derived from Latin. I feel that taking Latin will make learning other languages simpler. Latin is a very challenging language to learn, which also makes it more rewarding. Latin is far from a “dead” language for it is the foundation from many modern spoken languages.

-Cassidy Camantigue

Latin experience

Latin has always been an interesting language and something that I have always thought would be fun and useful to learn. Many languages derive from the Latin language, I speak both Spanish and English and it was fun to see how I could distinguish root words from both languages. Throughout the semester whenever I would see Latin in movies, tv, or books it was enjoyable to be able to translate most of the words and see if they were declined right or not. I even helped some friends get their grammar correct for tattoos they wanted to get. Im a science major and some medical terminology has latin roots and words and this class helped me in learning some of those roots and words. I also was at first interested in Latin class because I want to get a Latin word tattoo and wanted to make sure I had the right grammar. I also wanted to learn new words that I could consider using but as I thought about it Latin become more interesting as it is something that can be useful in the future and its always nice when you know something most people dont.
- Juan Guerrero

Latin 1

I have to say that as far as learning another language goes, I actually enjoyed Latin. I'm a history major with a focus on the Roman withdrawal from Britain, so I figured what better way to research than in primary texts? I also signed up for Latin because I'm a bit of a coward when it comes to speaking in front of groups and as that was the way my first language class (French 1) tested, well, I figured I'd be better off with a dead language. The other great thing about the "dead language" status is that it makes it all but impossible to teach the class Immersion style, which I also had big problems with.
Because of my Major and focus I'm actually now looking to minor, if not dual-major in Classics. I loved all the little stories that we translated.

~Cassandra Stewart

The ups and downs of Latin

I am glad I decided to take Latin instead of the other languages I was considering. Although it is a "Dead" Language, I feel that it is the most useful for me, as I am an English major and interested in the classics. For students intending to make a living in public relations or business, however, I can see the benefit of taking Spanish or French.
I did not particularly care for the online Labs, simply because I am somewhat forgetful and feel as though I was penalized for missing a lab when it was sometimes unclear when it was due, when it was available, or the like. More than once, I simply forgot about the lab. Perhaps this could be made a little more forgiving by making a notification send to all the students automatically the day before the lab closes?
Overall, the teacher was helpful and personable, and the class was enjoyable. I will be taking Latin II in the spring.

my first semester of latin

I have really enjoyed my experience this semester taking this course. It will be very helpful in my medical terminology class, there are a lot of wordsd that I already recognize due to taking this class. I will be taking latin II next semester and I hope I enjoy it just as much...
--- Samantha Dedrick.

A time worth remembering

I chose latin1 because I had always wanted to take it but it was no longer offered at my high school. Although the world has progressed a lot since Latin was used, I feel we have lost some of the important values and ideals of that time. It seems as though the people then were able to take life at a slower pace and truly experience life. Nowadays it seems impossible not to be consumed by the daily rush. We speed around in our cars so that we aren't minutes late to work at a job we probably do not enjoy everyday until our eventual end. It all seems so meaningless to me.
Latin has also been a way to look at the way languages have evolved and its interesting to see how the languages of today link together to Latin. I love the grammar of Latin, how word order and punctuation are not important. I am a science major and the petty details of English grammar have always bugged me. I hope I can keep up with my Latin studies and be better connected with a time we forget to often in our busy lives.

-Dustin Rose

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Hellenist turned Classicist

All right, all right, I'm a self-proclaimed Hellenist. Myth is what dragged me into classics, and since learning about all of the gods and goddesses and heroes from the Greek perspective and with their Greek names first, I went a little heavier on the Greek courses for my Classics degree. I've taken Classical Greek for three semesters now and this is only my first semester of Latin, but so far, I've really enjoyed it! Yes, the third declension kicked me in the face, and then the neuter gendered nouns also gave me a hefty blow, but I've really enjoyed the book and Dr. Manolaraki's modifications to it. I mean, by unit two in Greek, you get present, future, imperfect, AND aorist. Then it's perfect and pluperfect. And within the next few units, you get into subjunctive and optative! So, I really like the way that the book introduces everything so that you get familiar with it before you're slapped with too many things at once. Dr. Manolaraki also does a really nice job of monitoring the text so that she can make sure that there is a smooth transition into every new chapter, and every new piece of grammar.

All in all, even if I didn't have to take several Latin courses to graduate, I still would. Latin I has turned this Hellenist into an equal opportunity Classicist. Though I do still prefer the Greek names for the gods and goddesses; some things can't be helped.

Also, thank all the blessed gods on Olympus for the ablative case!

K. Pinkett

Latin 1, My Thoughts

I chose Latin 1 mainly due to my interest in Roman History. I have always been fascinated by the Romans and their accomplishments and would like to study them further in graduate school. Of course to do this I have to know the language, so here I am in Latin 1. I would love to be able to translate my own primary documents myself instead of having to use those translated works where you might not be getting the full translation based on who did it. Latin 1 has been fun, but is a quite difficult language, so many cases ugh. lol.

-Robert Speich

Why I Choose Latin

This is going to sound incredibly stupid but one of my reasons for studying Latin is that I discovered that Harry Potter books 1 & 2 are available in Latin, one day I want to be able to read them in Latin. Actually when I first transfered to USF I had considered taking Latin - I'm a history major and at the time wasn't sure what sort of history I was going to major in and thought that Latin would be helpful if I went into early European (I ended up in American, so just a little bit of a change) but had copped out for what I thought would be easier - French (btw, it's not easier), after not doing too well in French - an uninterested TA and hard to pronounce words - I ended up deciding to give Latin a try. I figured it nothing else I don't have to speak it too much, although it has turned out to be a pretty easy to speak language. I have since found Latin to be a bit helpful in my English vocabulary, it seems like after I learned a new word I saw its variation somewhere in another class's reading - laudable (from laudare) seemed to be the most common, but I also learned the word puerile, which I haven't yet had an opportunity to use but it's a nifty word anyways.

Looking forward to Latin II and one day HP in Latin (there are a number of other books available in Latin too, maybe one day those one too)

Vocabulary study guide

I guess we're not able to post attachments or PDF's into our blogs. Bummer. I created a pretty worthy vocabulary study guide, complete with macrons, all principal parts, English definitions and cognates, and derivatives/analogues from Greek. For those of you in my class I'll send out a group email with the study guide in a PDF attachment.

Michael

Latin Rocks My World

I took Latin in high school and absolutely loved it! I really wanted to take Latin in college, but I couldn't find any school that offered it until USF. Latin has helped me through the years with my science courses, with all kinds of writing/English tests, and I am now a Classical Civilizations major and it has already helped me do better in my classes. I know that I will be translating texts and reading coins often (I want to specialize in Ancient Rome) so now I will be able to translate things for myself. I also look forward to being able to read biblical texts in Latin.
Many times even members of my own family viewed my interest in Latin quizzically, considering that it's a "dead" language. However, I also took a year of German in college (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and I have found Latin to be much more useful in my field of study. Latin was a very good base for learning German and I think it made my other classes much easier. I plan on taking at least four semesters (hopefully all with Dr. M.).
-Heather Gustafson-

GPA Please Forgive Me!

So…whenever any of my mom’s friends asked what I was taking this semester at college they all seemed in awe of the fact that I am taking Latin. Personally I wasn’t that excited about having to study a langue again. For one I’m really bad at it. I just don’t have the discipline of constantly memorizing and maneuver my brain into the thinking patterns of another language. But since I had to I’m very glad I chose Latin. Not only can I now understand many of the spells in Harry Potter, but I’ve begun to learn a little more about the Roman culture and the way they thought through their use of language. So despite the fact that I was upset about having to take another language ( I’ve already braved Spanish I and took a blow to my GPA once) it has kept my interest and I’m less than hesitant to continue on. So good luck everyone on your finals, for those of us who have to take it, and hope to see some of you next semester.

-Morgan Vollmer-

carpe diem

"carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero" This is one of my favorite phrases. I think s is a great motto and have always love the message it gives. I even knew the popular translation as "seize the day, put no trust in the future". It wasn't until this class that I understood the grammar behind this phrase. I now realize that carpe is the imperative form of carpere meaning to seize or to take. I also understand how diem is the accusative singular of a 3rd declension noun. I am planning to go to medical school and I am hopeful that this class will prove useful as I am memorizing medical terminology based entirely upon Latin roots. I have already begun to notice how many words familiar to me have their root in Latin.
~Nathan Watts

Latin for my study of the New Testament

My interest in Latin came way too late. I'm presently working on a second undergrad degree. I got a minor in Greek with my first degree but for some reason avoided taking Latin. But taking Latin has improved my undertanding of Greek grammar immensely, so I wish I'd taken it sooner.

I got interested in Latin whenever I really began to analyze the textual apparatuses of the New Testament. There is one manuscript in particular that intrigues me: Codex Bezae (= D). This is a diglot codex with Greek on one page and Latin on the other. For centuries scholars have wondered just how authoritative this MS ought to be for the establishing of various New Testament texts. Personally, I don't put much stock in the MS. I find it to have been seriously worked over by some editor or editors. I could explain what exactly I mean by this if anyone's interested, but I suspect that nobody reading this blog is.

One long-term goal that I have is to write a commentary on Codex Bezae, showing its inferiority to other textual traditions. Another is to translate and interact with numerous classical texts related to the New Testament (for example, I'm presently translating a text from Pliny the Elder on the Essenes). I may also try publishing a study guide for students of Hebrew, Greek and Latin. This would be a three column chart, showing all the words that occur at least 10 times in the Old Testament with their equivalent translations into Greek and Latin as defined by the Septuagint and Vulgate.

Michael Flowers

Latin

A lot of people think that I'm crazy for taking Latin since it's a "dead" language. I, on the other hand, am glad that I took the chance and embarked on this journey.
Although I could have taken the easy way out and just taken Spanish for my language requirement, I decided that I wanted a challenge! I wanted to take a class that would make me interested in another culture.
Latin has definitely done that for me. Not only has it opened my eyes to a new culture, but I've gotten the chance to translate one of my favorite stories... the story of Psyche and Cupid.
One last thing that Latin has given me this semester is that it has strengthened my foundation in English grammar. The only thing that sort of worries me is the various cases that I have to remember for Latin 2.
I will have a lot to study this Christmas break but it will all be worth it.
I can't wait for Latin 2 next semester!!

-Ingrid Morales

Learning Latin...

For me learning Latin has been an interesting prospect. I've technically done my language requirement here at USF in Japanese (nihongo), so switching back from an Asian language back to a "normal" alphabet was actually a nice change of pace. Nothing like learning a language that is totally pictorial in representation.

Latin has definitely helped me in English. I remember vaguely learning the parts of speech waaaay back in middle school, and what each is technically supposed to do. So when the grammar started coming out rather quickly I felt that for the most part it wasn't totally foriegn to me. I think the hardest thing honestly is the scary cases. (I think that will be my "self-study for the winter break!) I also liked being able to see some of the connections to Roman Literature that I have covered in other classes, being a Classics major you tend to see a lot of translated pieces. So I really had alot of fun getting to translate the story of Troy and of Aeneas meeting (and eventually leaving) Dido. Looking foward to Latin II!

Semper,
Candis B.

Illuminated Manuscripts

Inspired by Shannon's post, here is a photobucket site showing medieval manuscripts in Latin. Take a peak at the illustrations--they are really quite extraordinary. I am so grateful to all those medieval monks who spent long hours transmitting the ancient texts to us! For some reason, the middle ages seem to me more ancient and distant than classical antiquity....

Here is the site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85009674@N00/tags/illuminatedmanuscript/

Latin over the past couple months

Latin may be a "dead" language, but I am so glad I choose it to fulfill my language requirement! I wasn't sure how much I would get out of it, but it has turned out so well. I am a history major (emphasis on medieval studies) so even a very simple understanding of Latin has helped me already! Alot of historian authors quote Latin texts with no translation, but I've found I can get a basic understanding of most Latin quotations now.
Also, I think Latin will provide a great basis for going on to learn other languages. The similarities between Latin and Spanish are obvious, and I defintely need to learn Spanish (my boyfriend's family is Cuban!).


Shannon Murray

Quick question...

"Vicissim" is an adverb, right? I can't seem to find confirmation one way or the other online right now and it's bugging me. I must know!


I ask because a friend was showing me these handmade beads, one of which is inscribed:


"Lux et umbra vicissim, sed semper amore."


Light and shadows by turns, but always love.


~Rachael

So much more than I expected.

I decided to take this class partly because of an undecided major, and partly because my friend was taking it and convinced me that I should join her. I'm really glad that I did follow her lead and take this class. I'm taking much more from it than I had anticipated. I never thought I would leave this class knowing more English grammar than when I began. After being exposed to Latin, it makes me feel as if English is a lazy and kind of informal language. One must really understand parts of sentences to be able to properly decline nounds and adjectives, and to conjugate verbs.
I really enjoy the way the book teaches through stories because it makes it much easier to learn. On top of making it easier to learn, it gives us the opportunity to take away some Greek mythology. This class has given me a much greater appreciation for the Roman world, and just language in general. I am definitely taking much more from this class than I ever could have expected. : )

-Alyssa Rigolo

Forever with Me

So when I first told my family that I wanted to take Latin as my language requriement for graduation they thought I was nuts. My mom literally said, "Who in their right mind would learn a dead language?"

Umm... I would.

I guess I decided to take it because of a book actually. And not even a Latin book. I decided to take Latin because of the Daughters of the Moon series by Lynne Ewing. It's this series of books about four girls that were born with these special abilities; one can read minds, one gets premonitions, one can become invisible, and one can jump back and forth through time (that one's my favorite, her name is Catty :] )

Anyway, these girls have dreams of this woman named Maggie and when they finally meet her one day she tells them what they really are :

"Tu es dea, filia lunae. You are a goddess, a daughter of the moon."

She tells them this in Latin and somehow they all understand. Turns out Selene, the goddess of the moon and the girls true mother has given each of them their power and by using their powers together they can fight off the greatest evil in the world, the Atrox. Oh and they were all born KNOWING how to speak Latin.

Crazy right?

Anyway, there are 13 books, I've been reading them since I was a sophmore in high school and the last book came out recently (I'm a senior at USF), so I've spent years reading this language wishing I could understand it, or at least learn how to pronounce the words correctly. :] So when the chance came around, I jumped on it, and I'm so glad I did. haha! When I first saw 'filia' in our text book I was really excited because I already knew what that one meant.

So now that I told you all about why I decided to take Latin you're probably wondering why I titled this blog "Forever with Me". A few years ago I got a crescent moon tattooed on my lower back because these books affected me so strongly and just recently I decided to add to it. Soon the profile of a woman will be added inside of the moon and the words 'Filia Lunae' will be forever at her sides.

-Jessica Dingman

Latin Lover

I majored in Biomedical Sciences for a year before switching my major to Anthropology, and looking back I can definitely see how a background in Latin could help one understand medical terminology. In fact, understanding the Latin vocabulary can facilitate in building one's general English vocabulary and vice versa. I have been studying for the GRE recently and I have noticed how many of English vocab terms have Latin roots, which has aided my comprehension of both vocabulary for my GRE and for my Latin 1 class this semester. I think it is amazing how ancient languages such as Latin can find their way into modern ones such as English, even after all the changes English has undergone over the centuries.

-Chris Griesbach

Brittnay Glatter

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/latin.htm

I was searching the internet looking for some intertesing Latin information and I found this great website. On the website it has the old Latin alphabet. I'm glad that it is not that which we are using or this class would be even harder than it is! Nonetheless, it is an interesting website that has other older languages and their original alphabets if anyone is interested in other languages.

Excellent Complement to Other Languages

Learning Latin has helped me understand more about English and has been a great complement for Spanish and other languages. I'm currently taking Russian as well as Latin and some of the structural similarities have made it helpful to take both, though sometimes I mix up the languages in my head.

I also enjoyed translating passages and creating mental pictures from non-English words. It was helpful to have large stories to translate because it offered context for the words that we were using.

Latin offered a historical background to a number of common English words, which better helps me understand the intended meaning and current usage of those words. Also, focusing on Latin from more of an academic, written standpoint rather than speaking it was helpful to building a general sense of Western languages.

All in all, a good experience that challenged my brain.

-Christian Marble, LAT1120.001

I thought the Latin course was very interesting. The stories to translate were helpful because it allowed me to memorize the vocab and see the conjugations in a useful manner.
The Latin Lab was much more difficult when the answers were taken away, but I found it helpful in studying for the quizzes since you could take it over again.

I liked how Latin was so useful despite it being a dead language. I've taken Spanish before and found a lot of similarities between vocab and the way things are conjugated. That made it a lot easier to get through. Also a lot of English words have clear roots in Latin and since I am a creative writing major I found this incredibly useful. Most unusual words in English come from Latin or at least have a root that you can see. This has been helpful defining words both in English and Latin.

Latin is just something very different. It's one of the older languages and that fascinates me because it really had to be created from scratch. For all the cases and conjugations they have come up with it's very impressive.

I enjoyed this class and although it was tough making time to study for tests every week. I believe this kept me on top of my work though so that's not too bad.

-Ashley Kennedy

Fellow Students of Ancient Languages

Hello again everyone,

So, we are in the final few weeks (days) of classes for this term. Congrats to those who have made it to this point, especially those on the 2-day matrix for Latin. I found an article out here on the net, not exactly pertaining to Latin directly, but it covers students learning about Ancient Greek, and Akkadian. For those of us beginning and finishing our first semester of Latin and thought we hard it hard. Check out what Akkadian is...it's an ancient Semitic language written in Cuneiform. Its actually the 3rd oldest language according to this article. Very impressive, yah?

http://thehoot.net/articles/4474

For those more curious about Akkadian, here is a wiki entry for the language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_language

Semper,
Candis B.

Five Minutes, Everybody!

.....Which is about what is left from this semester as we head into the lions---ehm, the final exams, I mean! It's been such a whirlwind, especially with the new two day schedule, but you people (Latin I, Latin Ia, Latin III) have more than risen to the occassion---I still cannot believe how good everyone has been this semester, how quickly you have scaled the steep learning curve of Latin. Triple wow for all sections. Get some rest over the weekend and I will see you for our tests on Tuesday.

Vestra,

EM.

I find this shocking!

Several Councils in the UK have banned the use of Latin phrases by employees in official speech.

I also find this ironic. While the US is increasingly embracing and renewing interest in Latin, it seems that some people in the UK are rejecting it.

~Rachael

Brittnay Glatter

In our class I some people were saying that some of the words in the book were not in the dictionary. In order to help with the translation I found this great site that has a very extensive dictionary for Latin words and translation help. I hope you all find it useful. Here is the link.
http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm

I think that recenly the latin labs have been getting eaiser. I know that I have been doing better on them. But I do think that it is frustrating that the anwsers are taken away. I think we should be able to view them after we have taken the quiz. I will take a quiz like 5 times and still not know why an anwser remain wrong. Hopefully this will be something that can be changed for the next semester.
-Brittnay Glatter

Brittnay Glatter

Although this is not DIRECTLY about Latin it does have a lot to do with the fact that it is a "dead" language. The article is from the New York Times and it writes about resurrecting dead languages and specifically about the dead languages of India. I hope that you all find them interesting and can see the relation to our class. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/world/asia/11tribal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

As we come to the end of the course I am really starting to see how much Latin can teach us about English. All the grammar we are doing now, including demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, prepositions and others is exactly what I am learning in my mass media class. I think having the writing class has helped me be more ready for the Latin because I know what kinds of words the grammar pertains to.
-Brittnay Glatter

Brittnay Glatter
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080414-emperor-picture.html

This is an older article but very interesting nonetheless. it is about a statue of a roman emperor found. I think it pertains well to our class. it seems like in the book we learn a l

Trial And Error

So, once again its time to do the weekly Latin Online Lab. This week its mostly about the Dative case, yay more cases. :) I'm afraid to admit the hardest part about Latin 1 so far is the case system. It was not so bad when it was just once case or two cases to deal with, but with all of them stacked together it gets rather confusing. I'm trying my hardest to get the cases learned and under control, anyone have any tips or suggestions to share that may make getting the crazy cases straight?

Semper, Candis B.

Rome in 3D!!!

So, I was messing around with google earth for my Oceanography class, of all things, and I found a new setting where you can explore Ancient Rome in 3D!! It was neat for me to be able to see the places that I'm translating about in class. I totally recommend you taking a look at it, because I found it to be fun and very interesting! I hope you enjoy it! : )

Here's the link:

http://earth.google.com/rome/

Thanks,

C. Danielle G.

Ahh Latin

You know, every now and then I take a step back from the stress of academic demands and actually look at what I have been doing. For some reason it always comes back to Latin for me. I mean we, as in all of us who contribute to this blog, are learning and translating a language that is more than 2,000 years old. That is AMAZING. Truly amazing. We are reading the actual words written by Caesar or Cicero. How cool is that?

Anne

Latin in the New York Times...

Lovely little op-ed piece that might be just a little depressing, in light of what has been happening with the economy lately, but it also reports the very exciting news that Latin enrollment is up (in New York at least) and interest in the Classics is growing. And there's Latin in it. Lots of Latin. And some fake Latin too. (And also it's very liberally political and more than a little unflattering to certain people the author opposes - just to warn y'all... It is, after all, an op-ed...)

Are We Rome? Tu Betchus!

I'm tempted to say that this is my favorite part: But now we’ve learned the hard way that greed is bad — avaritia mala est — and the classics have staged a comeback. Except, that I think the whole thing is actually my favorite part.

Also, there's an actual article (that's not an op-ed, but is at least just as cool) about enrollment in Latin classes in schools in New York and across the country.


~Rachael

"Silly Latin"

So, I was trying to remember from yester years how to translate 'visne'...so I googled 'visne latin' and I found this cute web page entitled, "silly latin." Please take a look at it. Its basically cute Latin phrases. For the extreme Latin students out there, I'm sure you'll find it wonderful. For us Intermediates who just learned subjunctives, take a look at the Useful Curses section...I found it hilarious! I hope you like it : )

http://www.ealasaid.com/quotes/latinsil.html

Semper, C.Danielle G.

Rosetta Stone

I'm not going to lie - latin 1 has been tough so far. Of course, it doesn't help matters when I've had to miss quite a few classes due to a family emergency and car troubles. On top of that, I'm an older student who hasn't even THOUGHT about English grammar for over 10 years. LOL. But I've been working very hard on my own to try to keep up, and I'm happy to report that I made a 99 on first major test!

The reason for my post is to recommend to anyone else who may be struggling (or who just wants to improve their latin) the Rosetta Stone program. I have found it to be extremely helpful and informative, although it doesn't follow the book at all. I actually prefer this method to the book. It sorta breaks everything down and teaches you as if you were a kid learning a language for the first time. The "sesame street" approach as I like to call it, really helps with word associations and such. It doesn't delve into the grammar rules, but that comes fairly quickly. If you think about it, kids know how to speak fairly proper grammar long before they even know what a verb is. The program is somewhat expensive (you can get it online for around $250) but is well worth it. I wish that I had gotten this program before I took this class and then I would have been more prepared. I may be alone here, but I find the books approach to be very overwhelming and confusing. As soon as I think I've got something down, something else is thrown at us that changes everything. But I'm doing my best and just waiting for that lightbulb to click on (which will hopefully be soon!).

-Jamie

2nd and 3rd verbs

I want to thank you the advice. I'm doing better in developing a understanding

Shequera

Memorizing Vocabulary

I'm in Latin I and love it. The grammar intrigues me but the vocabulary is killing me! Any tips on getting all these vocabulary words to stick in my head? I made flash cards (probably don’t use them as much as I should) but I get board with them. Any other types of exercises that has worked for any of you?

Knitting in Latin...

Hey y'all! Sorry I've been MIA for the last several weeks.

I found a knit lace Christening blanket that has Latin words knit into the lace. You can see pictures and read about it here.

Also, I'm hoping to start on a knitting project just as soon as I can get my hands on the yarn. A friend on the "Veni Vidi Nodavi" group in the Ravelry knitting community helped me out when I said that my dream Latin-Knitting project would be to make a bathmat based on the "Bene Lava" mosaic from Pompeii.



This friend has a computer program which will take images, such as this, and transforms them into knitting patterns. So that's what she did! She wants to make two of them, one for herself and one for her daughter who is learning Latin in high school. :D I'll be happy if I can just manage one, and I can't wait to start knitting it...


~Rachael

Confused looking for help

This is my first semester taking Lain and I'm a little confused about how to tell the 2nd conjugation of verbs from the 3rd. Please help I thought I had this down

Shequera

Clarity

First year latin for me is going much better than I expected. I originally chose the class in hopes that it would improve my vocabulary. Furthermore, I imagined it would help tremendously with word root recognition since I'm a biomedical science major. However, to my surprise, it has done much more than this; it is beginning to truly shape my understanding of english grammer. I honestly was not expecting to learn about english when I undoubtedly enrolled for latin. But each time we learn something new in class: a new declension, a new conjugation, a new case; we also learn its equivalent in english - something I barely skimmed over in middle school english classes. Learning how to properly use these new latin words in their correct forms and context has shed some light on the english language for me. I really think it'll enable me to become a better english speaker & writer, and am pretty excited to continue tackling the subject.

Kim

A picture says a thousand words

VICTORY!!!!

Thank you all so much for your suggestions!! I got a 100 % on the second quiz! I mixed up the pluperfect active subjunctive and the pluperfect passive subjunctive, but I knew what I had done the second I saw the key. I also felt more comfortable with English to Latin composition, although I need to brush up on my participles. This victory was exactly what I needed to help me get through the piles of homework I still have left to do this week.

On a side note, I'd like to mention a Latin related irritant of mine, since this seems like the best forum. When I'm not studying, I play online games. It has become a custom to come up with a catchy and symbolic Latin phrase to name guilds in the games. It gives me some pride in my fellow Latinists to see the interesting combinations that some people come up with. I was HORRIFIED to encounter a guild with the name: Dominus Pugnea. I have expressed my horror to all of my friends and anyone else who will listen (incidently the only one who listened teaches English grammar to highschool kids, thankless job I'm sure). I believe the intended translation is Lords (plural, not singular) of battle (1st declension feminine singular). What bothers me most is that the person who constructed the guild name didn't care enough to get it right and no one really cares that its wrong. I don't even think "pugnea" is a latin word is it?? Anyway, thanks for tolerating my crazed ranting!

Jessica

In Latin 3 and Scared/Proud/Scrambling to keep up!

I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical mistakes. For some odd reason I am better at both in foreign languages. For background info: My name is Jessica. I took Latin 1 with Antonio, and Latin 2 with Professor M. this past fall and spring respectively. Now I am wondering if I would have done better to take them over the summer so that the information would have had less time to get lost in my mind!

My biggest concern right now is keeping the information that we're learning now from getting mixed up with the things I'm reviewing from last semester. For instance, I was reviewing the passive voice indicative mood before the first test. When we learned the passive voice subjunctive mood, they got all mixed up in my head. I spent so much time trying to straighten them out that I didn't study some of the vocabulary as carefully as I should have and couldn't remember the perfect stem for veto, vetare. It's so frustrating because I know that I have learned these things. I passed Latin 2 with an A, and I want an A in Latin 3, but I feel overwhelmed.

My current study practice is to write my vocabulary x5 several times a week. I do all of the homework available in the book, actively follow along in doing the class worksheets, and then bring them home and do them again on my own. Does anyone have any suggestions, other than writing them over and over again, for how to remember the verb conjugations? I have the active present down, and the active subjunctive, but the passive is really giving me trouble. Maybe I'll ask for more worksheets. I just feel like I should have it down pat by now.

I hope to become a more regular addition to the blog, but I'm trying to finish a second BA and a Master's degree at the same time, so we'll see. Wish me luck! (and hope I don't need it!)

~Jessica

Musica delenit bestiam feram (Or at least the Savage Sara)

In looking for some good background music for my Vampires in Rome game I'm finally running (I'll have to share my experiments with Roman cuisine some other time), I came across this awesome CD by a group named Synaulia:



The music is only a modern interpretation of what Ancient Roman music may have sounded like,
but it does utilize appropriate period instruments. I picked up an MP3 version of the album ($8.99!) after listening to the sound sampling on Amazon.com. I'm not only using the music for my game, I'm also listening to it while plugging away at my self-taught Latin III/IV.

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Ancient-Rome-vol-1/dp/B000QQX2AS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1221093434&sr=8-1

- Sara C. -
Resident Oddball

Latin Sudy Group

Hi everybody! I was wondering if any of y'all would want to start a study group for Latin? Maybe once a week, or even just whenever we can work our schedules out to meet up? I definitely think it would help us all out. Besides, it gets kinda lonely studying Latin by oneself, lol. :)Shannon

(PS from EM: Shannon, I took the liberty of copying your e-mail to the blog, so that the 004 section could see it too. Let me know if it works out, I think that a study group is a great idea for all classes and esp. for Latin.

BTW, the picture is from the closing ceremonies of the recent Olympics---boy, these people certainly showed the world what a group project is all about! I hope you guys get to be as tight and coordinated!).

Office Hours?

Hey Professor M...

I'm wondering what your office hours are this semester. I'd like to stop by and say "Hi!" sometime this week or next, but since I don't have a regular parking pass anymore and I'll have to get a visitor's permit, I want to make sure you'll be there. I tried sending you an e-mail last week, but didn't get a response... Probably the rush and confusion of the first week of classes or it got lost in the jumble...

~Rachael

Welcome to Latin

Dear all,

This is a note to welcome you to this space, where you can post any thoughts you have on our classes, on Latin in general, on the Roman world, or on how any of these things interact with your academic careers and lives (you can post anonymously, if you do not care for the extra credit).

This blog is now a little more than two years old (we lost the 2006 postings due to the switch of blogspot into gmail...I am still upset about that!). It has followed the vagaries of the lives of those who participate in it. People, including myself, come in and fade out of it from time to time, but these notes and pictures show that Latin is a wonderful shared experience which casts unexpected light on the mundane experiences of every day.

If any of the old students is still reading this (shout out to Rachel, Anne, Olivia, Mia, Jeremy, Tracy, Sarah, and the rest of the Latin gang) feel free to keep posting---the login and pswd have stayed the same. I am looking forward to another year of Latin, always ancient and poised and always as new and exciting as it has ever been. See you all tomorrow---and let the games begin!

Yours,

EM.

So my parents and I had expected to be in Virginia by now with the cabin that they are building finished, but not yet. Contractors are notorious for delays, and ours is no different. So we're still in Tampa, three weeks after we had planned to be on vacation already. And we'll be here until at least July 14th.

To keep busy, I've been making things for the cabin. Knitting washcloths and dishcloths, sewing napkins and placemats. I want to make rugs, but they take so long and can be kind of boring and repetitive to knit. So I'm thinking I'll make a painted canvas floorcloth for the dining room, and at least another one for my bedroom as well.

Like this sort of thing:


So it's kind of like the wooden signs I was making last year, but on canvas and bigger...

I'm going to stencil some Latin on mine, and I've been going through lists of Latin mottos and phrases for ideas. While going through lists online, I found this:

Abutebaris modo subjunctivo denuo.
You've been misusing the subjunctive again.

My goodness, how just a reminder of the subjunctive and how difficult it is takes me right back to class!

I hope y'all are doing well! We should think about trying to organize a lunch get-together or something in the next week or so, I think...


~Rachael

SALVETE

Greetings from Gainesville! It is officially the middle of the semester. Scary. I have come to the conclusion that I do not like Ancient Greek. Latin is SO much better! It's not that I hate the language, it's just that it is too much, too fast. This class is Anc Greek 1&2 in 6 weeks, but it is disguised as Anc Greek 1. That is just not right. In summer B we finish the last two chapters of the Hansen and Quinn book and translate Medea! WOW. But (and this is true about many things in life) we feel like what we are doing is impossible and too hard for us, then we push through it and do our best, and in retrospect it doesn't seem so bad. Which proves that when we push ourselves, we exceed our own expectations. Hopefully this is like that. GO LATIN!

-Anne

Maxima

We got a new puppy yesterday! She's a German Shepherd. We're trying to figure out her AKC registration name now. Her father's name on his AKC registration papers is "Argus Maximus," but they call him "Max." My mom wants to call our puppy "Maxie"... So I'm thinking "Maxima" should go on her papers, just like "Maximus" on her father's papers. But the breeder we got her from requires all the puppies for each litter to have AKC names that begin with the same letter, that way they can easily identify which litter each of their puppies comes from in the registry. Maxie's litter letter is "N." So I've been tryng to find a Latin word that we can use that starts with "N" (even if it's not a word that would have been used as a name)... I've been asking friends to pick their favorites from a list that I compiled and it's now tied with five votes for "Nova" and five votes for "Nitida" and also 3 votes for "Nivea" and no votes for anything else. I've had several people point out that "Nova" and "Maxima" are both cars, and that "Nivea" is a handcream. LOL! So I'm leaning toward "Nitida." What do y'all think?

Also, pictures:






~Rachael

Addendum: We've decided on "Nitida Maxima" for her AKC papers.

Supernatural Season Finale...

There was Latin in the Supernatural Season Finale, which aired this past Thursday night. I made a video of those clips to share. They did three rituals: finding the location of demon, summoning a demon and making holy water. I was a happy girl. LOL!



There's something wrong with YouTube right now, and it doesn't seem to want to show embedded videos. I don't know why, but it seems to be across the board and not just me, although it could be my computer. So if it doesn't show up above here, you can click through to the YouTube page here.

There was a lot of other uses of Latin in this season of Supernatural that I never made videos of... I wanted to, but it takes so long to do it on my computer, and I was so busy, you know... I'll probably get to making those over the summer, but I may or may not subject y'all to them. :D It depends on what else I come up with to post about here. After all, I must keep in touch.

I hope everyone is having fun with whatever you're doing now, and that you'll post about it every now and then.

Since school let out, I've been helping my parents pick things out for our cabin in Virginia. Construction is almost completed and by this time next month, we'll be moving things in. I've also been very busy with my vegetable garden and work around the house. If you want to, you can keep up with these things in greater detail (there are pictures!) at my own blog.

I miss you all!

~Rachael

I MISS LATIN

So, I am taking Ancient Greek @ UF right now, which is gorgeous btw, but I miss Latin. I never thought I would say this but it's easier. The class I am taking is accelerated and they were not joking. It's day 3 and we have: learned a new alphabet and its pronunciation, learned the 1st and 2nd declensions of nouns, and learned the present, imperfect, future, and aorist tenses in the indicative active. whoa. Oh, Latin! How I miss thee! Let me count the ways...

I miss that you only have 4 principle parts as opposed to 6!
I miss that your perfect tense is not split into 2 tenses!
I miss that you only have 2 moods!
And most of all, I miss your alphabet!

; P

-Anne

P.S. I almost forgot! I miss the ablative case too! And even though the alphabet is foreign when I look at the page and actually understand it, it is extremely satisfying. Almost as satisfying as translating De Brevitate Vitae...but not quite!

Interesting Translation

Many of you know that I found an interesting translation for Ovid's telling of Romulus and the Sabine Rape. The translation was something to the effect of "The king gave the long awaited signal. Project Rape was on. The men jumped up..." Well, I found this so amusing that I had to make a bumper sticker for FaceBook about it. Thought I should share it here as well!



Could be a whole series. With a lot of complaints.

My Little Roman

Latin as a class may be over for me now, but I wanted to share my son's shared love for the ancient Roman world.

He recently requested that he get a "Caesar" haircut and wanted me to take pictures of him in a "toga":


This was partially due to our recently having read a book about Pompeii from his favorite book series The Magic Tree House. In the book the two heroes, Jack and his little sister Annie, are tasked with rescuing a scroll of Roman mythology from the city before it is covered in ash by the explosion of Vesuvius:


So watch out, Dr. Manolaraki; you just might be seeing my little guy in your Beginning Latin class in about, oh, 13 years or so. :)

LATIN IV perfectus est

I can't believe Latin IV is finished! 15 weeks. 6 ancient authors. Wow.

Caesar-surprisingly easy, absolute abl. fest
Cicero-in retrospect not so bad
Livy-whoa. most difficult by far
Catullus-I love him and easy
Ovid-I love him and even easier
Virgil-hmmm. craziest word order ever.

-Anne

Happy Birthday Rome

According to legend, the city of Rome was founded on April 21, 753 B.C. by Romulus and Remus, twin sons of the war god Mars. According to my math that would make Rome 2761 years old. No wonder they call it la Citta Eterna (The Eternal City)

If I had known earlier I would have brought cupcakes with garum icing to Latin class for all!

Hi all,

Every now and then I visit this blog with the hope of thinking of something worth posting, and I always draw a blank.

Over the weekend, however, I took in three stray kittens with the intention of bringing them to a shelter where they could find a home. They were nasty little things at first, but they came around quite a bit by this morning. I was out of the house by 9:00 to bring them to a shelter (no small feat for me, as I'm not much of a morning person and Latin is my first Monday class); however, the National Humane Society had no room for them. By 11:00, I was at the Hillsborough County Animal Services center, which is when they open for animal surrenders. I've just returned home as there were several people waiting before me, and the facility didn't seem in much of a hurry. My bleeding heart has gotten me in trouble though, as I missed class over this; I couldn't bring them back to my apartment anyway, we have a no-pets policy and I'd already harbored them in secret for 2 days. The woman at the shelter assured me that they were very likely to find a good home.

I thought I'd share a few pictures of them with you all, as they're absolutely precious.







Notably, I have also learned from this experience that if a blanket's tag says 'dry clean only', it doesn't mean 'wash on delicate cycle and air dry'.

Katie

P.S. If someone could fill me in on what was covered today in class, and let me know what the homework was, I would greatly appreciate it. See you all tomorrow!

I am so sick... But someone e-mailed me a link to this quiz in hopes of making me feel a bit better. Thought I'd share real quick...

Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?

Magister Mundi sum!
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

~Rachael

So... I went to EyeCon in Orlando this weekend... the whole weekend... I was smart and got my homework done beforehand 'cause there is no way it could be done now. I am floating on a cloud of fangirl joy. It was awesome. I love this show. Jared Padalecki has the exorcism memorized and said it for us (and someone has already posted it to YouTube). I screamed... I think... I know I was leaning against a wall, both to steady my camera and so I didn't fall down from the pretteh. Check it out:



~Rachael

Addendum - I told you I love Supernatural... Also, I think I'm getting sick. I hope it's just allergies and the weather. But we'll see after a good night's sleep...

Addendum the second (04/08/08) - Yes, I'm certainly sick. It started with dizziness and has now progressed to more flu-like symptoms. I have been unable to do anything since yesterday afternoon because if I look down to focus on a book, the room starts spinning around so much I have to tilt my head back and close my eyes for several minutes to make it stop. I hope it gets better soon 'cause this is not fun.

Family Emergency

I just found out that my biological mother (long story, short version is that I was adopted as an infant and am now really close to all of my parents, biological and adoptive) was taken to the hospital a little while ago. We don't know what's wrong yet other than she's hemorrhaging. I'm freaking out a little... which will probably pretty soon turn into a lot... so I might not be in class and even if I am, I probably will need to leave my cell on and sit near the door, in case there's any news because she and her husband don't have cell phones and when they call, if they aren't at home, it's impossible to call them back. I would have just e-mailed Professor M, but then I couldn't find her e-mail address just now, so...

~Rachael

Addendum at 3:08pm: It's a good thing I wasn't in class today because she called at 2:10pm and we talked for almost an hour about how she's doing. She's okay. The doctor thinks she might have had a miscarriage. They're waiting to get test results back to know for sure. Very scary. She thought she was going to die. But she's okay. Next week, she's going to have to have surgery, but the doctor said after that, she'll be fine.

Addendum, The Second, at 5:55pm: I just found out that class was cancelled today from Julie. I hope everything is alright.

Caligula - The Video Game

I want to preface this with a minor warning that this flash game is wrong on so many levels and is not for the weak of stomach or easily offended.

When watching "Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law" last night on Cartoon Network, there was a small snippet of the show in which a prosecuting attorney wanted to quote poetry in his closing arguments; can you guess which poet he chose? That's right! Quintus! Our little Quintus from the Latin textbooks! I was very amused and wanted to search out that clip to share here.

Unfortunately the Adult Swim website distracted me from this clip search with one of it's new games: Viva Caligula. You play as Caligula, running around the various areas of Rome killing Roman citizens with weapons you collect along the way. It's.... unusual and fun. If you're interested in checking it out, here's a link:

Viva Caligula Game

I am going to resume my search for the Harvey Birdman clip... after I beat this game a few times... :)

*** Side Note: While some of my posts here may indicate otherwise, I actually am not a crazy, sicko person. ***

~ Sara C. ~

The Dinner Of Trimalchio

Recently I had to read this section from Petronius' 'the Satyricon' and also it was just my birthday so I found this funny. If any of you haven't read this book, it's great. This excerpt is the host's interpretation of astrological signs. He was a total fool but I wonder if this did represent what ancient Romans thought of the signs. I myself have decided to quit school and become a fish-fryer! Enjoy!

"First it becomes the Ram. So whoever is born under that sign has a lot of herds, a lot of wool, a hard head as well, a brassy front and a sharp horn. Most scholars are born under this sign, and most muttonheads as well."
We applauded the wit of our astrologer and he went on:
"Then the whole heavens turns into the little old Bull. So bullheaded folk are born then, and cow-herds and those who find their own feed.
"Under the Heavenly Twins on the other hand - pairs-in-hand, yokes of oxen, people with big ballocks and people who do it both ways.
"I was born under the Crab, so I have a lot of legs to stand on and a lot of property on land and sea, because the Crab takes both in his stride. And that's why I put nothing over him earlier, so as not to upset my horoscope.
"Under Leo are born greedy and bossy people.
"Under the Virgin, effeminates, runaways and candidates for the chain-gang.
"Under the Scales, butchers, perfume-sellers and anyone who weighs things up.
"Under Scorpio poisoners and murderers.
"Under Sagittarius are born cross-eyed people who look at the vegetables and take the bacon.
"Under Capricorn, people in trouble who sprout horns through their worries.
"Under the Water-Carrier, bartenders and jugheads.
"Under the fishes, fish-fryers and people who spout in public.
"So the starry sky turns round like a millstone, always bringing some trouble, and men being born or dying."
-Anne

Okay, this is just *wrong!*

Okay, someone has taken what the lyrics of part of the Carmina Burana sound like (to someone who doesn't know what the Latin lyrics are) and they illustrated it in a video. It is very *wrong*! And completely hilarious!

Enjoy!

http://carmina.ytmnd.com/


~Rachael

Idus Martiae

My husband and I eloped on the Ides of March, 5 years ago. I picked that date so that my husband would never forget the day, as he would always "Beware the Ides of March," so to speak. :)

Since this is our first "big" marriage milestone, we are commemorating the date with a Roman theme; we're taking a second honeymoon to Italy this summer and celebrating the actual anniversary here at home with a sort of Roman flair. As such, I would like to come up with a really nice gift to give to him, but my brain is drawing a blank (which it has been doing often lately, especially with translation of verbs, but I digress). I've flipped ahead in the Latin II book to the section about Horatia's marriage (I can't believe she marries Decimus!) for inspiration, but the only thing I could come up with is getting his ring inscribed with "ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia."

So I figured that I would pop on over to this blog and try to pick some other minds for ideas. I would greatly appreciate it!

- Sara C.

On a brighter note...

I found this site called FreeRice.com

you can play a vocabulary game and for every word you get correct, the charity will donate 20 grains of rice to people without food. That might not sound like much, but they add up. In the last 15 minutes, I've racked up 1480 grains. And Latin has helped me so much in getting more of these correct! Such as ululate. I seem to remember a verb or something from somewhere in Livy that ululate is derived from. :D

In other news, completely unrelated to Latin, my sister sent me pictures of my niece today, and she's so epically cute, I just have to share:



~Rachael

Darkness Visible

For those who lived it, and those who heard about it!

I was teaching Beginning II when suddenly everything went completely dark. For a split second I thought I had fainted or something!



http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/26/florida.power/index.html


See you all tomorrow; and bring your cell phones, apparently they work as flashlights too...

EM

Olivia the Pig

No longer am I just a stalker! I shall partake in the Latin Experience. *waves*

Anyways, onto my story. I went to Barnes and Noble today and of course had to take a look at the Latin section. Which, when there, I spotted a children's book amongst the reference material. I pulled it out and read the title: Olivia The Essential Latin Edition. Confused, I opened it and was delighted to see the entire story of Olivia the Pig done in Latin. So amazed by the book, I stood there and read it then had to buy it.

The book is dedicated to the memory of Amy High who taught an elementary Latin program in Virginia (Time magazine did a piece on the program). I can't imagine learning Latin in elementary school. Long division was hard enough. For more information on Amy High go to www.AmyHigh.org

Shannon

Vampires + Rome = Sara Heaven

I wanted to share this earlier, but with my little guy being sick, I was postponed for a while.

I have a confession which will probably gain me even more social embarassment than I've already accrued...

I run and play LARP games, such as White Wolf's Vampire the Requiem, and one of my favorite players recently gifted me with a copy of Requiem for Rome, a setting for the roleplaying game in Ancient Rome!!!



I have only just started reading it and I am in love! Vampire the Requiem (V:tR)integrates the gaming world into actual historical events, so it has a straight up Roman history section complete with little asides of how things in the Empire affected Vampire society. And I can gleefully state that the authors of this text appear to have been students of Latin, as they have provided some appropriate declensions for their glossary of terms for game play!

/\v/\ Sara C. /\v/\

Titus Livius

Yay! Its time for Livy!!!

Titus Livius (traditionally 59 BC – AD 17), known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC) through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time.

Livy's writing style was poetic and archaic in contrast to Caesar's and Cicero's styles. Also, he often wrote from the Romans' opponent's point of view in order to accent the Romans' virtues in their conquest of Italy and the Mediterranean. (thanks Wikip.)

Livy seems exciting. I think that it's really cool that we are reading the writings of someone who lived during both the republic AND the Empire. Even though he wrote about the early histories of Rome; I would think that in some way the current political state around him would have influenced what he was writing... is this a possibility Dr. M?

And what I mean by influence is that he would have glorified or omitted events based on what the current leader would have wanted.

-Anne

Supernatural was on tonight... There was lots of Latin. Lots!

Sam was all fluent and stuff because he paid attention in Latin class. :D

Also, the idea of a virgin sacrifice was entertained for about five minutes. Dean got to be Achilles at Aulus (but more successful) and that made me very happy.

There will eventually be videos...

~Rachael

Roman food

It seems my interests are a bit different than the rest of my classmates. I'm sure it is due to my advanced age. Although I am getting used to always being the oldest person in my classes, including the instructors. Oh well I digress.

I read a book review today in the St. Pete Times they lifted it from the Chicago Tribune. The author reviewed _The Oxford Companion to Italian Food_ he included a few tidbits from Roman times.

"Cicero, the Roman orator, reportedly game the family name to chickpeas, whose Latin name is Cicer arietinum (ceci in Italian), already a staple at the time and to this day."

"Mozzarella di bufala, that beloved and most Italian of cheeses, is made from the milk of water buffalo not native to the country. They were brought to Italy from Asia during the late Roman Empire - a much better legacy than that Roman essential garum, a sauce made by fermenting fish and their entrails."

Hmmmm, I can just imagine the ladies chatting - Oh Scintilla, what you do to fish entrails is magic... you must share your secret with me.

Tracy

Yeah, I'm a dork. I know it.

I found this while looking for something to better share the awesomeness of the Blue Oyster Cult song "(Don't Fear) the Reaper," which I mentioned in the comments for Prof. M's "More Art" post. But blogger doesn't allow videos to be posted in comments, so... I'll do it here...

Anyway, so I found this fan-made video for the episode "In My Time of Dying," which was the premiere episode of the second season of Supernatural, set to the song. I think it can be understood even if you don't watch the show. And you can, of course, just play it to hear the song. It's not the most rockin' version of the song that I've heard (that would be this one live version I have), but it's the original 1976 recording. I really enjoy the guitar and the drums and how they play against the lyrics. In the live version, it's almost like the lead guitar is the voice, crying and screaming, and the drums are the heartbeat, racing, pushing forward in time. There's a fatalism in the live version that just moves me strongly. But I couldn't find the live version in a format that I could post here. Only this one. So it will have to do. Even though, all of those things that I love so much about the live version are much more subdued and mellow in the 1976 studio rendition.



(It seems the video may have stopped working... very disappointing because it's been on YouTube for over a year.)

If you want to know what's going on in this episode of Supernatural (to better understand that part of the video): Sam, Dean and their dad, John, (played by Jeffery Dean Morgan who was in the movie P.S. I Love You recently, and also on the show Gray's Anatomy at some point) got into a really bad car accident... The side of their '67 Impala was hit full-on by an 18-wheeler truck (it happens...). So at the beginning of this episode, Dean was in a coma and dying. His disembodied spirit was walking the halls of the hospital, trying to figure out a way to save himself, but he had company in the spirit world - a Reaper who was stalking him. (Hence, the song chosen for this video...) But John couldn't sit and do nothing about it, couldn't sit and watch his son die, so he made a deal to save Dean's life. He gave up his own life to the Demon who had killed his wife 23 years before. In exchange, the Demon possessed the Reaper and gave Dean his life back. Oh, and the gun that's featured in this video is the demon-killing 1835 Colt Paterson revolver I talked about before... the one that has "non timebo mala" engraved into the barrel. :D

Okay, I've babbled more than enough for one weekend. Much more than enough. Valete!

~Rachael

Addendum: Supernatural will be on this Thursday at 8pm and at 9pm (that's right, two episodes). The first one will be "Nightshifter," which is not really that scary, so don't not watch because you think you'll be scared, and the second is "Jus In Bello," the new episode that I posted clips from several days ago, which has Sam speaking some lines of a Latin exorcism like it's a second language. (If you recall, Sam was the one who did pay attention in Latin class.) That probably makes me way more happy than it should... LOL!

Also... more clips... just because:

"In My Time of Dying" the "Full on Swayzied that mother" clip:


And here's the part with the Ouija board:



:D

Even More Art

YAY!!! Ok, so FINALLY after looking for this painting for YEARS... I found it!!! It's one of my absolute favs. This picture honestly does not do it justice. In reality the colors are richer, darker and so intense. It was painted by Paul Delaroche in 1855. It's called 'Le jeune martyre' which I believe translates as the young martyr.


-Anne

FYI EVERYONE

Hello! I just wanted to let everyone that frequents this blog know that the USF Historians' Guild now has a blog too. There will be updates on events as well as posts pertaining to anything and everything historical. Latin and history go hand and hand so I thought I would post on here to try to get people to post on the Guild's blog so someday it could be as cool as this one. It's for both professors and students and I think it could develop into something great. So here's the link:

http://thehistoriansguild.blogspot.com

username: historiansguild
password:magicstick


-Anne

Supernatural...

Yeah... It's me again with more about Supernatural. There's a spoiler clip for next week's episode, Jus In Bello, up at YouTube... and there's Latin in it. So I'm sharing.

There's two clips actually. The first kinda sets up the second a little bit, but the second one is the one with the Latin in it. One thing you should probably know about it beforehand is that Sam and Dean are being held by the FBI at some jail somewhere on a bunch of charges including many, many counts of murder, fraud, breaking and entering, arson, grave desecration, and the list goes on and on... The main agent after them (you'll see him in the first clip) has been trying to catch them since half-way through last season, and he thinks they are extremely dangerous psychopaths... Well, he's half-right. :D





Enjoy! :D

~Rachael

More Art

Check this out if you get a moment:


http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/14/arts/0215-POUS_index.html


a MET exhibition of Nicolas Poussin's landscapes inspired by Classical myth--the colors are so beautiful, it is almost painful (for intermediate and advanced, what clause is this?!). My favorite is the "Landscape with Calm" (shown here) all that blue and green blending in each other...

More soon,

EM.

Tonight's Lecture on the Etruscan Underworld

What did you guys think? I found it fascinating---except the part where they did human sacrificies--well, at least they weren't Romans. Did I hear correctly what the lecturer said? "All ancient peoples had human sacrifice, except the GREEKS!"

The Greeks rule baby!

(>> gets off high horse....)

I attaching here a lovely picture of that I missed from the lecture tonight---it's the god Turms (Hermes) carrying the soul of a deceased woman into the underworld...I have always found it such a sad and beautiful image; it alludes to the stealing of a bride, I think. The other one she did show us tonight, but I couldn't see the egg she was talking about. I looked it up (Etruscan+ egg) and bingo---don't you just love google?

Judith and Holofernes

I meant to do this a while ago, but better late than ever! Here are some more renditions of this famous story from the Old Testament. I like the one by Artemisia Gentileschi (Anne, this is the one you posted) but my personal favorite is the one where Judith's back is shown and it's so strong and determined. I never thought that a back could make a statement like that, but it does! I read once that in Rennaissance painting a lot of female figures were actually based on male models which were cheaper and more readily available. That would explain those muscular women, like the Michallangelo's Sibyls in the Capella Sistina.

Anyway, I could go on and on about Rennaissance art, which I adore. Here is a quick summary of the story of Judith and Holofernes; it has been taken up through the centuries as a metaphor for things ranging from womens lib to standing up against tyrannical polities:


Holofernes (Hebrew, הולופרנס) was an Assyrian[1] invading general of Nebuchadnezzar, who appears in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith. It was said that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar dispatched Holofernes to take vengeance on the nations of the west that had withheld their assistance to his reign. The general laid siege to Bethulia, commonly believed to be Meselieh, and the city almost surrendered. It was saved by Judith, a beautiful Jewish widow who entered Holofernes's camp and seduced him. Judith then beheaded Holofernes while he was drunk. She returned to Bethulia with the disembodied head, and the Jews defeated the enemy. This can be interpreted as honey trap.