Classics Commons^™

The Intelligent Troglodyte’S Guide To Plato’S Republic, Douglas Drabkin

Philosophy Open Educational Resources

The Republic of Plato is one of the classic gateway texts into the study and practice of philosophy, and it is just the sort of book that has been able to arrest and redirect lives. How it has been able to do this, and whether or not it will be able to do this in your own case, is something you can only discover for yourself. The present guidebook aims to help a person get fairly deep, fairly quickly, into the project. It divides the dialogue into 96 sections and provides commentary on each section as well as questions for …

The Demise Of Fossil Cycad National Monument As A Consequence Of Paleontological Resource Mismanagement, Nathaniel Valentine, Vincent Santucci, Justin Tweet, Aubrey Bond

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota (Figure 1), Fossil Cycad National Monument boasted well-preserved specimens of cycadeoid fossils from the Cretaceous and concentrations of these fossil plants were greatest at the site’s location (Santucci and Hughes, 1998). I studied historical records to estimate the number of fossils removed by paleontologists at the site between 1890-1957.

Casar Student Discussion Series #7: Censored Classrooms - Should Parents And Community Members Have A Say In Restricting Certain Books In Schools, Based On Factors Such As Religion, Age Appropriateness, And More?, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Every semester, CASAR AUC holds miscellaneous student debates discussing the hot controversial topics in the US, Egypt and from around the world in hopes of raising awareness about these topics & broadening the perspectives of our students as they learn to engage in fruitful discussions as they share different opinion on the topic being deliberated.

On April 10th 2025, at this CASAR Student Discussion event #7 in light of the current book bans in the US happening from Trump's administration, we debated this question: 'Censored classrooms: Should parents and community members have a say in restricting certain books in schools …

Book Vi Of The Mathematical Collection Of Pappus Of Alexandria, Translated By John B. Little, John B. Little, Pappus Of Alexandria

Holy Cross Bookshelf

Book VI of the Mathematical Collection is a collection of comments or notes about various points treated in parts of a collection of other texts sometimes known as the “Little Astronomy.” Pappus uses these works as sources and frequently quotes from them in this book. In the teaching of mathematical astronomy in late antiquity, and this would include the time of Pappus, the “Little Astronomy” is often understood to have been a follow-up to Euclid’s Elements and a preliminary to the study of the Almagest of Claudius Ptolemy (ca. 100–165 CE). The “Little Astronomy” included works by a group of …

Practical Necromancy For Beginners: A Short Incomplete Opinionated Introduction To Artificial Intelligence For Archaeology And History Students, Shawn Graham

Digital Press Books

Many feel bewildered and quietly embarrassed that they don’t know more about how AI technology works, where it came from, or even how to get started. Start here.

Practical Necromancy represents Shawn Graham’s vision for how we should treat large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence applications. Graham advocates approaching these technologies as a necromancer. In antiquity, the figure of the necromancer lay outside the boundaries of official religion, talking not with gods but with the mournful echoes of ghosts. Practical Necromancy explores ways of surfacing the ghosts that lurk in AI technology. Graham suggests that the most useful thing we …

Immigration: Ancient Counterparts And Processes, Monica Souza Sue

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

This project sought to inspect parallels between modern and ancient societies, and the commonality of certain events and political markers. This project makes mentions of power dynamics, the position of immigrants as a source of labor, and their commodification as a force. Research used a 'compilation of materials' method. In which, is performed the examination and studying of different materials in relation to the question, compiling findings, and crafting commentary based on the discoveries of the medias. The experiences of immigrants in the United States are strongly comparable to the experiences of metic (immigrant) women in ancient Athens. A small …

Book V Of The Mathematical Collection Of Pappus Of Alexandria, Translated By John B. Little, Pappus Of Alexandria, John B. Little

Holy Cross Bookshelf

John B. Little is the translator.

Book V of the Mathematical Collection is addressed to a certain Megethion, about whom we know nothing else. From the context he may have been a student or patron of Pappus in Alexandria. In a heading at the start, Pappus says that the general theme will be comparisons between different geometric figures. The overall structure brings interesting relations and connections to the fore. The book opens with a very well-known and charming discussion of how the importance of such comparisons can be seen by considering the structures built by non-human creatures such as bees. …

Child And Adolescent Literature: An Exploration, Debra D. Murphy

ATU Faculty OER Books and Materials

No abstract provided.

Archaeology Showcase (2024), Jesse Tune, Jacqueline Frost Dibiasie-Sammons, Aileen Ajootian, Joseph Cruz, Karina Glenn, Greg Palculict, Maggie Wallace

Lecture Series

Professor Jesse Tune, UM Department of Sociology and Anthropology
"Moving to the Edge of the World: Ireland's First Peoples"

Professor Jacqueline Frost DiBiasie-Sammons, UM Department of Classics
"Mapping Media: A bird's eye view of charcoal, chalk and ochre graffiti in Pompeii"

UM Classics majors Mr. Joseph Cruz, Ms. Karina Glenn, Mr. Greg Palculict, Ms. Maggie Wallace
"To Rome and Back"

Professor Aileen Ajootian, UM Department of Classics
"Young Herakles"

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, And Culture Across Millennia, Kerstin Droß-Krüpe, Louise Quillien, Kalliope Sarri

Zea E-Books Collection

Research from COST Action “CA 19131 – EuroWeb”

These essays on various aspects of textile research encompass a wide chronological perspective and vast geographical area, enriching traditional disciplines with innovative methodologies such as isotopic tracing of provenance, textile analysis, protein analysis, digital motion capture, and exploration of textile expressions in texts and folklore. All essays in this volume have been written by international teams of scholars from the participating countries. The anthology serves as a comprehensive and innovative resource, consolidating the research outcomes and insights gained from the interdisciplinary exploration of textiles in European history within the framework of EuroWeb. …

Pappus Of Alexandria, Book Iii Of The Mathematical Collection, Pappus Of Alexandria, John B. Little

Holy Cross Bookshelf

John B. Little is the translator.

This is a translation of Book III of the Mathematical Collection by Pappus of Alexandria (ca. 290 - 350 CE) from the original Greek to English, following the edition of Friedrich Hultsch. While other books of the Mathematical Collection have been translated into English and short quotations from Book III have appeared in a number of places (see the Introduction), to my knowledge, no complete English translation of Book III has been published. Pappus was very influential as a sort of conduit between knowledge preserved from ancient Greek mathematics and European mathematicians in the …

Casar Student Discussion Series: Should Cultural Artifacts Be Returned To Their Country Of Origin?, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Student Debate Series - Launched in Fall 2023:

The Center of American Studies and Research (CASAR) launched a Student Discussion Series in Fall 2023 semester, it is a student-led debate on a plethora of current hot topics. In this student discussion series, students play the role of delving into topics together to understand one another. This event is broadcasted on facebook live via the CASAR Facebook Page, where the entire record is still available to watch. Students passionately present their arguments in an organized manner, going back and forth between the two sides, and often students become excited about leading …

Spatial Narratives In The Bronze Age, Linh Le

Annual Student Research Poster Session

This research paper explores the relationship between culture and architecture in the Late Bronze Age through the analysis of the Minoan and Mycenaean communities, with the focus on the latter. Drawing on the theories of “The Production of Space” by Henri Lefebvre and “Space and Place” by Yi-Fu Tuan, the study examines how these communities utilized space to construct their own unique sense of place. By analyzing most archaeological evidence from palaces and burial customs presented in Eric H. Cline’s The Oxford Handbook of The Bronze Age Aegean and Cynthia W. Shelmerdine’s The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, …

Pappus Of Alexandria, Book Viii Of The Mathematical Collection, Pappus Of Alexandria, John B. Little

Holy Cross Bookshelf

John B. Little is the translator.

This is a Greek-to-English translation of one section or chapter of a larger ancient Greek work called the Mathematical Collectionby Pappus of Alexandria (ca. 290 - 350 CE). Specifically, this is “Book VIII”' of that work. To date and to the translator’s knowledge, no complete English translation of Book VIII has been published.

Pappus was very influential as a bridge between the knowledge that had been preserved from ancient mathematics and European mathematicians in the Renaissance. This specific part of Pappus' work deals with applications of geometry to questions in mechanics.

The format …

Northeast Insulae Project: Context And Analysis (Revised Edition), Mark Schuler

The Final Report

This volume of the Final Report places the excavation of the northeast insulae into its historical and archaeological context and draws interpretive conclusions from the work done. Much of the material presented here is repeated in a second volume which recounts the history of the project sequentially. But the focus in this volume is on interpretation of the material remains in their context.

Desire In The Iliad: The Force That Moves The Epic And Its Audience, Rachel H. Lesser

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

This book is the first study to examine desire in the Iliad in a comprehensive way and to explain its relationship to the epic’s narrative structure and audience reception. It offers a new reading of the poem that shows how the characters’ desires, especially those of the mortal hero Achilleus and the divine king Zeus, motivate plot and keep the audience engaged with the epic until and even beyond its end. The author argues that the characters’ desires are primarily organized in narrative triangles that feature two parties in conflict over a third. A variety of desires animate these triangles, …

Women's Marital Roles In Classical Athens: Male Understanding And Portrayal In Aeschylus' Agamemnon And Euripides' Medea, Elena Graf, Mary Boyes

Undergraduate Research Posters

Abstract

The Classical Period of Athens (500-336 BCE) was an era of sociocultural growth and stability for the ancient Greeks, renowned for its development of tragic theatre. While Classical Athens nurtured the public sociocultural success of male citizens, women adopted a submissive role, confined to their marital responsibilities. Women were forbidden from directly taking part in politics, philosophy, and above all, the theatrical scene of Athens. Due to these societal perceptions of traditional gender roles, the literature of the Classical Period was heavily influenced by a male bias. This study investigates the connections between women’s role in Classical Athenian society …

Elementary New Testament Greek, Owen Ewald

Faculty Open Access Books

This open-access textbook helps students learn to read New Testament Greek at the elementary level. It includes clear, concise explanations of grammar and syntax, helpful examples, and essential vocabulary, with no assumption of previous language study, and it does not require accents for most forms. At the end of each of its twenty chapters, students will find short Greek-language episodes from the life of a fictional early Christian family of Jewish ancestry, short readings from the Greek New Testament and Septuagint, and review/homework exercises that can help reinforce new concepts and vocabulary. This book can help students prepare to read …

University Of Mississippi Archaeology Showcase 2022, Aileen Ajootian, Carolyn Freiwald, Annabelle Harris, Sydney Lynch, Sierra Thomas, Brad Cook, Jacqueline Dibiasie-Simmons

Lecture Series

Welcome
Dr. Aileen Ajootian, Professor, Department of Classics

"The Artemis Sanctuary at Brauron in Roman Times: A Healing Cult ?"
Dr. Aileen Ajootian, Professor, Department of Classics

"The Lives of Ancient Dogs"
Dr. Carolyn Freiwald, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

"Students and Charcoal: Observations From Ancient Graffiti in Pompeii"
Annabelle Harris, Sydney Lynch, Sierra Thomas, UM Classics majors

"Swearing By Gold (in the UM Museum), An Update"
Dr. Brad Cook, Professor, Department of Classics

"Writing Among the Dead: Charcoal Graffiti in Pompeian Tombs"
Dr. Jacqueline DiBiasie-Sammons, Assistant Professor, Department of Classics

14 Black Classicists, Michele Valerie Ronnick

Lecture Series

The Department of Classics is hosting a traveling photographic and historical exhibit called, “14 Black Classicists”. The exhibit, conceived and curated by Dr. Michele Valerie Ronnick of Wayne State University, reflects on the role of advanced education (and especially of the study of Classics) in building a free and prosperous Black community in the United States. Dr. Ronnick has collected the stories of nineteenth-century Black Americans who chose to pursue advanced education in Greek and Latin language and ancient history, literature and art, and went on to teach in the field. The exhibit is open until November 18th, Monday through …

Blandin De Cornoalha, A Comic Occitan Romance: A New Critical Edition And Translation, Wendy Pfeffer, Margaret Burrell

TEAMS Varia

This volume presents the first widely available edition in English of the medieval romance Blandin de Cornoalha, accompanied by a translation and introduction to the work. Composed in the second half of the fourteenth century by an anonymous author, the story offers an early recording of the Sleeping Beauty folktale, incorporated into the adventures of two knights. Many elements in this romance from the south of France are comic, suggesting that Blandin is not simply a tale of knights in battle, but also a parody of medieval romance in general.

An Illustrated Metamorphoses, Alexandria Devlin

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

This project was a comic consisting of five different myths from Ovid's Metamorphoses. My goal was to make it easier and more enjoyable for audiences to read classical myths, and give these stories a way to shine in the 21st century. Myths from many different cultures have been adapted into comics, but direct depictions are much less common than shaping mythological figures to fit a new story. I have yet to find a direct comic adaptation of Metamorphoses. Ovid's Metamorphoses is full of rich and interesting stories and deserves to be represented alongside other mythological tales.

Japanese Fairy Tales, Lafcadio Hearn

Zea E-Books Collection

• Chin-Chin Kobakama • The Goblin-Spider • The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings • The Boy Who Drew Cats • The Silly Jelly-Fish • The Hare of Inaba • Shippeitarō • The Matsuyama Mirror • My Lord Bag-o’-Rice • The Serpent with Eight Heads • The Old Man and the Devils • The Tongue-Cut Sparrow • The Wooden Bowl • The Tea-Kettle • Urashima • Green Willow • The Flute • Reflections • The Spring Lover and the Autumn Lover • Momotaro

The versions of the first four tales in this volume are by Lafcadio Hearn. The others are …

Death Comes To Oplontis: Victims Of Mt. Vesuvius Reveal Life In 79 Ad, Kristina Killgrove

Lecture Series

Dr. Kristina Killgrove delivered a fascinating virtual lecture entitled “Death Comes to Oplontis: Victims of Mt. Vesuvius Reveal Life in 79 A.D.” The talk offered a rich supplement to current students in Dr. Jacqueline DiBiasie-Sammons’ Fall 2021 course, Art and Archaeology in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but was accessible to more general audience as well and had more that sixty attendees.

2. Excavation Of The Northeast Insulae, Mark Schuler

The Final Report

Presented in this volume are revised copies of the annual reports submitted for each of the excavation seasons (2002-2016, 2019). Revisions provide consistent terminology and presentation of graphic materials. These reports serve as the basis for the summaries and synthesis in the report, Northeast Insulae Project: Context and Analysis.

1. Northeast Insulae Project: Context And Analysis, Mark Schuler

The Final Report

This book places the excavation of the northeast insulae at Hippos of the Decapolis, into its historical context, summarizes the archaeological findings, and posits that the site was an urban monastery centered around a healing cult that grew from the veneration of a revered woman and became a monastic infirmary also employing herbals to relieve the suffering in the larger community.

Thinking Queerly: Medievalism, Wizardry, And Neurodiversity In Young Adult Texts, Jes Battis

Premodern Transgressive Literatures

Why do we love wizards? Where do these magical figures come from? Thinking Queerly traces the wizard from medieval Arthurian literature to contemporary YA adaptations. By exploring the link between Merlin and Harry Potter, or Morgan la Fey and Sabrina, readers will see how the wizard offers spaces of hope and transformation for young readers. In particular, this book examines how wizards think differently, and how this difference can resonate with both LGBTQ and neurodivergent readers, who’ve been told they don’t fit in.

Shipwrecks And The Transport Of Luxury In The Roman Mediterranean, Carrie Atkins

Lecture Series

During the late Republic and early Empire, Rome had a voracious appetite for importing luxury objects from around the Mediterranean: spices from the Arabian Peninsula, sculptures and bronzes from Greece, glassware from Egypt and the Levant, and textiles from India, to list a few examples. Some of these so-termed luxuries have been preserved in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, yet these objects only represent a small portion of the overall cargoes. By examining several Roman shipwrecks (ca 200 BCE – 200 CE) that were transporting such luxury objects, I discuss how these assemblages force us to re-evaluate static definitions of luxury …

[Preface To] The Origins Of Roman Christian Diplomacy: Constantius Ii And John Chrysostom As Innovators, Walter Stevenson

Bookshelf

This book illuminates the origins of Roman Christian diplomacy through two case studies: Constantius II’s imperial strategy in the Red Sea; and John Chrysostom's ecclesiastical strategy in Gothia and Sasanian Persia.

Both men have enjoyed a strong narrative tradition: Constantius as a persecuting, theological fanatic, and Chrysostom as a stubborn, naïve reformer. Yet this tradition has often masked their remarkable innovations. As part of his strategy for conquest, Constantius was forced to focus on Alexandria, demonstrating a carefully orchestrated campaign along the principal eastern trade route. Meanwhile, whilst John Chrysostom' s preaching and social reform have garnered extensive discussion, his …

Mga Tagông Detalye Sa Noli Me Tángere, Paolo Ven B. Paculan

Magisterial Lectures

In this lecture, Ser Pao parses through Jose Rizal's revolutionary text and points out "easter eggs" and lesser-known allegories in Noli Me Tángere.

Speaker: Mahigit 20 taon nang nagtuturo ng Filipino si serPAO sa Ateneo Junior High School. Siya ang editor ng Ibong Adarna: Unang Yugto at Florante at Laura: Edisyong Kritikal at Interaktibo na kapwa inilathala ng Ateneo de Manila University Press. Kasalukuyan siyang Tagapag-ugnay ng Asignaturang Filipino sa AJHS at isa sa mga host ng Radyo Turo-Guro sa DZRJ 810 AM. Feeling niya medyo close sila ni Rizal.