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A publication of the American Philological Association Vol. 2 • Issue 1 •Spring 2003

Editorial HORACE, HUMANITAS, by Margaret A. Brucia AND CRETE n the first issue of Amphora, Anne-Marie and I explained our choice of a name for by Janice M. Benario I this fledgling publication. We commented omer speaks of Crete as a rich hard-pressed people of Crete. on the symbolism of an amphora, a vessel Hand lovely sea-girt land. The At nightfall on April 26, 1944, Leigh as common in the Greek as in the Roman island has long been the setting Fermor and Moss, with the aid of some world, a container that could be both sim- for strange and exotic stories, many in Cretan locals, kidnapped the forty- ple and elaborate and that held a wide Greek mythology. Here, for instance, eight-year-old German General Karl variety of commodities. A year-and-a-half Zeus was born, and Theseus met Ari- Heinrich Kreipe, who had been sent and two issues later, a new analogy adne before slaying the Minotaur who from Russia, in February 1944, to com- prowled the labyrinth. Today, historical mand the occupying forces in Crete. Sit- between Amphora and its classical name- events that took place in Crete during ting in the front of a chauffeur-driven sake has occurred to me. Like an amphora, World War II are fast becoming legends. car, Kreipe had been on his way from our publication stands tall and upright, but Residents continue to recount the headquarters to his lodging in the Villa it cannot nor is it designed to do so unas- deeds of two eminent classical archaeol- Ariadne near Knossos (see Fig. 2), sisted. You, our readers, have been and ogists (John D. S. Pendlebury and which had been built originally by Sir must continue to be its base and its support Thomas J. Dunbabin) who played key Arthur Evans as a storehouse for arti- roles in the Greek Resistance during the facts from the nearby Palace of Minos. by providing literary contributions, new German occupation of Crete. They also Both Leigh Fermor and Moss wore Ger- ideas, and valuable feedback. Amphora still tell the story of the daring kidnap- man uniforms. Kreipe’s chauffeur was needs your help if it is to fulfill its mission: ping in 1944 of a German general by knocked out and removed, and the gen- “to convey the excitement of classical stud- two British officers and a few guerrillas. eral was hidden in the rear of the car. ies to a broad readership by offering On May 20, 1941, the German para- With Moss driving Kreipe’s car, and accessible articles written by professional chute attack on Crete started the quick Leigh Fermor pretending to be Kreipe defeat of the Allies followed by the long (wearing the general’s hat and speaking scholars and experts on topics of classical and strong Greek Resistance – one of German like a native), they bluffed interest that include literature, language, the most moving dramas of World War their way through more than twenty mythology, history, culture, classical tradi- II. By June 1, 1941, the Allies had evac- German checkpoints before vanishing tion, and the arts, and by featuring reviews uated thousands of troops from Crete, into the mountains. As they traveled by of relevant books, films, and Web sites.” leaving behind, with the Greeks, a few foot from Heraklion in the north to the We are, to be sure, grateful for the arti- Britons, Australians, and New Zealan- beaches on the southern shore (see ders. British Major Patrick Leigh Fer- Fig. 1), they evaded the pursuing cles and reviews that you have generously mor, who worked for the Special Opera- Germans. provided. And we are happy to report that tions Executive in Cairo, Division of On the night of April 29, while we now have articles reserved for future Crete, had organized guerrilla opera- abductors and abductee hid in a cave, issues. But we hope that you will continue tions on the island for two years. While Leigh Fermor discovered that the gen- to keep Amphora in mind whenever you on leave in Cairo in December 1943, eral was a fair Greek and Latin scholar are tempted to write a piece about a classi- Leigh Fermor and British Captain W. who had spent ten years attending the Stanley Moss conceived a plan to kid- classical (humanistic) gymnasium. The cal subject in a footnote-free environment. nap the island’s enemy commander. two then spent the evening exchanging Please don’t hesitate to suggest topics for The purpose was to strike a blow to articles and reviews on classical themes, continued on page 2 German morale and to boost that of the whether they pertain to the past or to the Book Review: “The Athenian Film Review: present. Trireme”...... 3 “Clash of the Titans” (1981) ...... 10 When, as a member of the Committee Novel Approaches to On Good Teaching ...... 10 the Classics: Part I...... 4 on Outreach of the APA, I accepted the Book Review: “The Sappho The Nashville Athena: Companion” ...... 12 task of helping to launch a new and differ- Rebirth of a Goddess...... 6 Mount Olympus ...... 12 ent kind of APA journal, I decided to serve Book Review: “Climbing Parnassus” ...7 Book Review: “The Love-Artist” ...... 14 “There and Back again” – continued on page 2

Inside Guidelines for Odysseus and Bilbo Baggins...... 8 Contributors...... 16 Editorial Horace, HUMANITAS, and Crete continued from page 1 continued from page 1 verses from Sophocles, much to the And the laboring trees no longer as co-editor until the new publication had a amusement and amazement of the other bear their clear identity and strong leadership. kidnappers. Leigh Fermor had a good Burden, and rivers have become Amphora now has both, thanks to the inde- command of Latin and Greek. Instead frozen Because of the piercing cold, fatigable efforts of Adam Blistein, Jennifer of attending university, however, he had Roberts, and a cadre of referees and proof- made his way alone, in 1933, from Hol- and so on through the remaining five land across central Europe, living like a readers, but especially thanks to my co-edi- stanzas to the end. The general’s blue tramp and a wandering scholar. One of eyes had swiveled away from the tor, Anne-Marie Lewis. With just the right the books he carried with him was the mountain top to mine – and when I’d editorial touch and a deep commitment to first volume of Horace’s poetry from the finished, after a long silence, he said: promoting the classics in the world of aca- Loeb Classical Library. While walking, “Ach so, Herr Major!” “Ah, yes, Major!” demia and beyond, Anne-Marie has suc- he memorized many of his favorite It was very strange. As though, for a long moment, the war had ceased to ceeded admirably in shaping Amphora. odes, poems which he described as “infallible mood-changers.” exist. We had both drunk at the same This is my last issue as co-editor, but I In his book, A Time of Gifts (1977), fountains long before; and things were step down knowing that Amphora is in the different between us for the rest of Leigh Fermor describes the moment our time together. capable hands of Anne-Marie Lewis, the when Horace helped create a profound editor-in-chief. I have enjoyed the challenge sense of humanitas, “humane conduct Recently, Leigh Fermor wrote to me and the excitement of being one of the toward others,” between himself and his that Kreipe, in addition to this ode (Ode founders of this publication, and I hope that enemy: 1.9), also knew the ode to Aristius Fus- our readership will continue actively to sup- cus (Ode 1.22) and that together they It was a time of anxiety and danger; port Amphora and its crucial mission. and for our captive, of hardship and were able to reconstruct the last part of distress. During a lull in the pursuit, the Regulus Ode (Ode 3.5). Horace, we woke up (April 30) among the known for moderation and decorum, rocks just as a brilliant dawn was proved to be the stimulus for continuing gentlemanly behavior between captor and captive. The journey to the beaches in the south lasted about two more weeks. On the night of May 14, they were picked up by a small motorboat and taken safe- ly to Egypt. From there, the general was flown to London, interrogated, and transferred to a prison camp near Cal- gary, Alberta, from which he was released in 1947. As a result of the suc- cessful undertaking, Leigh Fermor received the Distinguished Service Order and was made, in 1947, an hon- orary citizen of Heraklion. Moss received the Military Cross. In 1950, Moss published a stirring day-by-day account of the kidnapping, breaking over the crest of Mount Ida. Ill Met By Moonlight. The book was Fig. 1. Map by Tom Elliott. Copyright made into a black-and-white movie in 2003, Ancient World Mapping Center. We had been toiling over it through snow and then rain, for the last two 1957 by British director J. Arthur Rank. days. Looking across the valley at this It appeared a year later in the United flashing mountain-crest, the general States as Night Ambush, with Dirk murmured to himself: Bogarde as Leigh Fermor, David Oxley as Moss, and Marius Goring as Kreipe. Vides ut alta stet nive candidum Described as “stiffly made,” it was only Soracte . . . moderately well received (the Horace You see how Soracte stands white episode is not in the movie). On May 7, with deep 1972, the abduction team (except for Snow . . . Moss, who had died tragically in 1956) held a reunion in Greece. Kreipe was It was one of the ones I knew! I con- also present. During the banquet, Leigh tinued from where he had broken off: Fermor, in fluent Greek and German said, “After twenty-eight years, General, . . . nec jam sustineant onus we apologize to you for what happened Silvae laborantes, geluque and hope you have no hard feelings.” Flumina constiterint acuto, The white-haired general, sitting with 2 Book Review: The Athenian Trireme by Lionel Casson

J.S. Morrison, J. F. Coates, N. B. Rankov. ancient evidence both literary and represen- The Athenian Trireme: The History and tational, presented a reconstruction in Reconstruction of an Ancient Greek War- which the oarsmen were on three levels and ship, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press yet all pulled nine-foot oars. He set the low- (1-800-872-7423), 2000. Pp. xxviii, 319. est level and the middle level above each Paper $26.00. ISBN 0-521-56456-5. other, and the topmost level in an outrigger Fig. 2. Villa Ariadne, Knossos. Photo alongside and outboard of the middle level. credit: David Tandy, Department of he controversy over the “riddle of the The oars of each level entered the water in Classics, University of Tennessee, trireme” started centuries ago and the same line but at different angles: those Knoxville. T gained in intensity during the nineteenth of the topmost level at a steep angle, those his wife, nodded and said, “None; oth- century and the first half of the twentieth. of the middle level at a flatter angle, and erwise I would not be here.” In a letter “Trireme” is the name we give to a type of those of the lowest level at an even flatter to me, Leigh Fermor adds that Kreipe, war galley that served as the ship of the angle. In 1981, he joined forces with John together with his captors, then appeared line during the Persian and Peloponnesian Coates, an experienced naval architect, on a television program called This is Wars of the fifth century B.C. and contin- and Coates arranged the building of a full- Your Life. When asked by journalists how he was treated by his abductors, ued to serve as a standard naval unit down scale mock-up of a segment of Morrison’s Kreipe said firmly, “Ritterlich,” to the days of the later Roman Empire. Its reconstruction. It was set up alongside a “Chivalrously.” Greek name was trieres, “three-fitted,” and pool, tried out with live rowers – and it Kreipe, having been a prisoner of the controversy revolved about what this worked! war, was honorably discharged from the name indicates concerning the arrangement This successful result led to the publica- military in 1947 and spent his retire- tion in 1986 of the first edition of this book, ment in Germany, in the Hanover area. of the rowers. He died in 1976 at age 81. Leigh Fer- We know that on Athenian triremes in which Morrison and Coates presented all mor, scholar and linguist, is often con- each rower pulled his own oar and that the that was known about the Athenian trireme. sidered the preeminent English travel oars were short, about nine feet long. There One chapter surveyed the origin and devel- writer of his generation. His books have is evidence that seems to show that the row- opment of the trireme; three chapters were won many awards, and several have ers were arranged in three super-imposed devoted to its role in the major naval battles been translated into other languages. of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars; Now eighty-eight years old, he lives levels, and the adherents of one school of with his wife in a house of his design in thought held that this is what the term one chapter to a general analysis of the the Peloponnesus overlooking the sea, “three-fitted” refers to. But adherents of a maneuvers of triremes in combat; one chap- and he continues to write. He recalls rival school of thought held that such an ter to the size and make-up of the crews; still to this day “the strange encounter arrangement was unlikely. They bolstered one chapter to the structural features of the and journey” of 1944 that endures as their case by pointing out that on all the ships; and one chapter to the details of the part of the history and legend of Crete. oared warships of later ages, including the materials they were made of, particularly Janice M. Benario is Associate Professor fifteenth to the seventeenth century (the the woods that were used. In two final Emerita of Foreign Languages, Georgia great age of the galley), oarsmen were chapters, Coates translated Morrison’s sug- State University. The Augustan poets Vergil always on one level. They pointed out, fur- gested design into a full set of plans and and Horace have been her main interest since thermore, that there was one type of galley, specifications for an actual reconstruction. 1939, when she first read parts of the favored by the Venetian navy, in which the Thanks to the support of British and Aeneid and the Odes. Her continuing and Greek donors and the cooperation of the recently reinvigorated interest in World War oarsmen, each pulling his own oar, were II stems from her years as a WAVE officer in seated alongside each other three to a Greek Navy, the proposed reconstruction Communications, 1943-46, when she han- bench. They held that the ancient trireme became a reality. Greek shipwrights work- dled the TOP SECRET ULTRA traffic surely had a similar arrangement. ing under the watchful eyes of Morrison between Admiral Doenitz and his sub- The problem for the three-level school and Coates built the Olympias, a presumed marines. A version of this article was pre- was that its adherents could not offer a replica of an Athenian trireme. It was sented at the annual meeting of the Classical launched in 1987 and, that summer and in Association of the Middle West and South in reconstruction in which the oars of the levels Austin, Texas on April 5, 2002. were of the same length, as they had to be the summers of 1988, 1990, and 1992, it in order to permit a harmonious stroke. The was put through a series of sea trials. The problem for the one-level school was that prime purpose of this second edition is to the oars of the Venetian galleys they used include a report on those trials. For the sec- as their parallel were far longer than nine ond edition, the text of the original edition feet, four times as long, in fact. has been changed here and there in a In 1941, John Morrison, in a watershed minor fashion, but the main difference is the article that brought to bear all available continued on page 4 3 Book Review: NOVEL APPROACHES TO The Athenian Trireme continued from page 3 THE CLASSICS: PART I addition of forty pages by Boris Rankov by Thomas Falkner (classicist, oarsman, and rowing master on t is ironic that as the academic world humanism again is pitted against the the ship during its trials) that in vivid fashion becomes more and more isolated world of cognitive studies. describe the trials and report on their I from the American public, its liter- To this one-man British invasion, the results. There were formidable hurdles that ary profile has never been higher. This United States has responded with an had to be overcome at the very outset. Mis- is particularly striking in regard to fic- array of fiction set in and against the cellaneous rowers, who were mostly from tion, where a surprising number of nov- academic world. Essential reading northern countries and hence, on average, els over the last decade have involved includes Book by Robert Grudin (1992); settings, stories, and characters drawn Japanese by Spring by Ishmael Reed much taller than the Athenian oarsmen for from the world of higher education. Yet (1993); Moo by Jane Smiley (1995); whom triremes were designed, had to learn the difference is reflected not only in Straight Man by Richard Russo (1997); to work efficiently in a terribly cramped the number but also in the nature and Publish and Perish by James Hynes space and using a style of rowing totally provenance of these works. The “cam- (1997, followed in 2001 by The Lecturer’s different from any to which they had been pus novel,” which once depicted quaint Tale); Tomcat in Love by Tim O’Brien accustomed. As Rankov’s chapter reveals, professors living sheltered lives in the (1998); Blue Angel by Francine Prose halls of academe, has yielded to what (2000); and Ravelstein by Saul Bellow the sea trials have demonstrated that, no one might call the “new academic (2001). In almost every case the authors question about it, the three-level galley novel”– a phrase that describes less any bear academic credentials. These are designed by Morrison and Coates works consistent form or content than it does a writers who know whereof they speak perfectly. spate of fiction of enormous vitality, and, even if we do not accept the repre- General readers will find in this book all quality, and versatility, representing sentations they offer, we need to recog- that can safely be said about the appear- some of the country’s most prestigious nize the role they play in shaping public writers. perceptions of academia. ance, make-up, crews, and performance of If one were pressed to identify the Classics is well represented in this the ancient Athenian trireme. The lubberly origins of this phenomenon, the short body of fiction and, in this three-part among them will get welcome help from the answer might be two words, David series in Amphora, I will examine three glossaries of both English and Greek naval Lodge, who is the author of the satiric- novels that portray the discipline and its terms that the authors have thoughtfully comic masterpieces Changing Places practitioners in three very different provided. (1975) and Small World (1984). In these ways: The Secret History by Donna Tartt novels, in almost Aristophanic terms, (1992), The Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Lodge stages a collision between the Hellenga (1998), and The Human Stain Lionel Casson is Professor of Classics old and new academy, made flesh in two by Philip Roth (2001). None of the Emeritus at New York University. His spe- professors of literature: the timid Eng- authors, to be sure, is a professional clas- cialty is the maritime history of the ancient lishman Philip Swallow, University of sicist. Tartt’s experience with classics is world, and he has published numerous Rummidge, and the high-powered and drawn primarily from her student expe- books in his field including the standard ref- highly paid academic superstar Morris rience at Bennington, Hellenga teaches Zapp of the State University of Eupho- English at Knox College, and Roth has erence work Ships and Seamanship in the ria. Here traditional literary criticism forayed into academia through visiting Ancient World, 3rd ed., Baltimore, 1995. comes to terms with new theories and appointments at the University of Penn- terminologies that were ripe for satire: sylvania and City College of New York. post-structuralism, deconstructionism, There are also some interesting over- post-modernism, and feminism. It helps laps. Each novel is set against the back- enormously that Lodge was himself an ground of a small liberal arts college and academic (a professor of literature at the involves a male faculty member who is University of Birmingham), a critic con- highly regarded as a teacher. And, in versant with and largely sympathetic to each of these novels, classics provides a the new idiom. In the tradition of lens for issues that are powerful and Kingsley Amis’s classic Lucky Jim (1953), profound. where the social upheaval in the post- With the publication of Donna war academy becomes a backdrop for Tartt’s long-awaited second novel, The issues of class conflict, Lodge’s academ- Little Friend, her first novel, The Secret ic novels manage to be both great fun History, has been re-released by Ballan- and mordant satire. Though Lodge’s fic- tine Books (2002), and it is timely to tional canvas has broadened beyond the revisit this tale of murder and conspira- academy, he returns to it regularly, in cy. While this novel centers around a 1988 with Nice Work, which charts the mystery, it is a far cry from murder mys- bumpy intersection of academic femi- teries like Amanda Cross’s classic Death nism and the “real world” of corporate in a Tenured Position (1981). The Secret engineering and, most recently, with History is darker, more sophisticated, Thinks . . . (2001), where traditional and intellectually more complex. 4 Indeed, to the extent that its protago- has more to do with his personal wealth to win their adulation, and his enthusi- nists are students rather than their pro- and intimidating manner – he teaches at asm for Dionysus (in reality so much fessors, it is a kind of sub-genre of the Hampden for free, and even his ene- warmed over Nietzsche) was calculated academic novel. mies on the faculty are cautious in their primarily to impress. So too, Henry’s Richard Papen, the narrator, has criticism. obsessive study of the past reveals come to tiny Hampden College in Ver- Bunny’s selfish and childish ways someone who, by his own admission, is mont as much a refugee as a transfer make him the odd man out in this circle incapable of living in the present and student. His life to date has been wast- of earnest, if pretentious, young intel- for whom life holds little of interest. ed in middle-class Plano, California and, lectuals. He is unaware that his friends, Clearly drawing on her own experi- on his arrival at Hampden, he quickly who have taken to heart Morrow’s ence at Bennington, Tartt has tapped invents for himself a worthier and repeated celebrations of Dionysiac mad- into the dark underside of the academy wealthier history. He has some talent in ness and the Greeks’ ability to divest and, in a popular novel such as this, clas- Greek, which he had studied at a local themselves through ritual of “the bur- sics works especially well – the author college and, when he attempts to con- den of self,” have been attempting to can indulge in the occasional allusion or tinue his studies, what he encounters is experience an authentic bacchanal. In philosophical digression without fear of less a classics department than a cabal: one of their experiments, in the middle losing her audience. Not for the masses, five students who are virtually insepara- of the night in remote pasturelands, in a classics here becomes the secret enclave ble, keep aloof from the student rabble, scene straight from Euripides’ Bacchae, of a self-selected group who find in it a and take all their courses under the they kill (and apparently mutilate) a home in a world in which they have no charming and enigmatic Professor Julian local farmer. Panic-stricken and faced other. Yet in the end, for all their confu- Morrow. Henry, the leader of the group, with the real prospect of trial and sion, pretentiousness, and cruelty, this is tall and out of place with his umbrel- imprisonment, they realize that conceal- coterie of students is interesting las and wool suits, and is supported by ment is their only recourse. But when because of its devotion to the ancient his father’s enormous wealth. Francis is Bunny later discovers their secret and is writers and thinkers who have with- red-headed, gay, and has convenient on the verge of exposing them, the five stood the test of time. Unfit for the access to a family summer house in the (Richard now has joined the conspiracy) present, they take refuge in the past. countryside nearby. The orphan twins decide that he must be eliminated and, Yet they are nonetheless impressive for Charles and Camilla have been raised under Henry’s direction, they lay an their willingness to be captivated, even by their Nana in Virginia; while Camil- ambush and push him down a ravine to obsessed, by a set of serious ideas and to la’s Athena-like features are emphatic, his death. pursue them to their dangerous conclu- the relationship between the two is at At first, the group seems to feel no sion. Though readers will find the char- once symbiotic and sexual. And more guilt for their friend than they had acters repugnant in word and deed, Edmund, known as “Bunny,” whose for the hapless farmer. In the second many will also recall their own spell- father is a Connecticut businessman of half of the story, the friendships disinte- bound and wide-eyed initiation into the unredeemed vulgarity, is loud and grate in a tangle of suspicion and classics. annoying, but ultimately loveable. The intrigue. Although they ultimately academic talents of the group range escape detection, they are led to tragic Thomas Falkner is Professor of Classical from considerable to negligible. They revelations, more violence, and lives for- Studies at The College of Wooster in Woost- do speak in bits of Greek, quote from ever damaged. The group struggles des- er, Ohio, where he teaches courses primarily the classics, and engage in the occasion- perately to keep the truth from their in Greek language, literature, and culture. al excursion – just enough to authenti- beloved Julian, whose fondness for He served as Dean of the Faculty from 1999 cate themselves without putting off the them (including, and perhaps especially, to 2002 and is currently Acting Vice-Presi- reader. The five also share a common Bunny) could not bear such knowledge. dent for Academic Affairs. He is the author appetite for alcohol and pharmaceuti- But, by the end of the book, Morrow’s of The Poetics of Old Age in Greek cals, which are consumed in enormous care and charisma are exposed as a self- Epic, Lyric, and Tragedy, University of quantities. ish façade that belies a chill disregard Oklahoma Press, 1995 and, most recently, Professor Morrow (whose students, in for his students. In the novel’s central “Scholars versus Actors: Text and Perfor- exchange for their devotion, are allowed anagnôrisis, when Morrow inadvertently mance in the Greek Tragic Scholia,” in to address him as Julian) is shrouded in discovers the murder and cover-up, he Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an mystery and has vague connections returns the telltale piece of evidence Ancient Profession, edited by E. Hall and among the rich, the celebrity set, and and disappears without notice. P. E. Easterling, Cambridge University shadowy governments in the Middle While the premises of the novel Press, 2002. East. A hyper-aesthete, he has adorned strain belief, certain features ring true. his cloistered office, which serves as Morrow’s affectation is remarkable only classroom, with objets d’art. He limits for its degree, and many will recognize his availability to a few hand-chosen the elitism and sense of moral superiori- students, over whom he exercises com- ty that Morrow and his students derive plete control academically, and they are from the cachet of the classics. While utterly in his thrall – in one scene Henry classicists certainly have no monopoly in abandons an attempt to complete a this regard, the field has always attracted course evaluation form: “How can I pos- its fair share of those who find not just sibly make the Dean of Studies under- edification but also self-validation in the stand that there is a divinity in our erudition and discipline that are midst?” In fact, the dean’s willingness required. Morrow, in turn, has fed his to acquiesce in Morrow’s eccentricities students’ sense of their own superiority 5 tings that exist on the floor of the pedi- THE NASHVILLE ATHENA: mental space, reveals that the Athenians balanced the over life-size sculptures on REBIRTH OF A GODDESS the Parthenon’s pediments with can- by Barbara Tsakirgis tilevers, so we know that ancient sculp- tors were aware of this engineering ccording to Greek mythology, take into account surviving ancient evi- technique. A seal recently discovered in Athena was born from the head of dence for the original in his design. the Athenian Agora depicts Pheidias’ A sculpture and reveals that his Athena Zeus, fully grown and fully Almost two hundred copies of the sculp- armed. As a war goddess, she was often ture in a variety of media and several Parthenos originally employed no exter- depicted wearing a helmet and draped accounts written by authors such as nal support for Nike. The supporting in a snaky-edged goatskin, with her Pliny the Elder and Pausanias provide column that appears in some of the rep- shield at the ready. Athena counted important details about the masterpiece. resentations of the colossal statue was among her human favorites heroes such In addition to these ancient sources, probably added years later, after as Odysseus, Heracles, and Perseus, but LeQuire was bolstered by the informed Athena’s arm showed evidence of strain. no people on earth were more special to guidance of Brunilde Ridgway and Eve- Thus, LeQuire, by following the her than the Athenians, the patronage of lyn B. Harrison, both authorities on clas- ancient practice of cantilevering, fash- whose city she had won in a contest sical Greek sculpture. Ridgway encour- ioned an Athena that resembles the with her uncle Poseidon. Among aged LeQuire to think of the sculpture original Pheidian sculpture more closely Athena’s several titles in Greek mythol- as his own, not simply as a re-creation of than some scholars thought in 1981. ogy are Athena Nike (Athena, Goddess the original. The results of her advice Until recently, the plaster surface of of Victory) and Athena Parthenos can be seen in the horrific Medusa on the modern image was a dull white but, (Athena, the Virgin Goddess). She was the shield of the goddess and on the in the summer of 2002, gold leaf was called both at Athens. frieze depicting Pandora’s birth on the applied to Athena’s dress and armor, In the mid-fifth century B.C., Peri- base of the statue, both of which reflect and her skin was painted ivory white cles, the leading Athenian statesman of more the world of LeQuire than of (see Fig. 3). Painted detail was also the time, conceived a grand plan to Pheidias. added to the border and interior of her rebuild the temple to Athena on the shield and to her face. Again, LeQuire Acropolis that had been destroyed by followed ancient practice – color was the Persians in 480 B.C. He chose Phei- applied to ancient statues to highlight dias to sculpt a colossal image of the vir- The Nashville the eyes and lips and to embellish the gin goddess, Athena Parthenos. The carved folds of drapery. Her blue-grey statue, crafted of gold and ivory, depict- Athena stands today eyes are now fringed with metal lashes, ed the goddess at rest after victory with in the world’s only like those on ancient bronze statues, the figure of Nike (Victory) in her out- full-scale replica of such as the Charioteer from the Sanctu- stretched right hand. ary of Apollo at Delphi. Fast forward to the United States in the Parthenon. On the original Athena Parthenos, the late nineteenth century. To empha- Pheidias had depicted three myths that size its identity as the “Athens of the told of the timeless conflict between South,” Nashville, Tennessee, built a nature and culture, myths undoubtedly copy of the Parthenon as the center- A more significant difference used as allegories for the fifth-century piece of the state’s centennial celebra- between the Athena of LeQuire and B.C. conflict between the barbarian Per- tion in 1897. Constructed of stucco and that of Pheidias is the medium. The sians and the rational Greeks. All three wood, the first Nashville Parthenon was ancient artist crafted his Athena’s gar- myths appeared also on the metopes of replaced, twenty-five years later, by a ments and equipment of gold and her the Parthenon. The battle with the second Parthenon, a full-scale replica of skin of ivory. Such costly materials, Amazons (the fearsome women warriors the ancient temple in concrete. This however, were prohibitively expensive of antiquity) on the exterior of Athena’s Parthenon stood empty for more than for the modern artist. Consequently, shield was much copied in antiquity. fifty years, despite the fact that William LeQuire fashioned the Nashville LeQuire was able to use surviving Bell Dinsmoor, the consultant on the Athena from gypsum plaster with a examples as a basis for his own depic- building of the second Nashville fiberglass admixture, an extremely tion. The battle between the gods and Parthenon, had envisioned the construc- strong and light material. More than 250 the giants, or the Gigantomachy, on the tion of a colossal statue of Athena for individually cast pieces that comprise interior of the shield, however, is some- the building. In preparation, a substan- the figures of Athena and Nike are hung what more problematic. Copies of it tial foundation had been laid under the on an armature of steel, with two I- may survive on a few red-figured vases, spot where a re-creation of Pheidias’ beams serving as Athena’s spine. In but whether it was originally painted or original sculpture was to rest. When a contrast, Pheidias’ Athena Parthenos engraved is not clear. LeQuire chose to local supporter of the arts suggested that probably had a wooden spine made paint this battle, deriving the composi- it was time to re-create the sculpture, a from one of the famous cedars of tion, in part, from surviving representa- competition was held in 1981. Lebanon. Furthermore, the six-foot, tions on classical vases. The battle Alan LeQuire, a Nashville native and four-inch figure of Nike rests on the between centaurs and Lapiths at the sculptor, was awarded the commission. Nashville Athena’s seemingly unsup- wedding feast of Pirithoüs and Hippo- The judges favored LeQuire’s proposal ported right hand thanks to an internal dameia, depicted on the edge of because, although Pheidias’ sculpture cantilever that bears its weight. Archae- Athena’s sandals, has not survived in does not survive, LeQuire planned to ological evidence, in the form of cut- any ancient copy of Pheidias’ Athena 6 nesses of LeQuire’s friends and family: Book Review: Zeus is LeQuire’s father; Hera his moth- er; and Helios rising from the eastern Climbing Parnassus horizon is Kyu Yamamoto, LeQuire’s by Aaron W. Godfrey assistant and the sculptor of the snaky King Erichthonius coiled within Athena’s shield. Most intriguing of all Tracy Lee Simmons. Climbing Parnassus: is the face of Pandora, the first woman A New Apologia for Greek and Latin. ISI who brought all troubles and evils to the Books (1-800-621-2736), 2002. Pp. xvii, world. She is Andree, LeQuire’s wife. 228. Hardcover $24.95. ISBN 1-882926- The creation of the Nashville Athena 73-0. took eight years, a process prolonged by technical and financial setbacks. In 1988, LeQuire’s studio burned to the ntil recent generations, a solid educa- ground, fortunately only after work had Ution in classical languages was essen- moved into the cella of the Parthenon tial for any fully-educated person. The clas- itself, but the fire destroyed all prelimi- sics, “a body of written works acting as nary studies for the statue. Athena’s passwords to culture with which all of the construction in the 1980’s, as well as her educated were expected to be familiar” recent gilding, had to be paid for entire- ly from private donations. The (66), were the foundation of the humani- Nashville Athena was dedicated on May ties. The reading was not always easy and 21, 1990, in a public ceremony, not required discipline and hard work, but the without its dissenters – a local preacher study of classics, in the long run, paid off wore a sandwich board on which was handsomely in later life. written, “Idolatry comes to Nashville in Things have changed. The humanities the guise of art.” But Pericles’ embel- Fig. 3. The Nashville Athena in August have been expanded and redefined to 2002, at the completion of its gilding. lishment of the Acropolis in the fifth include popular culture, MTV, movies, and Photo credit: Marianne Hillenmeyer. century had also met with some disap- proval – a critic complained that Pericles commentaries on The Sopranos and was dressing up Athens like a flashy Michael Jackson. Classics, and its lan- Parthenos. Here LeQuire was on his courtesan. guages Greek and Latin, are bravely hold- own. He knitted together several of the The Nashville Athena stands today ing on, but competition from these other hand-to-hoof combat scenes from the in the world’s only full-scale replica of Parthenon’s south metopes to create his the Parthenon. It is a building that areas is fierce, and the English underpin- own version of the battle scene. recreates the details and architectural nings of the study of classics are faltering. The composition of the sculpted refinements of the original, including In the past, grammar and syntax were rein- image on the original Athena’s base is the curvature of the horizontals and the forced especially through the diagramming unknown. There Pheidias had depicted inclination of the verticals. Its Athena, of sentences and the rigorous drilling of the birth of Pandora, perhaps referenc- at forty-one feet, ten inches high, fills parts of speech. Unfortunately, it is compar- ing the birth of the goddess Athena on the space of the Parthenon’s cella and the eastern pediment of the Parthenon, helps the visitor understand the reason atively rare today to find a college or uni- perhaps presenting a warning about for the lavish scale of the original tem- versity student who still knows grammar women, or perhaps depicting a local ple. Missing in the Nashville Parthenon, and usage well. Other disciplines in the Athenian character of the same name. In however, are the two windows recently humanities and languages that require the second century A.D., Pausanias tells recognized by Manolis Korres as part of rigid preparation or extensive reading also us the subject of the scene, but only two the original building’s provision for surviving copies of the Athena lighting the colossal Athena. But when suffer from low enrollments and are at risk Parthenos have any indication of the fig- the air is warm in Nashville, the cella of being discontinued because “they do not ures on the base’s frieze. On the base, doors are opened and permit modern pay their way.” Helios (the sun) rose on one side of the viewers, like their ancient counterparts, Tracy Lee Simmons, who has written for gods assembled at Pandora’s creation, to gaze upon the bright-eyed goddess the National Review, has plunged into the and Selene (the moon) set on the other. who stands within. fray on the side of classics. He has a solid This temporal frame was used by Phei- dias also on the Parthenon’s eastern Barbara Tsakirgis is Associate Professor classical education at his fingertips, and he is pediment and possibly also on the of Classics and Art History at Vanderbilt well read and cultivated in the old-fashioned northern metopes. In the scene of the University in Nashville, Tennessee. She has way. Certainly his erudition is on display in birth of Pandora, LeQuire displays his written The Domestic Architecture of Climbing Parnassus. But Tracy Lee Simmons, freest hand. While the sun in his four- Morgantina in the Hellenistic and like the prophets Amos and Jeremiah, is an horse chariot, the enthroned Zeus, and Roman Period (forthcoming, Princeton angry man. He rails against the “pragma- assembly of gods resemble, at first University Press) and is working on two glance, images in any classical Greek volumes that deal with the houses that existed tism” of most contemporary educational sculpture, closer observation reveals around the ancient Athenian Agora. experiences, which respond to the question highly individualized faces. The gods “What is it good for?” He considers the and goddesses, in fact, bear the like- continued on page 9 7 “THERE AND BACK AGAIN” – ODYSSEUS AND BILBO BAGGINS by Kenneth J. Reckford he influence of the classics on Odysseus must overcome obstacles. His first with the help of Gandalf, the kindly TJ. R. R. Tolkien is a vast subject encounter with the Cyclops Polyphe- wizard, but then increasingly on his that has not received, nor is likely mus, told in Book 9 of the Odyssey, is his own: under the Misty Mountains, in to receive, the care and attention it first great adventure after leaving Troy. Mirkwood, and (as best he can) at the deserves. One reason for this is that the Odysseus lands on an island. He crosses Lonely Mountain. He encounters evil: Northern influences on Tolkien’s imagi- over to the mainland with twelve men. most tragically, in the hearts of dwarves. nation and writing are more immediate He finds sheep, goats, and cheeses near He survives, after accomplishing much and more obvious than the Mediter- a great cave, where he waits around, (as Gandalf had predicted), and he ranean ones. Tolkien, however, knew though his men urge him to leave. And returns home to reclaim his house and Homer directly from the Greek, and he sure enough, a monster comes, the huge property from the Sackville-Bagginses. could hardly have avoided showing one-eyed Cyclops who drives his sheep He returns with gold and silver, fine Homeric influences now and then, into the cave and closes it with a great armor, and a little ring that helps you whether conscious or unconscious. slab of rock. Polyphemus sees the disappear when the wrong sort of peo- Although Homer’s Odyssey and Greeks, bashes two of them against the ple cross your path. A trivial bit of Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937) are much cave wall, and eats them. Odysseus magic, but nice to have. separated in time and place, it is possi- appeals to civilized custom and the ble (and desirable) to compare gods, but the Cyclops pays no attention. Odysseus, the main character of So, the next day, after Polyphemus eats Homer’s Odyssey, to Bilbo Baggins, the breakfast and goes out, Odysseus main character of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. shapes, heats, and hides a long, pointed Both characters embark on the arche- stake. That evening, he gets the typal hero journey, and both encounter Cyclops drunk at supper on unmixed monstrous creatures during their adven- wine he happens to have brought along. tures. The Cyclops is pleased. He asks As Joseph Campbell showed in The Odysseus his name, is told (prudently, Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), the now), “Noman,” and offers “Noman” a pattern of adventure and return is found present – to be eaten last. Then he falls Fig. 4. Two Escapes: By Ram, by Barrel. universally in myth, fairy tale, and folk- asleep, dribbling bits of manflesh mixed Illustration by Patrick Wynne. Repro- tale. The hero (or heroine) sets out on a with wine. Odysseus reheats the stake, duced by permission from Mythlore 53 quest; wins friends and allies; over- and he and four others bore out the (Spring 1988), 5. comes obstacles; fights powerful ene- Cyclops’ eye. The next day, Odysseus mies; gains treasure and (often) a mar- escapes, after concealing his men and With Bilbo Baggins and the three riage; and returns home, to restore the himself under great rams that the blind- trolls – and this is Bilbo’s first real kingdom and live happily ever after. ed Cyclops, unsuspecting, leads out to adventure – we find ourselves in a That is the norm, give or take a few dis- pasture. They put to sea again and Cyclops-like world tempered with asters. escape. comic reassurances. For, if the trolls are The pattern of Homer’s Odyssey is In this episode, Odysseus displays scary (and Tolkien’s drawings of those archetypal: sea and land, adventure and cleverness, quick thinking under stress, scaly, brutish creatures in their firelit return, exploration of strange lands, and and bold, appropriate action. Still, he clearing in the woods remind me that I restoration of the kingdom at home. was foolish to get caught in the first was justifiably scared when I was eight Odysseus has a keen curiosity about place; and afterwards, from his boat, he years old), they are also very silly in the people and places and a strong hunger taunts the Cyclops and almost gets him- way they talk and act. (They would for adventure, but what is most remark- self and his men killed. By giving away seem even sillier if Tolkien were read- able about him is his still stronger will to his real name as he sails away, he gives ing to us as he read to his children, imi- return to Ithaca and Penelope, fully Polyphemus the information he needs tating the Cockney accents and brutish accepting of his mortality. And he to pray that his father, the sea-god language of Bert, Tom, and William.) grows, not so much in skill and craft, Poseidon, take vengeance upon They drink pretty heavily, too, and the which he clearly showed at Troy, as in Odysseus. Poseidon will thus become beer muddles what few wits they have, patience, understanding, compassion, his implacable enemy. Odysseus may preparing them for defeat. That is and human wisdom. He grows morally have the marks of a competent hero in funny, as well as Homeric. Yet, unlike and spiritually, from the sacker of cities this story, but morally and spiritually he the Cyclops, the trolls never get to eat into the man who knows how to wait. still has a long way to go. anybody on this occasion. They talk, He grows into the man who can warn The story of Bilbo Baggins is also indeed argue, a lot about roasting, boil- the suitors about the morality implicit in archetypal. Bilbo sets out on a quest, ing, or just plain squashing their prison- mortality, a warning that they are too albeit reluctantly and half-asleep and ers, but they never do. brash and blind to comprehend. He without his pocket-handkerchief, and Bilbo, unlike Odysseus, does not visit grows into the man who can rediscover he joins the dwarves, who come gradu- the trolls through his own rashness or and reclaim his several roles on Ithaca. ally to like, respect, and admire him. He idle curiosity. He is sent to “burgle,” As part of his hero journey, however, meets difficulties and overcomes them, and he makes a half-decent try. A magic 8 purse gives him away. And, being an Book Review: Climbing Parnassus honest hobbit, he can’t quite manage to continued from page 7 conceal the truth. Deception and trick- ery, like burglary, are not native accom- emphasis on training or “useful knowledge” rather than athirst for the Castalian Spring. plishments of a Baggins. He does man- age to alert Thorin, the chief dwarf, who unfortunate and believes it neglects the edu- He tends to be intemperate in his criticism cation of a complete human being. of the schools (237-42) and does not jumped forward to the fire, before Simmons asserts (157) that “education is always direct his attention to the root cause they could leap on him. He caught up not a preparation for making a living but of the problem: a curriculum watered down a big branch all on fire at one end; and for living.” Nowadays, courses and curricu- to meet the needs of consumer students who Bert got that end in his eye before he could step aside. That put him out of la live or die based on utility and popularity resist the rigors that the study of the classics the battle for a bit . . . . and whether they “pay for themselves” with imposes. adequate enrollment. Many school and col- Simmons quotes from an impressive col- But that is as much violence as we get. lege administrators seem quite uninterested lection of sources, which unfortunately are No boring out of eyes, just a few burns and bruises to put the trolls out of tem- in the intrinsic educational merit of courses not precisely documented; the lack of foot- per. They capture the dwarves, but or curricula that are under-enrolled and are notes in the book makes additional reading Gandalf tricks them into arguing until ready to reduce costs by retrenching or nearly impossible. He sees through the dawn, when they are turned to stone – shrinking such courses or programs. Sim- American “weakness for new gospels” and an effective, non-violent solution. mons reaffirms that the path to knowledge, the intellectual tyranny of some professional Tolkien echoes the Cyclops scene and ultimately wisdom, is not achieved by organizations which demonstrate the twice more in The Hobbit. The first echo is when Bilbo rescues the dwarves from entertainment but by rigorous work and by adage that “the newest is always the most the Elvenking’s dungeons, putting learning what the past has taught. Nor is it quickly dated” (3). Simmons has produced them into empty return-barrels to be adequate to teach what translators say was a noble, eloquent apologia for classical poled up the Long Lake to Laketown. written. It is necessary to tackle the works in languages, but Climbing Parnassus just But this time something goes wrong. the original Latin and Greek. For it is in misses the summit. Odysseus had tied each of his men even a modest mastery of these languages beneath a central ram of three that he had bound together. Then he put him- that minds and memory are trained and Aaron W. Godfrey has taught Latin and self beneath the greatest ram of all (a that students learn, at the same time, to been director of the classics minor at the symbol, surely, of his machismo), clung think critically and independently. Of State University of New York at Stony to its fleece, and waited for morning to course, Latin and Greek are not the only Brook for the past thirty-eight years. He also escape. Similarly, Bilbo packs the means of doing this, but other rigid disci- served for several years as the director of dwarves into barrels – but he is not plines that serve the same purpose also suf- placement for the university. Concerned quite Odysseus: fer from modest enrollments. Parenthetical- with bridging the gap between secondary It was just at this point that Bilbo sud- ly, I might remark that better entry-level jobs and higher education, he has been an denly discovered the weak point in are open to those graduates with majors in active member in the Classical Association his plan . . . . Of course he was not in a English, philosophy, and languages than in of the Atlantic States. He is also active in barrel himself, nor was there anyone to pack him in, even if there had been the softer disciplines. the Classical Association of the Empire a chance! Perhaps Simmons’s most intriguing State and is the editor of its newsletter. observations deal with the problem of the Still, Bilbo manages. He rides his barrel. aesthetic, or appreciation, that “touches He is available, when the time comes, upon the spiritual in our nature” (196). This to help the not-quite-grateful dwarves APA SPEAKERS BUREAU out of their barrels. And the worst appreciation embodies those intangible but result, for now, is that he gets a bad critical qualities called “taste and style,” The APA maintains a roster of enthusiastic which he assumes are governed by objec- speakers who are available to address a wide cold. variety of audiences – civic groups, professional Later, though, in the second echo of tive standards that can be well formed by societies, library and other reading groups, middle schools and secondary schools, junior and senior the Cyclops scene, Bilbo makes a mis- the study of Greek and Latin. He also take rather like Odysseus. Dragons are colleges, universities, and many other makes a compelling argument for Latin organizations. tricky and dangerous, and the invisible The Speakers Bureau can be found by going to hobbit rashly boasts to the dragon prose composition (162-64), which may the APA Web site at www.apaclassics.org and click- send chills up the spines of those who ini- ing on Outreach, listed on the left hand side of the Smaug. He gives too much away – screen of the home page. Under Outreach, you will about the lucky number (he has thir- tially slogged through Bradley’s Arnold but find the Speakers Bureau. The Bureau lists e-mail addresses of dozens of speakers as well as descrip- teen friends) and about barrel-riding. realized much later the benefits it brought. tions of the talks they are prepared to give. A Smaug almost kills him because Bilbo Simmons will find support, on the one glance through the topics described there will has been careless. And Smaug is make clear the breadth of presentations that are hand, from believers who will applaud his aroused against the Lake-men, who available, from Medical Practices in Pompeii and jeremiads. On the other hand, he does not the Roman Empire to Women’s Letters from must have helped the barrel-rider. All Ancient Egypt. this leads to Smaug’s wrath and his seem aware of the anguish of dedicated eventual death – for which, respectively, teachers who struggle daily with recalci- continued on page 15 trant students who seem to be time servers, 9 Film Review: ON GOOD TEACHING Clash of the Titans (1981) by Randall Nichols by Robert J. Lenardon henever I am asked why I Greek. The mention of his name all he Warner re-release of Clash of the became a high school classics these years later evokes strong emotions. TTitans on DVD (2002) in an all new dig- Wteacher, I remember three Above all, there is gratitude for the solid ital transfer allows us to see and hear this professors from my undergraduate days foundation and confidence he gave me in visually stunning and exciting MGM movie at the University of California at Santa Greek, but there is also affection for his Cruz: John Lynch, Mary-Kay Gamel, kindness. My classmates and I always at home, as never before; language options and Gary Miles. The excellence of their wanted to know more about the erudite, are English and French, with a choice of teaching drew me to classics. They unassuming, and private man we so subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Por- encouraged me along the way, and their admired. When we learned that he was tuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Bahasa, Thai, educational beliefs and practices have making visits to a nursing home, we con- and Korean. influenced mine. cluded that he had an ailing relative. We Two special features are to be treasured: In the fall of 1977, my life was later found out that he was volunteering changed by a course in elementary his time to teach Greek to the patients. “A Conversation with Ray Harryhausen,” Greek or, to be more exact, my life was He encouraged us to do likewise. He the renowned creator of the special visual changed by Professor John Lynch. I had arranged for his students to teach Greek effects for the film, and a “Map of Myths declared a major in mathematics, which to senior citizens. It was in those Satur- and Monsters Gallery,” in which he makes I enjoyed, but I enrolled in Greek for day morning sessions with deeply appre- fascinating observations about his cre- the sole purpose of being able to read ciative senior citizens that I first experi- ations. Harryhausen’s obsession with the the Greek New Testament. enced the rewards of teaching. I approached the study of Greek with As I took more courses in the classics, unusual began, he tells us, at a very early trepidation. Since my natural abilities I learned that other members of the age and he prefers, for the creation of fan- were more mathematical than verbal, department shared John Lynch’s view of tasy, the more romantic past to the future, foreign languages were outside my com- challenging, but humane, education. I with its rocket ships and explosions. He fort zone. My most difficult subject in recently gained a whole new perspective describes his determination to see mytho- high school had been French. The on teaching when I ran across the first logical creatures realized fully on the cumulative nature of foreign language paper I ever wrote for a classics course. study had taken me by surprise. High- May such an incriminating document screen. He also speaks with gratitude and school French had been a painful lesson never fall into the hands of my own stu- pride of his powerful influence on legions of in the difference between short-term dents! As a young student who had not young people growing up, not least of all and long-term memorization. When I written many papers in high school, I those who have become outstanding film told my French teacher that I wanted to thought my paper was satisfactory but, professionals, such as George Lucas and study Greek, she rolled her eyes, sighed as an experienced teacher, it pains me to Steven Spielberg. His own words sum up deeply, and warned me that Greek read it now. I will try to make my future would be far more difficult than French. comments on students’ papers as merci- the man and his movies, especially his last On my first day in Greek class, I ful, judicious, and instructive as Profes- and perhaps best movie, Clash of the found myself surrounded by students sor Mary-Kay Gamel’s were on mine. Titans: “The cinema was made for fantasy well versed in the humanities, most of She has provided me with a model of . . . it gives you a feeling of wonder . . . . whom had already studied Latin. To a how to guide and encourage the student Adults like fantasy as well as children.” previously unsuccessful foreign lan- inexperienced in literary interpretation. The screenwriter is Beverley Cross, also guage student, the syllabus was daunt- With John Lynch, Mary-Kay Gamel, and ing. We would cover our introductory Gary Miles, my advisor, I never had to a playwright. Because of his keen interest in textbook (Chase and Phillips) at the rate worry about being humiliated in class, Greek mythology, he wanted to do a movie of two lessons per week. Elementary even when called upon to translate. about Perseus, and he incorporated scenes grammar would be completed in twenty Once I was freed from the paralysis of designed by Harryhausen into his script. weeks, followed by ten weeks of read- fear, I succeeded and gained confidence The result is an intelligent transformation of ing Plato. There would be weekly in the study of the classics. the legend that preserves its major quizzes, but our performance each quar- I began the study of Greek and Latin ter would be assessed primarily by a late in my degree program, and so I com- episodes, while enriching it with additional three-hour exam. My instinctive trust pleted the major in classics with the min- characters and incidents to create a coher- and confidence in the instructor over- imal number of courses and with an ent and dramatic piece. Cross and Harry- came my initial urge to drop the course. emphasis in Greek. I told Professor Miles hausen had worked together on Jason and Both my unexpected success in Greek that I did not have adequate preparation the Argonauts (1963), which rightfully and my fond memories of that class attest to become a Latin teacher. He assured became a critical and popular success. to the effectiveness of John Lynch’s me that one learns most by teaching and remarkable teaching. He made learning that my education was just beginning Many critics have not been so kind to Clash easier by his thorough preparation, clear and not ending. His wise advice encour- of the Titans. Some are insensitive to its expectations, and pleasantly engaging aged me to try the vocation that today I script and its stylistic concept as a magical, style. He set high standards, but he did would not trade for any other. artful fable or complain (as they did not do everything in his power to help students Occasionally I say to my students, before) about the stop-motion techniques of reach them. His compassion and occa- “May your children be just like you,” and sional forgiveness were consistent with then the classroom becomes silent as they continued on page 11 10 his steady guidance of our efforts to learn ponder whether this is a blessing or a curse. I suffer from a form of the curse. Film Review: Clash of the Titans (1981) My students have educational goals as continued from page 10 narrowly defined as mine were when I arrived in Santa Cruz. Many students Harryhausen, which now seem, they claim, beauty of youth, along with the innocence enroll in Latin to improve their SAT quaint and old-fashioned after the first Star of a fairy-tale princess. scores. They take the Advanced Place- Wars (1977) with its new digital technolo- Many are the pleasures in this movie. ment courses to earn college credit and, as they say, “to get the foreign language gy. The art and vision of Ray Harryhausen The artistically conceived winged horse requirement out of the way.” I will do my have their own raison d’être, and they can Pegasus is exhilarating in flight; the last best to help them achieve these goals, never be invalidated by technical innova- shot of him on a rocky height captures the but I hope they will leave my classes with tions. Fortunately, Clash of the Titans has beauty of a painting. The monster Calibos a life-long fascination with the ancient turned out to be an extremely popular (an invented son of Thetis and treacherous world, with an appreciation of the classi- movie, and perceptive students can take a opponent of Perseus) appears fittingly cal tradition, and with a love of learning. I must remember that I did not begin the special delight in the insights that come grotesque, with a tail and cloven hoof. He study of Greek because I loved the clas- only with a knowledge of Greek and is depicted by an animated action figure sics, but I learned to love the classics by Roman mythology. and also played effectively by a real actor taking Greek under an inspiring teacher. The director is Desmond Davis, who (Neil McCarthy), the two skillfully blended In their great processions, the Romans began his career as a cinematographer, a in the action. Bubo (the Latin word for owl), carried the images of their ancestors; in fact very much evident in his work. Cross, a mechanical duplicate of Athena’s owl, their memory, they carried the words and deeds of those who had gone before Harryhausen, and Davis are unanimous fashioned by Hephaestus, and a loveable them. The Romans looked to their past and consistent in their purpose and style. It and amusing helpmate, makes us realize for models of the qualities they admired. is as though a lovely book of a child’s fable that, like Siegfried, only Perseus can under- I believe this can serve as a metaphor for has been brought to cinematic life, with its stand the language of a bird. the student-teacher relationship. We direct and moving text, beautiful illustra- It is Bubo who leads Perseus to the carry vivid images of our teachers. We tions of the prince and princess, and depic- shrine of the three Stygian witches. These spent long hours listening to them and studying their interactions with our peers. tions of monsters that terrify and delight. are the Graeae of the original legend but Few aspects of a teacher’s personality The music, so stirring and heroic, melting- given typically imaginative touches. They escape the notice of attentive students. ly romantic, and eerily atmospheric, power- are old, wise, and have only one eye For over twenty years, I have carried in fully enhances this tale’s thrilling action and among them but also resemble the witches my memory the images of my classics pro- touching sentiment. The composer Laurence in Macbeth, with their cauldron here of fessors at the University of California at Rosenthal has written scores for some ninety- human flesh. Bubo cleverly seizes their eye Santa Cruz. When I think of the power of those images, I wonder what kind of six films, two nominated for Academy for Perseus, who in this version must win the image I am forming in the lives of my stu- Awards. This must be one of his best. knowledge that he can defeat the invulnera- dents. When my former students recall The acting has the aura of the restrained ble sea monster to which Andromeda is to words or deeds in the classroom that were passion in a storybook. The cast is predomi- be sacrificed, only by turning it to stone particularly meaningful to them, I often nantly British. “Who else could play Zeus with the head of Medusa. have no recollection of these seemingly but Laurence Olivier?” Harryhausen asks. Perseus finds Medusa’s home (actually insignificant events. It is humbling to think of the power that we wield, for bet- “He has the authority, even though he was the temple at Paestum), located on the Isle ter or for worse, in the lives of our stu- quite ill at the time . . . . They were all of the Dead at the edge of the world, and dents. I intend to provide my students beautifully cast.” Claire Bloom is Hera; this unforgettable scene illuminates the cre- with challenging and rigorous training, but Thetis, Maggie Smith. Cassiopeia, the ative imagination of this film at its best. He I hope the image that I fashion will con- boastful mother of Andromeda, is no other crosses the Styx, the river of death, after vey the patience, kindness, and respect than Siân Phillips (the deadly Livia of I, giving a coin to Charon (a shrouded skele- that I experienced from John Lynch, Mary-Kay Gamel, and Gary Miles. Such Claudius). Two of the male leads, however, ton), and kills Dioskilos, a dog with only images have the power to change a stu- are American. Burgess Meredith, a distin- two-heads (a shock, but a Cerberus with dent’s life. They have changed mine. guished veteran, blends kindly wisdom and three heads was technically too clumsy to whimsy in his depiction of Ammon, the poet handle). Medusa, demonic in look as ser- Randall Nichols teaches Latin and Greek and playwright who befriends Perseus. pents writhe in her hair, glides menacingly at The Westminster Schools of Augusta, Geor- gia. He made these remarks upon receiving the Harry Hamlin, early in his career, plays on her serpentine body with its threatening 2002 Eunice Kraft Award for Excellence in Perseus. He is perfect for the role because rattlesnake’s tail. The encounter is one of Secondary School Teaching from the Classical of his handsome looks and vibrant youth, unbearably chilling suspense. It ends with Association of the Middle West and South. and he radiates vulnerability and strength. Perseus triumphantly holding aloft Medusa’s His students routinely place out of the first Maybe he has done better in his varied severed head, in a stance reminiscent of the two years of Latin and Greek in college. Some career (his role on television in L.A. Law famous statue by Cellini. Thus, added to of his former students are currently majoring in Latin, Greek, or classics at Furman Uni- being perhaps his best known), but certain- Perseus’ heroic achievements is the greatest versity, Harvard University, the University of ly he has done much worse. Judi Bowker, one of all, the conquest of death. Georgia, and the University of Virginia. the heroine Andromeda, also projects the continued on page 16 11 Book Review: MOUNT OLYMPUS The Sappho Companion by Ourania Molyviati by Diane J. Rayor ount Olympus is well known More information about ancient Margaret Reynolds, ed. The Sappho Mto people around the world as knowledge of Olympus and its sur- Companion. St. Martin’s Press (1-800-221- the home of the ancient Greek rounding villages comes through archae- 7945), 2000. Pp. 422. Hardcover gods. It is also well known to scientists ology. Archaeologists date the first $27.95. ISBN 0-31223924-6. for its many peculiarities. Located in Greek settlement in Thessaly to around northern Greece on the border of Pieria 3,000 B.C. Marcel Kurz, the Swiss engi- and Thessaly, Olympus rises over the neer hired by the Greek Ministry of he Sappho Companion is a fascinating Gulf of Thermaikos and the plain of Agriculture to map the peaks, climbed Tcollection of writings inspired by Sap- Thessaly. Homer describes Olympus as Olympus in 1919 and stated in his 1923 pho, the late seventh-century B.C.E. Greek πολυδειρας` , “having many summits” book Le Mont Olympe, Thessalie that 50 πολυπτυχος` poet from the island of Lesbos. It is also an (Iliad 1.499 and 5.754); , meters south of Scholio, one of the “having many plateaus” (Iliad 8.411); highest peaks, he found stones from important addition to current scholarship on and νιφοεις` , “covered with snow” (Iliad ancient buildings. Helmut Scheffel, the reception of Sappho throughout the cen- 18.616). These descriptions are reflect- who climbed Olympus in 1923, stated turies, such as Fictions of Sappho, 1546- ed in reality because Olympus is actual- that at a height of 2,900 meters, at the 1937 (1989) by Joan DeJean, Re-Reading ly a group of plateaus, yawning chasms peak of St. Antony (Kastro), he found Sappho: Reception and Transmission edited that trap the clouds, and lower alpine remains of an altar and hundreds of clay by Ellen Greene (1996), and Victorian Sap- peaks that rise almost 2,900 meters. The pieces. Evidence for the existence of a etymology of the name “Olympus” may cult center dedicated to Zeus on St. pho (1999) by Yopie Prins. Margaret also reflect its appearance. One conjec- Antony came to light in 1961. At that Reynolds displays the shifting image of Sap- ture is that it derives from the adjective time Professors B. Kuriazopoulos and G. pho in roughly one hundred poems and ολολαµπης’ ` , “shining.” This is a reason- Livadas of the Department of Physics prose pieces from antiquity to the end of the able possibility because Olympus and Mathematics at Aristotle University twentieth century. As Reynolds says, “The gleams even in the summer sun, and the of Thessaloniki began work on estab- details of Sappho’s story make her various winter snow there has a rare shining lishing a meteorological station on St. beauty hard to find in other alpine land- Antony. They reported in an article in and adaptable, depending on the concerns scapes. 1967 that they found pieces of stone of the historical moment” (7). The fragmen- It is not accidental that Olympus inscriptions and columns, pieces from tary and beautiful remains of Sappho’s became the home of Zeus, the last of clay vessels, iron nails, numerous coins, poetry, Sappho’s sexuality, her status “as the Greek sky gods. Its undulating and bones, and the remains of organic sub- ‘the first’ woman poet” (196), the lack of steep surface, on the one hand, and the stances from sacrifices of goats and reliable biographical information about her, sea at its border, on the other, create sheep. Pieces from black-colored ves- abrupt weather phenomena – thunder- sels and lecythoi were dated to the third and the fiction of her death by suicide have storms, hail, and fog – that astonish and century B.C. Some of the coins found inspired the creation of new Sapphos terrify. These weather phenomena were were dated to the third century B.C. based on the makers’ own agendas. probably the cause of certain epithets of and others to the fourth century A.D. The general introduction sets a casual, Zeus like “thundering,” “covered with Among the inscribed columns, one read ’Ολυµπιω` non-scholarly tone. The first chapter includes dark clouds,” “holding the thunder- ι , “to the Olympian.” K. I. twenty-four of the extant Greek fragments, bolt,” “throwing thunderbolts like Galles reported, in 1982, the discovery spears,” “dwelling in the clouds,” of two bronze statues and pieces from each followed by as many as nine English “cloud gatherer,” “giving birth to rain,” marble statues. translations – the earliest, Sir Philip Sidney’s “breezy,” and “snow white.” These epi- Olympus also occupies an important 1554 version of Sappho’s Fragment 31 thets of Zeus reflect the unsettled place in the history of the region. In 480 and, the most recent, Robert Chandler’s weather of Olympus. B.C., Xerxes used a path, called the 1998 translation of Fragment 102. The How well did the ancient Greeks and “upper path” by Herodotus, to transfer fourteen subsequent chapters chronological- Romans actually know Olympus? As the his army from Pieria to Thessaly. Three preceding epithets indicate and Plutarch centuries later, in the years 171-69 B.C., ly organize works from the Roman writers notes (Life of Aemilius Paullus 15), the Olympus and the army of King Perseus Catullus and Ovid to Samuel Taylor ancients were aware of the many sum- protected southern Greece from the Coleridge, H. D., Virginia Woolf, and Ruth mits and plateaus of the mountain. Roman invasion. In 169 B.C., however, Padel (1999). These works are of varying There are also testimonies that a cult the Romans passed over the mountain artistic quality, and often stem more from center of Zeus existed on Olympus. on a steep path and camped south of the idea of Sappho and her imagined life Gaius Julius Solinus, writing at the modern Litochoro, a village at the foot beginning of the third century A.D., of Olympus. In 168 B.C., the Romans than from her actual fragments. Each one, notes the presence of an altar. St. Augus- invaded the narrows of Petra and sur- however, vividly illuminates attitudes tine, writing in the fourth century A.D., rounded Perseus at the village of Dion. towards Sappho in the author’s time and and John Philoponos, a grammarian of He retreated to Pydna where he was place. The introductions to the chapters – the sixth century A.D., claim that people defeated. Olympus even played an with provocative titles such as “The Tenth who climbed Olympus to perform sacri- important role in a later invasion of fices in honor of Zeus found inscriptions Greece. In 1374-75, when the Ottoman continued on page 13 from the previous year’s sacrifices. Turks invaded Greece, Olympus served 12 Book Review: The Sappho Companion continued from page 12 Muse,” “Wanton Sapphoics” [sic], “Daugh- gy and agenda, and the introductions to the ter of de Sade,” “The New Woman,” and chapters. Reynolds skillfully weaves together “Swingers and Sisters” – succinctly illumi- the changing story of reactions to – and re- nate the context of the writings and illustra- creations of – Sappho. In each chapter, we tions that follow. I enjoyed skipping around, see how “different interested parties jostle contrasting Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s suici- one another, competing for possession of dal Sappho (1824), inspired by a “literary Sappho’s image. At the same time as Sap- Fig. 5. A view of the peak Stefani (in the middle ground), July 21, 2002. Ourania mix-up” (71), with Eavan Boland’s rich pho was condemned in pornographic litera- Molyviati is fourth from the left. epiphany of Sappho as the mother of her ture and belittled in heroic and Napoleonic modern daughters (1990), perhaps loosely fictions, she was being applauded and as a shelter for the kleftes, armed Greek based on fragments 1 and 132. admired in women’s circles” (195). Some- men who fought against the Turks. A The book’s shortcomings are in the first times, these “interested parties” appear to modern Greek folk song celebrates Olympus and the kleftes: chapter, which includes the fragments of separate by gender. On the one hand, Sappho’s poetry. The information in this “from the late eighteenth century one stan-

’Εγω ’` µ ο’ γερο` ’Ολυµπος` στον` κοσµο` chapter on the survival of the fragments is dard way to condemn a strong woman was ξακουσµενος,` ’

quite good (18-20), but when Reynolds to whisper about what she did with other ’Εχω` σαραντα` ˘ δυο κορφες` ` κ ’ εξηντα` δυο ` βρυσουλες. unequivocally states that “none of [Sap- women” (128). On the other hand, “when Καθε` κορφη ` και φλαµπουρο,` ` καθε` pho’s] work was ever written down” (16), Mary Robinson [1758-1800] chose to write κλαδι και` κλεφτης.` ` the fragments appear even more tenuous about Sappho in terms of the sublime, she than they are. Rather than only composing was making a case for the rights of all I am old Olympus famous all over the world. her songs for performance, Sappho herself capable, intelligent and ambitious women” I have forty-two summits and may have written them down, as Eva Stehle (153). Sappho was used by men to sixty-two springs. argues in Performance and Gender in denounce women and by women to support Every peak and a flag, every branch and a kleftis. Ancient Greece (1997, 310-17). The intro- a community of women. duction to this chapter has a few other In short, although readers must be cau- While archaeology and history can minor annoyances, such as unsupported tious when dealing with the translations in help us to understand better the habita- claims of Sappho’s influence on Madonna’s the first chapter of the book, they will, nev- tion around Olympus and the visits of “Like a Virgin” or other modern lyrics with ertheless, find The Sappho Companion to ancient devotees, there is also much to “Sapphic” images (moon, apple, bee), and be an invaluable history of Sappho’s meta- be learned from actually climbing Olym- pus. In 1913, Christos Kakalos, a local a vague reference to “some critics” (22). morphoses over the centuries. It makes for guide, led climbers from Geneva to Myt- This is the only part of the book where I delightful random reading that is full of sur- icas (Pantheon), which, at 2,918 meters, longed for footnotes. prises and pleasures. is the highest peak of Olympus. This is Most critically, I wish that Reynolds had the first time in recorded history that provided one accurate, more literal transla- Diane J. Rayor is Associate Professor climbers made it to the top. I myself had tion of each fragment in the first chapter and co-founder of the Classics Department quite an experience climbing to the top of Olympus last summer. On the morn- directly after the Greek. This could have at Grand Valley State University, Michigan. ing of July 20, 2002, a group of eight been her own clear translation, any other She received a Ph.D. from the University of amateur climbers set off in a minivan accurate verse translation, or even the California at Santa Cruz. Her books of with our guide Dimitris and drove for prose translation by David Campbell from translations from ancient Greek, with intro- one-and-a-half hours from Thessaloniki the Loeb Classical Library (1982) – any duction and notes, include The Homeric to Litochoro, at the foot of Olympus. We translation that would neither add nor sub- Hymns (2003) and Sappho’s Lyre: Archaic then drove for fifteen minutes to Prionia, which means “Saw” and is named after tract images present in the surviving Greek. Lyric and Women Poets of Ancient Greece the camp of woodcutters there in the Unfortunately, Reynolds provides no ade- (1991). first decades of the twentieth century quate translation for fragments 55, 94, 96, (see Fig. 6). Prionia is a valley at an alti- and 131. For each of the other twenty frag- tude of 1,100 meters set amid mountains ments, one of the several translations includ- rich in vegetation and graced with the ed does the job, but the Greekless reader River Enipeus flowing through. Here begins a path that leads to the first shel- has no way of identifying it. ter, Spilios Agapitos (named after a The great strength of the book, however, Greek climber), which is about three lies in the quantity and variety of work hours away from Prionia at an altitude of inspired by the few surviving fragments of 2,100 meters. People from all over the Sappho’s poetry and the story of the poet world, young and old, take the path to that they – and later sources – seem to tell, continued on page 14 the useful organization combining chronolo- 13 Mount Olympus continued from page 13 Book Review: The Love-Artist PROFITIS ILIAS by Mary C. English

REF. SEO Jane Alison. The Love-Artist. Farrar, Straus Muses Plateau REF. C and Giroux (1-888-330-8477), 2001. Pp. KAKALOS 242. Paper $13.00. ISBN 0-312-42006-4.

Stefani sing Tristia 2.207 (“Two offenses 2918 Uruined me: a poem and an error”) and the sole surviving fragment of Ovid’s lost PRIONIA • Mitikas Medea (“I gave you your life. Now you’re wondering – will I take it, too?”), Jane Ali-

REF. A’ son creates, in her debut novel, a stirring SPILIOS AGAPITOS historical tale about Ovid’s final days in Rome and the events leading to his exile in A.D. 8. Fig. 6. Extract of Mt. Olympus 1:25.000 we were all terribly tired. After walking Readers familiar with the poet’s Amores, map, Topo25 series of ANAVASI editions. through the Plateau of the Muses for an Ars Amatoria, and Metamorphoses will Anavasi Maps & Guides, Athens, Greece. hour, we finally reached the shelter at enjoy how subtly Alison interweaves these Used by permission of Penelope Matsou- dusk. Outside the shelter, on this July texts into her narrative. Alison’s Ovid often ka and Triantafyllos Adamakopoulos. night, the temperature was about 15 refers to his failed love affair with the Copyright ANAVASI editions, 2003. degrees Celsius. Next morning, we took the path beguiling Corinna, a woman who grew the first shelter. The path runs up amid straight to the peak of Myticas. While increasingly dissatisfied with being a con- forests of pine, beech, and black-pine on our way, we saw the region called stant source of his poetic inspiration; he trees. As we were approaching the shel- Megala Kazania, “Big Pots,” which con- smiles at the success that the Ars Amatoria ter, the trees gave way to a more rocky tains big holes covered with clouds com- achieved when Augustus forced him to landscape with flowery bushes, oregano ing up from the depths. We saw the bushes, and fewer black-pine trees. A peak Stefani, which is also known as the burn the manuscript publicly because of its sudden rainstorm that broke out when Throne of Zeus (see Fig. 5). We salacious content; and he repeatedly com- we were about half way to the shelter reached the final path to Myticas after pares his present circumstances to those suf- soaked us to the bone. Once we arrived half an hour of climbing. This path to fered by Pygmalion, Erisichthon, Io, there, a big fire burning in the fireplace Myticas is an hour’s climb, 80 meters Pasiphae, Myrrha, and Galatea. Alison and vegetable soup warmed us up. After long, rocky, and steep. Once at the top, also captures Ovid’s determination to a short break, we got up to continue our we found a yearbook waiting for those journey to the top. who had made it to the top to sign. And achieve lasting fame through his literature. Three different paths lead to Myti- what a marvel we beheld for ourselves. As the story unfolds, Ovid frequently cas. The longest and easiest one is a We saw stretched out below us the remarks upon the legacy of the venerable two-hour climb straight to the peak. A whole region of Pieria up to Chalkidiki, poets Horace and Vergil, who had sung shorter but steeper path leads straight to the Gulf of Thermaikos, and the the emperor’s praises and attained immor- the peak in about an hour. A third path Aegean Sea. tal glory in the process. Ovid, too, yearns runs through the Plateau of the Muses, In ancient times, Olympus was cele- named after the daughters of Zeus and brated in poetry by Homer. In modern for such stature, but it is unclear to him Mnemosyne, to the shelter of Yiosos times, it was celebrated in painting by whether his controversial poems can outlive Apostolides, at an altitude of 2,760 Vasilios Ithakisios, a painter from Lesbos the emperor’s strong desire to suppress meters. We had arranged to spend the who spent twenty years (1927-47) in a them. night at this shelter near the summit cave on Olympus creating over 500 paint- At the outset of the novel (which is rich and so chose this third route. The shel- ings of the mountain. But there is nothing in period detail), Ovid is flush from the ter takes its name from the climber who like climbing Olympus to experience for founded it; he was killed accidentally by oneself this proud and enchanting place excitement of completing his Metamor- a rolling rock as he was approaching the that emits a sense of power and freedom, phoses. Awaiting the reaction of both the peak of Myticas. The path to the shelter serenity and strength. public and the emperor to his new epic, he is rocky, narrow, and steep. Half way to journeys to the Black Sea in order to the shelter, we saw a dry riverbed and Ourania Molyviati is an Assistant Profes- escape the pressures of the Roman literary met climbers who warned us of sudden sor in the Department of Greek Philology at world. There he encounters Xenia, whom hailstorms. After two hours of climbing Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. through a region called Mikra Kazania, She is currently working on a book on some consider a magical healer, others an “Small Pots,” we reached the Plateau of Vergil’s Aeneid that deals with the enchanting witch. Xenia has read contra- the Muses. From there, our ascent to labyrinthine narration. You may write to band copies of Ovid’s amatory poems the shelter was fairly easy, except that her at [email protected]. (clear evidence that Ovid’s popularity has

14 spread to the far reaches of the empire) force of his artistic ambition. Eventually, Odysseus and and immediately decides to capture his however, when the soldiers escort him to Bilbo Baggins attention. Ovid is likewise drawn to Xenia Ostia for transport to exile in Tomis, Ovid continued from page 9 because he senses a presence within her realizes the folly of his arrogance. that captures the mythological attributes of With The Love-Artist, Alison joins the Bilbo must share both blame and credit. “Never laugh at live dragons,” as the the heroines featured in his Metamor- ranks of other contemporary writers and proverb will say. phoses. As their passionate affair escalates, artists exploring the modernity of Ovid’s Bilbo’s encounter with the trolls Xenia reveals to Ovid the secrets of her works: David Malouf, whose novel An Imag- marks the beginning of his slow climb “witchcraft” and, as he grows to under- inary Life (1978) investigates what happens toward heroism. In contrast, Odysseus’ stand her power to transform lives, he notes to the sophisticated Ovid once he is forced victory over the Cyclops already shows the similarity of their work. Ovid realizes through exile to live among people who his resourcefulness and his ability to get out of a tight spot. Yet it was Odysseus’ that he must invite Xenia to Rome. She actually believe in their mythologies; fault that he got into the Cyclops’ cave becomes his muse, the inspiration for a Christoph Ransmayr, whose novel The Last in the first place, that six of his men new work that she predicts will be Ovid’s World (English translation, 1990) chronicles were eaten, and that Poseidon was mor- most successful creation to date. the story of a young man who travels to a tally offended. If Bilbo has too little frontier town at the edge of a decaying confidence (for this comes only with empire in search of Ovid and his lost manu- experience), then Odysseus has too much confidence, or the wrong sort. Alison not only scripts; Michael Hofmann and James Las- Odysseus, too, has to grow up, morally shapes her novel with dun, whose After Ovid: New Metamor- and spiritually, in order to become the phoses (1995) compiles the work of many hero he was meant to be – through historical accuracy and contemporary poets who have used the experience and effort and the help (or literary fidelity, but characters of the Metamorphoses as inspira- opposition) of powerful gods. she also captures the tion for their verse; and, most recently, Mary The Hobbit is a children’s story. As such, it differs enormously from Home- spirit of Ovid. Zimmerman, whose Metamorphoses (2002) ric epic – and, indeed, from Tolkien’s has brought Ovid’s epic alive on the Broad- later “epic fantasy novel,” The Lord of way stage. Alison not only shapes her novel the Rings (1954/55) – in style, in scope, Upon their return to the city, Ovid with historical accuracy and literary fidelity, and in significance. Yet, the themes, receives the patronage of Augustus’ grand- but she also captures the spirit of Ovid – her methods, and deep insights of fairy tale daughter Julia, a woman devoted to retain- tale is at once lyrical, romantic, playful, and are not, in the end, altogether so differ- ent from those of epic (see Fig. 4). The ing control of her personal life (despite the a touch sinister. two genres influence and interpenetrate interference of her influential family) and The Love-Artist should appeal to those each other. Odysseus wanders off the committed to exposing the hypocrisy of the seeking insights into the Roman literary world known map into a world of fantasy, principate’s heavy-handed morality cam- of the early empire, and it is a perfect com- beauty, and terror. Bilbo Baggins walks paign. Julia refuses to bear an heir to suc- plement to courses at all levels that approach over the edge of the children’s story ceed Augustus and circumvents every the ancient world through modern fiction. into a larger, potentially epic-sized world and plays his part in it – a part far attempt to secure her pregnancy. Her latest larger than he or Gandalf, or even their plan to thwart her family’s intentions Mary C. English (Ph.D. 1999, Boston creator, realized at the time. The hobbit involves Ovid. As he recites to Julia the pas- University) is an Assistant Professor of Clas- still has obvious limitations as a hero. sages of his latest creation about the seduc- sics and General Humanities at Montclair He never subdues a troll or kills a drag- tive powers of a female sorceress, Julia rec- State University in New Jersey and Coordi- on. Yet he does remarkably well, and ognizes the full potential of her patronage nator of her department’s classical lan- that, as Tolkien might have said, is encouraging. over this work. The situation grows more guage programs. Her research interests volatile when Xenia becomes pregnant with include the comedy of Aristophanes and Kenneth J. Reckford received his A.B. Ovid’s child and when her jealousy over Latin love elegy. and Ph.D. from Harvard University and the time Ovid is spending with Julia notice- taught there for three years. Since 1960, he ably increases. Xenia’s sense of betrayal has taught Greek and Latin literature, most- ly poetry and drama, at the University of begins to parallel Medea’s reaction to North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is Jason’s transgressions. Is Ovid manipulat- Kenan Professor of Classics. He has pub- ing the situation to generate source material lished books on Horace and Aristophanes, for his poem? Is Julia the mastermind has co-translated Euripides’ Hecuba and behind events? Will Xenia, when pushed Electra (with Janet Lembke), and is cur- beyond her limits, destroy her child to pun- rently writing a book about the Roman satirist Persius. An ardent Tolkien fan, he ish Ovid for luring her away from her teaches a popular undergraduate course on homeland? Ever confident, Ovid firmly “The Heroic Journey” (from the Odyssey to believes that he can balance the demands The Lord of the Rings). of these two women against the driving 15 Film Review: Guidelines for Clash of the Titans continued from page 11 Contributors Yet another addition is made to the Sponsorship: AmphoraTM, a publication sponsored familiar, traditional motifs of the legend: by the Committee on Outreach of the American mphoraTM (ISSN 1542-2380) is published twice Andromeda’s suitors must answer a riddle Philological Association, is published twice a year, Aa year by the American Philological Association in the spring and fall. (APA). The APA, founded in 1869 by “professors, and, if they fail, be burned alive. More- Purpose and Audience: Amphora welcomes sub- friends, and patrons of linguistic science,” is now over, the movie introduces the mighty the principal learned society in North America for missions from professional scholars and experts the study of ancient Greek and Roman languages, Greek themes of god, fate, and free will. on topics dealing with the worlds of ancient literatures, and civilizations. While the majority of Greece and Rome (literature, language, mytholo- its members are university and college classics Zeus and the other deities on Olympus con- gy, history, culture, classical tradition, and the teachers, members also include scholars in other trol the lives of the protagonists by symboli- arts). Amphora is intended for a wide audience disciplines, primary and secondary school teachers, that includes professional classicists, present and and interested lay people. The APA produces sev- cally manipulating or crushing clay fig- former classics majors, interested academics and eral series of scholarly books and texts and the professionals in other fields, high school teachers journal Transactions of the American Philological Asso- urines, representations that they can hold ciation. An annual meeting is held each January in in their hands. Nevertheless, Zeus com- and students, administrators in the field of educa- conjunction with the Archaeological Institute of tion, community leaders, and anyone with a America. mands his beloved son Perseus to take con- strong interest in and enthusiasm for the classical All of the APA’s programs are grounded in the trol of his own life: “Find and fulfill your world. Submissions, therefore, should not only rigor and high standards of traditional philology, reflect sound scholarship but also have wide with the study of ancient Greek and Latin at their destiny.” appeal to Amphora’s diverse audience. core. However, the APA also aims to present a broad view of classical culture and the ancient In the end, Perseus rescues the Editorial Courtesy: The editors of Amphora Mediterranean world to a wide audience. In short, enchained Andromeda from the terrifying maintain the highest levels of editorial courtesy. the APA seeks to preserve and transmit the wis- Contributors should be willing to work with the dom and values of classical culture and to find new sea monster, in this retelling, the Kraken of editors to arrive at a mutually acceptable final meanings appropriate to the complex and uncer- Norse legend (ingeniously drawn from Ten- manuscript that is appropriate to the intended tain world of the twenty-first century. audience and reflects the intention of Amphora to The APA’s activities serve one or more of nyson’s haunting poem “The Kraken”). The these overarching goals: convey the excitement of classical studies. • To ensure an adequate number of well-trained, finale showing the constellations with a glit- Suggested Length of Submissions: Articles inspirational classics teachers at all levels, tering, delicate beauty (like a glass (1200-2000 words) and Reviews (500-1000 words). kindergarten through graduate school; • To give classics scholars and teachers the tools menagerie in the sky) epitomizes the emo- Anonymous Refereeing: Submissions will be they need to preserve and extend their knowl- tional power of this film. Zeus assures us refereed anonymously. edge of classical civilization and to communi- Footnotes: Amphora aims to be footnote free. cate that knowledge as widely as possible; that Perseus and Andromeda will be happy Any pertinent references should be worked into • To develop the necessary infrastructure to achieve these goals and to make the APA a together forever after and, to perpetuate the text of the submission. model for other societies confronting similar the story of his courage, Perseus will be set Addresses for Submissions: Submissions challenges. The APA welcomes everyone who shares this among the stars and constellations, along (and enquiries) may be sent either by mail to the postal address below or electronically to the vision to participate in and support its programs. with lovely Andromeda, noble Pegasus, e-mail address below: All APA members receive Amphora automatically as a benefit of membership. Non-members who wish and even vain Cassiopeia. Anne-Marie Lewis to receive Amphora on a regular basis or who wish further information about the APA may write to So enjoy this great entertainment, a Editor: Amphora Program in Classical Studies The American Philological Association at 292 magical fantasy for everyone, from inno- 262 Vanier College Logan Hall, University of Pennsylvania, 249 S. York University 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304, or at the cent child to jaded philosopher. e-mail address: [email protected]. The Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 APA Web site is at www.apaclassics.org. CANADA Robert J. Lenardon is Professor Emeri- [email protected] tus of Classics at The Ohio State University. He is the author of a biography, The Saga of Themistocles, and co-author (with Mark American Philological Association P. O. Morford) of Classical Mythology, Non-Profit Org. 292 Logan Hall, University of Pennsylvania U.S. Postage now in its seventh edition. For the academ- 249 S. 36th Street PAID ic year 2001-02, he was Visiting Distin- Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304 Permit No. 2563 E-mail: [email protected] Philadelphia, PA guished Scholar and Professor in Resi- Web site: www.apaclassics.org dence at the University of Louisville, where he taught courses on the impact of Greek and Roman mythology on music, dance, and film; he is writing a book devoted to aspects of this vast subject.

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