This program description is also available as a PDF: Classics Day November 4, 2016 Program Description
The Program
On Friday, November 4, 2016 the Department of Classics and General Humanities at Montclair State invites high school students who are studying Latin, together with their teachers, to our annual Classics Day, a morning of presentations, discussions and academic competition. Six students only from each school may participate in the competition which is aimed at the advanced level.
Classics Day will begin at 9:00 a.m with welcoming remarks and orientation. The presentations will begin at 9:30 a.m. and occur in two sessions. Following these, at 11:20 a.m., students who are participating in the competition will go to the assigned room for the half-hour contest.
The Presentations
You will have the opportunity to attend two out of the following four presentations. Groups of ten or more may be divided among different presentations.
“Work Hard, Play Hard: The Debauchery of Heracles”
Daniel Dooley, Department of Classics and General Humanities.
Remembered today for his virtuous labors, Heracles (“Hercules” to the Romans) was also notorious in antiquity for his excessive indulgence in vices. In many Greek and Roman narratives, dramas and works of art the hero looks and acts like a promiscuous glutton and drunkard, even as he continues to perform feats of strength and daring that make the world a safer place. Is this dichotomy paradoxical, or do the stories about his private life reflect a consistent pattern of going to extremes? How did ancient poets, philosophers and ordinary worshipers understand and seek to justify Heracles’ seemingly immoral behavior?
“Fraternization at Ilerda in Caesar’s Bellum Civile: Wage Love, Not War?”
Timothy Hanford, Department of Classics and General Humanities
When is your enemy also your friend? This question arises repeatedly in Caesar’s works, including the Bellum Gallicum and Bellum Civile. At one point during the Battle of Ilerda in 49 B.C., as recounted in the Bellum Civile, there was fraternization between Roman troops on the opposing sides, in an apparent attempt to find a peaceful solution to the battle. We’ll consider from various perspectives corresponding passages in English from Lucan’s epic Bellum Civile and Caesar’s propaganda on this topic, as well as the larger history of military fraternization and the sometimes surprisingly thin line between peace and war.
“Into the Underworld: Myths of Descent to Hades in Millennial Films”
Patricia Salzman, Department of Classics and General Humanities
The descent to the Underworld is a pivotal moment in the hero’s mythical journey of maturation, bound in many ways with the coming of age. This presentation will explore the recreations of this central theme of classical myth in modern millennial films such as O Brother Where Art Thou?, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
“Get Out the Vote! Politicking and Electioneering in the Roman Republic”
Christopher Simon, Department of Classics and General Humanities
Elections are won with votes. From the “new” man M. Tullius Cicero to the sons of prominent families, we’ll expose some of the strategies that aspiring politicians adopted in order to acquire and maintain social prominence and the popular vote in the Roman Republic. We’ll examine not only anecdotal evidence from the lives of certain Roman politicians but also material evidence of the efforts of various Romans to shape their public perception.
The contest
Following the presentations, a contest testing knowledge in three areas, Roman Civilization, Latin Grammar and Classical Mythology will be held. The contest will be entered on a school group basis. Six (6) students only from each school may participate in the competition. The participating school groups will be assigned to an area where they can discuss and complete the answers to the questions, which will be multiple-choice in format.
The group will have one-half hour to demonstrate its collective knowledge of the material. The three groups that provide the most correct answers within the time limit will each receive a prize for their school. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony following lunch at 1:00 p.m. Teachers may be asked to proctor a group from a school other than their own.