THIS DAY IN ANCIENT HISTORY

ante diem xiv kalendas octobres

• ludi Romani (day 14) [it keeps going, and going ...]
• 53 A.D. (?) -- birth of the future emperor Trajan
• 96 A.D. -- murder of the emperor Domitian; dies imperii of the
  emperor Nerva

::Thursday, September 18, 2003 6:06:34 AM::
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OBITUARY: Donald Davidson

Donald Davidson is 'better' known as a philosopher, but his obituary in today's Telegraph shows he had a solid Classical foundation:

Davidson became fascinated by philosophy in his teens. He read Nietzsche and Kant and won a scholarship to Harvard, where he studied English, before switching to Comparative Literature, then to Classics and Philosophy.

He became fascinated by the Greek writers and philosophers and persuaded Harvard to allow him to stage a production of Aristophanes's Birds, in which he played the lead, Peisthetairos, memorising 700 lines of ancient Greek. His friend and class-mate Leonard Bernstein wrote the score.

[...]

Returning to Harvard after the war, he took his doctorate in 1949 and left business school. His dissertation explored Plato's Philebus, a dialogue between Socrates and Philebus in which Plato mounts a defence of the superiority of intellectual inquiry over physical pleasure.

::Thursday, September 18, 2003 5:26:47 AM::
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NUNTII: Hazing History

A piece critical of hazing/initiation 'rituals' begins by citing Classical precedent:

The stories turn up in the ancient writings of St. Augustine and the anonymous postings of 21st century chat rooms: secret rituals of grueling, even torturous physical tests designed to initiate the new and weed out the weak.

In ancient Rome, boys suffered through "wrecking," a severe taunting from schoolmates. In modern suburbia, kids endure "swirling," a humiliating dunking in the toilet.

More at Newsday ...

::Thursday, September 18, 2003 5:20:31 AM::
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NUNTII: More on Berkeley's Greek Theater

As mentioned a few days ago, Berkeley's Greek Theater is celebrating its centennial. A piece in the UCBerkeley News provides a nice history of the thing (another article here), what's been performed there and by whom, and the fact that Benjamin Wheeler (a Classicist) was one of the moving forces behind it. There's also a nice photo of the structure ...

There's also an article on the Medea which is being performed there ...

::Thursday, September 18, 2003 5:05:36 AM::
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