Drew Wilburn's Materia Magica: The Archaeology of Ancient Magic is now available from the University of Michigan Press. Below you'll find a short blurb for the book:
In the ancient Greece and Rome, magic seems to have been everywhere. We can imagine village grandmothers curling fingers around thumbs to ward off the evil eye or dangerous foreigners enticing young women with more than their good looks. Exploring the place of magic in local communities is the topic of Drew’s new book, Materia Magica: The Archaeology of Magic in Roman Egypt, Cyprus and Spain. Drew finds plenty of evidence for nasty spells and dirty deeds in Roman towns and villages by looking at the archaeological evidence for magic. You can visit the press’s page for the book here. Drew’s blog entry on the book is available here.
A number of talented and dedicated Oberlin undergraduates in Classics, Ploy Keener ('09), Chris Motz ('09), Eush Tayco ('09), Gabe Baker ('10), Lauren Clark ('11), Laura Wilke ('11), and Emily Thaisrivongs ('12), contributed to this book by gathering source material, making comments on chapters, and helping with formatting and references.
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Just when you thought it was safe to read long narrative poetry again...
On Saturday, March 10, the Classics Department will hold its annual all-day Bardic reading. We'll read all of Homer's Odyssey (in English translation) aloud, beginning at noon and ending sometime in the wee hours of the morning. The event takes place in the Rice Faculty lounge, and is open to the public. Guest readers are especially welcome! Sign up for your favorite episodes in the Classics Department Office.
A link to the fabulous poster is here.
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The Department Congratulates Thomas Vozar, (Latin 2013) who has been named one of the two winners of the 2010-11 Friends of the (Oberlin) Library Research award, for his essay "Scorti Libellus: Publication as Prostitution in the Elegies of Sulpicia."
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The first Classics talk of the 2011-12 school year will Sarah Olsen, a Ph.D. candidate at the U-California Berkeley, and the winner of the 2011 Winkler Prize in Classics. Ms. Olsen will talk on "Maculate Conception: Romantic and Sexual Discourse in Heliodorus' An Ethiopian Tale.
Ms. Olsen's Talk will be Wednesday Sept. 21 at 4:30 in King 239, and is free and open to the public.
A poster for Ms. Olsen's talk can be seen here.
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Well, we sort of skipped 2010... but the 2011 Newsletter is now available! To download your very own .pdf you can click on this link, or go over to the Newsletter tab to your left.
