Ben Nagy

I am deeply honoured that the American Journal of Philology awarded my article 'Spectatissima femina: Female visibility and religion in urban spaces in Republican Rome' the AJP Best Article Prize for 2024.

Citation: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

#AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #BlueSkyClassics

that's incredible, Lewis, congrats! 🎉

Bit of self-promotion: I have published a commentary on a selection of Martial's epigrams, so if you are a Latin teacher/instructor...or a fan of having Latin grammar and rhetorical devices analyzed...feel free to check it out.

a.co/d/e1FBrHH

The Aeneid: Translating the Classics with Emily Wilson, Scott McGill, and Susannah Wright The Author Events Series presents The Aeneid: Translating the Classics with Emily Wilson, Scott McGill, and Susannah Wright Crafted during the reign of Augustus Caesar at the outset of the Roman…

freelibraryfoundation.org/events/the-a...
Philadelphia FREE LIBRARY, October 14: THE AENEID.

‘Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx’ is an oil on wood painting dating to c. 1515–1524, held by the Museo del Prado, Madrid. The Styx is depicted as an aquamarine river that shimmers under a blue sky dotted with clouds. Charon is a bearded man with not many clothes but enough to cover his modesty. The far bank on the right has burning buildings and thunderous clouds.

To enter the Underworld, first you must cross the river Styx. Charon will be your guide. This interpretation by Flemish painter Joachim Patinir is our pick for #ClassicsTober25 Day 12: Styx. With these delightful blues and greens, the entrance to the other side looks positively delightful…

I can't help but be pleased by the reclamation of the frog as an anti-fascist symbol.

Koax koax.

Let me know in a message if you would like a free Spotify code for my audiobook Mythopedia, limited supply

he worked at a substation. pumping was his life.

shocked and disappointed to see such hurtful humour here. actually, my father *was* a water resource engineer, and also gay, but he sadly passed just yesterday from cancer of the bumhole, how dare you mock my pain

Spyware maker NSO Group confirms acquisition by US investors | TechCrunch NSO Group confirmed to TechCrunch that an unnamed group of American investors has taken “controlling ownership” of the surveillance tech maker.

SCOOP: Spyware maker NSO Group confirmed to us that the company has been acquired by a U.S. investment group.

NSO's spokesperson said the group "has invested tens of millions of dollars in the company and has acquired controlling ownership," but declined to say who is behind the investment.

highly evolved eating machines. like klingons, except extra organs for grass instead of combat.

...and??

c.f. "I need to get to Antwerp but these stupid trains only go to Anvers" 🙃

SERV. in Aen. 6, 468: LACRIMASQUE CIEBAT sibi, non Didoni: vel profundebat: aut certe illud dicit, sermo quidem eius lacrimas exigebat—nam 'ciere' est proprie alteri fletum movere—sed illa inmobilis mansit.

ClassicsBluesky 🏺🧵

#LatinForTheDay – 9 October #Ovid

“quid iuvat in nudis hamata retundere tela
ossibus? ossa mihi nuda relinquit amor.
tot sine amore viri, tot sunt sine amore puellae!—
hinc tibi cum magna laude triumphus eat.
Roma, nisi inmensum vires promosset in orbem,...

The point I am making is not the elitist "you should only read in the original", it is more to underscore the idea that we need translators with diverse experience and viewpoints, to push back some of these entrenched assumptions that, for some readers, might turn a poetic hit into a miss.

In my head, this whole scene is Aeneas lacking the emotional intelligence to deal with the consequences of his actions, and thus being childishly frustrated that Dido won't just say "I forgive you, sweetie" (at which point he would say "yay, ok cool!" and refocus his tiny brain on ships and swords.)

...or, indeed, just spontaneously tearing up because the encounter is not going the way he wants it to, and his excuses aren't being acknowledged!

The translator has collapsed these possibilities by inserting 'her'. In some cases when this happens the best we can do is throw up our hands and allow the ambiguity to exist ("bring forth tears") BUT we could also see it as Aeneas "calling on" his own tears to try to break through ghost-Dido's rage

"lenibat" -> "tried to soften", sure, this (conative) is legit because it's clearly not working, but "ciebat" is a trickier prospect. Is he 'trying' to rouse tears, or are they being raised? More to the point, *whose tears* -- there is no determiner here!

"With such words Aeneas tried to soften Dido's spirit as it blazed and stared fiercely at him, and tried also to raise her tears." (transl. Horsfall)

The translator can, at best, write down the poem that happens in their head when they read. Here, let's look at these two imperfects....

talibus Aeneas ardentem et torua tuentem
lenibat dictis animum lacrimasque ciebat.
(Aen. 6.467-8)

We're up to Aeneid 6 in our group, and this is yet another line that makes one reflect on the impossibility of "accurate" translation...

all discourse aside, there is one machine with consciousness. it's printers. they are alive and conscious and they hate you and they'd take your arm clean off if you let them. never trust a printer.

Hegel and Colonialism Cambridge Core - Classical Philosophy - Hegel and Colonialism

1/ I'm excited to share that Franz Knappik’s and my Cambridge Element on Hegel and Colonialism is finally out – open access below! We trace how Hegel defends European colonial rule, including transatlantic slavery, and how that defence runs through his entire philosophical system.

Thread below ⬇️

A scene from a water polo match, the US women's team playing..someone I'm not sure. It looks a lot like the cameo.

This thread highlights a point I have been making for many years: the logic of authoritarianism and the logic of domestic abuse are exactly the same. It is only a difference of scale.

sorry, I wasn't dunking, it just seemed funny 😻

Required my juniors to use em-dashes and semicolons—which I taught them how to use last week—in an in-class essay today. They were showing each other their em-dashes and semicolons; monsters officially created.

The remains of Cairn Holy II - one of two Neolithic chambered cairns which overlook Wigtown Bay in Dumfries & Galloway. The Clyde-type chambered cairn was traditionally thought to be the tomb of Caldus, the mythical Scottish King. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #CairnHoly

Inhalers contribute significantly to global warming, study finds Millions of Americans using inhalers for chronic lung diseases like asthma may be unknowingly contributing to global warming, according to new research.

As somebody with asthma who uses inhalers - SHUT THE FUCK UP. THIS ARTICLE IS SHAMING PEOPLE WITH A CHRONIC CONDITION.

"Significantly" My ass. You know what else does? AI Data centers - corporations - cows - asphalt - THOUSANDS OF OTHERS THINGS THAT ARE NOT MEDICINE.

Fuck you - fuck you again.