Metamorphoses 3: Ovid meets COVID
My students are reading Ovid stateside now, after our program in Rome closed because of the spread of the coronavirus in Italy. We’re all…
Joanna Kenty
Metamorphoses 2: Same song, different verse
Last week, I shared a Twitter thread from Emily Wilson about Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in which she drew a connection between the myth of…
Metamorphoses: Book 1
This semester, I’m teaching in Rome — classical mythology, Latin, and ancient Greek. In case you’re not jealous already, I’ve decided to…
When Eulogies Turn Political: John McCain and Cato the Younger
Reactions to the death of John McCain over the last week have varied wildly, from adulation to anger. “Don’t speak ill of the dead,” some…
Avenging Lucretia
From Rape to Revolution
An expert in classical rhetoric analyzes Trump
I’m a classics professor who researches the rhetoric of the Roman orator Cicero. Cicero lived from 106 to 43 BCE – he died a year after…
Alexander Hamilton’s Catiline Obsession
Before Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway show Hamilton turned the “Ten Dollar Founding Father” into everyone’s new favorite historical…
Hillary Clinton’s Rhetorical Persona
This article is part of a two-part series using ancient rhetorical theory to analyze Hillary Clinton’s speeches. The other article is…
Lysistrata in Liberia
Reading Aristophanes’ Lysistrata with Leymah Gbowee’s memoir Mighty Be Our Powers