Reception Assignment: Orpheus & Eurydice

This past semester in Latin III, we read an adaptation of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The version we read was inspired by the versions found in Vergil and Ovid. Once we finished that version, we read my own adaptation of Plato's version of the ending of the myth. In the most famous version of the myth, Orpheus descends to the Underworld to retrieve his deceased wife, Eurydice. Hades/Pluto and Persephone/Proserpina allow Eurydice to leave the Underworld with Orpheus, provided that he not turn around and look at her until they have returned to the world of the living. Plato, on the other hand, briefly summarizes a different version: Since Orpheus (unlike Alcestis for Admetus) did not die to be reunited with his beloved Eurydice, Hades and Persephone deem him unworthy of her and instead send Orpheus away with, unbeknownst to him, an imitation of her. 

After we read both these endings, I wanted students to not only explain the differences between the two versions, but also examine the reception of the myth in different media, since it is such a famous myth. Hence this assignment, which requires students to watch or listen to three different reimaginations of the myth: Carlos Diegues' 1999 film Orfeu, Anaïs Mitchell's 2006 musical Hadestown, and Christoph Willibald Gluck's 2022 opera production of Orpheus and Eurydice (Orfeo ed Euridice). I chose three scenes for students to examine and compare/contrast to the myth we had read in class. Lastly, students were required to summarize the differences between the two endings of the myth, explain in their own opinions why the Vergilian/Ovidian ending has been the more popular of the two, and then explain in their own opinions why the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in general has been so popular and reimagined so many times across different time periods and places.

Here are the slides with all the videos/songs and prompts embedded:

Cultural Lesson: Islamic Burial Practices

I did this lesson on Islamic burial practices with my Latin IV class last year as we were reading my publication Nasreddin Chogia: Fabellae. One of the fables alludes to Islamic burial practices. Here is my Latin adaptation of the fable:

Chōgia ōlim hieme in silvā ligna caedēns, “Algeō!,” inquit, “Ergō, mortuus sum!”

Ergō, Chōgia cum dēcubuisset tamquam mortuus, “Efferendus sum!,” inquit.

Chōgia cum domum rediisset, tum, “Mortuus sum,” inquit uxōrī, “in silvā. Iubē amīcōs mē efferre.”

Deinde Chōgia cum in silvam rediisset, dēcubuit.

Cum uxor Chōgiae in tabernam vēnisset, “Nasreddīn Chōgia,” inquit, “in silvā mortuus est.”

Amīcī Chōgiae, “Quī scīs?,” inquiunt.

Uxor, “Quia,” inquit, “Chōgia domum rediit et haec mihi dīxit.”

(A translation for readers who do not read Latin:)

Once upon a time, Hoca, while chopping firewood in the woods in the wintertime, said, "I am cold! Therefore, I am dead!"

So Hoca, when he had lay down as if he were dead, said, "I must be carried out (i.e. for burial)!"

So Hoca, when he had returned home, then he said to his wife, "I died in the woods. Tell my friends to carry me out (i.e. for burial)."

Then Hoca, when he had returned to the woods, lay down.

When Hoca's wife had arrived at the coffeehouse, she said, "Nasreddin Hoca has died in the woods."

Hoca's friends said, "How do you know?"

The wife said, "Because Hoca came back home and told me this."

After reading this fable with my students, I wanted students to understand Islamic burial practices and why Nasreddin Hoca feels such a strong sense of urgency to be buried when he believes that he is dead. For this lesson, students located QR codes posted around our building at school. These QR codes linked to a sentence in Latin and a clue to the location of the next clue. All of the sentences described steps involved in a traditional Islamic burial. Students not only located the QR codes and copied down the Latin sentences, but also put the sentences in chronological order.

The sentences for each step. I glossed new terms in Latin or in English in parentheses:

1. Muslimus periit. (A Muslim has died.)

2. Cadaver (corpus mortui) inter 24 horas sepeliendum (in terra ponendum) est. [The corpse (the body of a deceased person) must be buried (placed in the ground) within 24 hours.

3. Cadaver necessariis (e.g. sororibus, fratribus, filiis, matri, patri, etc.) lavandum est. [The corpse must be washed by relatives (e.g. sisters, brothers, children, mother, father, etc.).]

4. Cadaver involvendum est. (The corpse must be wrapped up.)

5. Cadaver in arca ponitur. (The corpse is placed in a coffin.)

6. Cadaver ad meschitam effertur. (The corpse is brought to a mosque.)

7. Cadaver in sepulcretum effertur. (The corpse is brought to a cemetery.)

8. Eis qui adsunt orandum est. (Those in attendance must pray.)

9. Cadaver in sepulcro sepeliendum (in terra ponendum) est. [The corpse must be buried (placed in the ground)].

10. Cadaver in Meccam advertendum est. (The corpse must be turned towards Mecca.)

After putting the steps in order, students then wrote in Latin summarizing the fable in their own words in Latin and explaining why Hoca felt such a strong sense of urgency to be buried.

The worksheet:

Teaching about Islam in Latin

This year my school returned to (almost) fully in-person learning. Since some students did a mix of in-person, digital, hybrid, or a combination of all three last year, I decided to begin the year with my Latin IV class with my latest publication, Nasreddin Chogia: Fabellae. Why? The fables present short, but syntactically-dense Latin. The brevity, levity, and relatively concrete subject matter of the fables facilitates quick and light reading. On the other hand, the fables are syntactically-dense (e.g. conditionals; changes in person, mood, tense, inter alia), which will (hopefully) prepare students for readings that may see on the ALIRA (ACTFL Latin Interpretive Reading Assessment), which they will take in the spring to qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy. 

To prepare my students to understand the cultural references within the fables, I began the year by teaching about the religion of Islam, mosque architecture, and important figures and traditions in Muslim communities. In my slides included below, you will find the following:

• The fundamental beliefs in Islam
• Statistics about Muslims worldwide and in the United States
• The Five Pillars of Islam
• Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha
• Mosque features and architecture
• The role of the imam and the muezzin
• Architectural features: minarets, mihrab, minbar, ablution fountains, calligraphy

See my slides below:

What my students did with the material:

• Picture Talks: I facilitated discussions in Latin by projecting images of mosques from around the world. Students and I discussed exterior and interior features and their significance.
• Timed Write: I projected photos of the Sokollu Mehmet Mosque in Istanbul. Students were expected to write as much as they could in Latin about the images by using the photos and their notes from our earlier discussions. 

Why teach about Islam in a Latin class? In my humble opinion, it is an imperative of any humanities course to foster understanding and appreciation for the traditions and communities that exist in the local community and around in the world today. The communities and traditions we examine in a language course should not necessarily belong to that specific language tradition. Although Latin language cultures like ancient Rome and medieval Western Europe continue to be stereotyped and appropriated by white supremacists, ignorance of contemporary communities comes with greater consequences (i.e. Islamophobia). I do not expect my students to become experts on Islam, but if in the future they can at least speak accurately and respectfully about the Muslim traditions and beliefs and the basics of mosque architecture, then I will consider my efforts a success.

Roman Toilet Humor Activity

As of tomorrow (April 16), I will be one full month into digital learning...and still over a month to go! 

As our students and we worry about COVID-19 symptoms, let's turn to a lighthearted activity on bodily functions instead! Back when we were in school, I had a "fun Friday" of learning about ancient Roman toilet humor. Why? We had read in my adapted translation into Latin from Greek of Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes the scene in which Apollo, angry at Mercury/Hermes for stealing his cattle, picks up the latter (who is barely a day old) and Mercury/Hermes sneezes and farts (which, I learned from my students, is aptly called a "snart") in his brother's face. Plus I just love working on silly and irreverent topics with students (you can shove your serious AP themes, College Board!). 💩

For this activity, students matched pictures around the classroom with various (some adapted) quotes from the ancient Romans about various bodily functions. The quotes are divided into three categories: the (in)famous Ostia bathhouse philosopher fresco quotes, ancient Roman graffiti and inscriptions, and quotes from ancient Roman literature (Martial and Petronius). 

The first category consists of quotes painted on the walls of a bathhouse in Ostia, Rome's port city. The quotes appear next to paintings of famous Greek philosophers and consist of words of wisdom for dealing with bodily functions. To put it in 2020 terms, imagine posting quotes from Einstein, Isaac Newton, or Maya Angelou that give advice on defecation and flatulence! These are three I included:

• Solon patted his belly to have a nice dump.
• Thales recommended that people should strain when they are having a hard time crapping.
• Clever Chilon taught us how to fart silently. 

The next category comes from ancient Roman graffiti and inscriptions. One interesting cultural insight to share with students is that relieving oneself on tombstones and graves was a common practice in the ancient Mediterranean world. Why? Burial was usually forbidden within settlements, so tombs were erected outside of towns alongside roads. When one travels from town to town with few or no rest stops, nature inevitably calls and graves provide a place to do one's business discretely. 

The last category consists of adapted quotes from the ancient Roman authors Martial and Petronius, both known for writing about the obscene side of ancient Roman culture. These are the quotes I included:

• I see nothing else that makes me believe that you are a friend than the fact that you usually fart in front of me.
• [This man] heads for the [toilet] seats and farts ten times and twenty times.
• Eat lettuce and soft mallows because you have the look of constipation.
• A kisser will kiss someone with a fever and someone while they're crying. And they will even give a kiss to someone while they are crapping.
• Therefore if any of you wanted to relieve themselves, it is nothing to be ashamed of. I believe that there is no greater form of torture than holding it in...nor do I forbid anyone in the dining room from doing what could make them feel better and what doctors tell us not to hold in.

Below are the materials for this activity. The first two pages are a two-sided worksheet for students (the quotes on the front and a glossary on the back). Next are the pictures I posted around the room. Enjoy! Stay safe and healthy!

Cuius sunt haec vestigia? (Whose footprints are these?) Listening Activity

Here in Gwinnett County, Georgia we are day #2 into digital learning, so I finally have some time (and sleep and energy!) to catch up on my blog. Here is an activity that I did with my Latin II classes over a month ago:

As I mentioned previously, my Latin II classes read my adapted translation of Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes, in which Mercury/Hermes famously steals Apollo's cattle. While Apollo is looking for his cattle, he finds their footprints, which inspired this activity.

Here's how it works:

• Students first see the footprints of a particular animal projected onto the board. They may guess the animal (in English, since they do not know/need to know the names of most animals - even I don't know some of them!).
• If students cannot guess the animal, then I read three statements in Latin. After each statement, I allowed students to guess again.
• If students could not guess after the three statements, then I revealed the answer.
• In one class, I had students form teams and write their guesses on a sheet of notebook paper. After each statement, they could write their guess and run up to me. The first team to get the correct answer "won" that round.
• Nota bene: I used a lot of gestures to convey words that students would not know, like "tail."

This activity was a fun and visual way to engage students in listening to the target language! It also offered lots of repetitions of the demonstrative hic "this," which has 16 different forms in Latin, which makes it a challenge to teach!


The slideshow:


The script I read aloud:

• Slide 2:
• Hoc animal est avis. Haec avis est maxima. Haec avis est signum dei Iovis. Haec avis quoque est signum “USA.” (This animal is a bird. This bird is very large. This bird is the symbol of the god Jupiter. This bird is also the symbol of the USA.)
  

• Slide 3:
• Hoc animal solet habitare et in aqua et in terra. Hoc animal longa crura habet. Hoc animal longam linguam habet. Kermit est tale animal. (This animal usually lives both in water and on land. This animal has long legs. This animal has a long tongue. Kermit is this kind of animal.)
  

• Slide 4:
• Hoc animal est avis. Haec avis solet habitare et in aqua et in terra. Haec avis solet comedi a hominibus. Donald est talis avis. (This animal is a bird. This bird usually lives both in water and on land. This bird is usually eaten by people. Donald is this kind of bird.)
  

• Slide 5:
• Hoc animal est magnum. Hoc animal solet habitare in silvis et in montibus. Hoc animal est simile cani. Hoc animal est notissimum Romae. (This animal is large. This animal usually lives in forests and on mountains. This animal is similar to a dog. This animal is very famous in Rome.)
  

• Slide 6:
• Hoc animal est maximum. Hoc animal solet habitare et in terra et in aqua. Hoc animal habitat in Georgia. Hoc animal est notissimum in Florida. (This animal is very large. This animal usually lives both on land and in water. This animal lives in Georgia. This animal is very famous in Florida.)
  

• Slide 7:
• Hoc animal est parvum. Hoc animal solet habitare in domo. Hoc animal longam caudam habet. Sylvester est tale animal. (This animal is small. This animal usually lives in a house. This animal has a long tail. Sylvester is this kind of animal.)
  

• Slide 8:
• Hoc animal est magnum. Hoc animal solet habitare in silvis. Hoc animal habitat in Georgia. Bambi est tale animal. (This animal is large. This animal usually lives in forests. This animal lives in Georgia. Bambi is this kind of animal.)
  

• Slide 9:
• Hoc animal solet esse magnum vel parvum. Hoc animal solet habitare in domo. Hoc animal est amicum. Scooby-Doo est tale animal. (This animal is usually large or small. This animal usually lives in a house. This animal is friendly. Scooby-Doo is this kind of animal.)
  

• Slide 10:
• Hoc animal est maximum. Hoc animal potest currere. Romanis placuit hoc animal. Donkey in Shrek 2 factus est tale animal. (This animal is very large. This animal is able to run. The Romans liked this animal. Donkey in Shrek 2 became this kind of animal.)
  

• Slide 11:
• Hoc animal est maximum. Hoc animal solet habitare in silvis. Hoc animal est signum dei Bacchi. Hoc animal est signum Parkview. (This animal is very large. This animal usually lives in forests. This animal is the symbol of the god Bacchus. This animal is the symbol of Parkview.)
  

• Slide 12:
• Hoc animal est maximum. Hoc animal habitat in Georgia. Hoc animal solet habitare in silvis et in montibus. (This animal is very large. This animal lives in Georgia. This animal usually lives in forests and in mountains.)
  

• Slide 13:
• Hoc animal est parvum. Hoc animal habitat in Georgia. Hoc animal longam caudam habet. Sandy in Spongebob est tale animal. (This animal is small. This animal lives in Georgia. This animal has a long tail. Sandy in Spongebob is this kind of animal.)
  

• Slide 14:
• Hoc animal solet habitare et in terra et in aqua. Hoc animal solet habitare prope flumen. Hoc animal magnam caudam et magnos dentes habet. (This animal usually lives both on earth and in water. This animal usually lives near a river. This animal has a large tail and large teeth.)
  

• Slide 15:
• Hoc animal habitat in Georgia. Hoc animal noctu exit. Hoc animal longam caudam habet. Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy est tale animal. (This animal lives in Georgia. This animal comes out at night. This animal has a long tail. Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy is this kind of animal.)
  

• Slide 16:
• Hoc animal habitat in Georgia. Hoc animal noctu exit. Hoc animal solet ferre catulos. Hoc animal longam caudam habet. (This animal lives in Georgia. This animal comes out at night. This animal usually carries its young. This animal has a long tail.)
  

• Slide 17: 
• Hoc animal est magnum. Hoc animal solet habitare in silvis. Noli tangere hoc animal! (This animal is large. This animal usually lives in forests. Do not touch this animal!)
  

• Slide 18:
• Hoc animal est parvum. Hoc animal longam caudam habet. Hoc animal male olet. Pepe Le Pew est tale animal. (This animal is small. This animal has a long tail. This animal smells bad. Pepe Le Pew is this kind of animal.) 

 

Lucky/Unlucky QR Code Scavenger Hunt

For the past week, my Latin II classes have been reading my adapted version of Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes. In the Greek text, Hermes (as a less-than-a-day-old baby) finds a tortoise and brings it home, saying, "ἐπηλυσίης πολυπήμονος ἔσσεαι ἔχμα (you will protect against painful witchcraft)" (line 37). After reading this curious line, I looked into references to other positive uses for tortoises in the ancient Mediterranean world. All this prompted me to encourage discussion in my Latin II classes on luck and superstition in ancient Mediterranean cultures and beyond. 

As part of this, I created a QR code scavenger hunt (if you're unfamiliar with a QR code scavenger hunt or a QR running dictation, check out this post from my colleagues, Miriam Patrick and Rachel Ash) so my students could read (in Latin) about various lucky/unlucky signs from across the world. 

Each QR code contains two Latin sentences. The first, which students copy down, describes something considered lucky or unlucky and the culture/country. The second sentence contains the clue for the location of the next QR code.

Once students have found and copied down all the sentences, they choose their favorite among both the lucky signs and the unlucky signs and then draw and color both.

Here are the examples I used:

• The number eight is lucky in China.
• If the first guest of the new year is a good person, then it is good luck in Vietnam.
• The number four is unlucky in China and Japan.
• Ladybugs are lucky in Turkey.
• Coyotes are unlucky if encountered while traveling, according to the Navajo.
• A white elephant is lucky in Thailand.
• A black witch moth is unlucky in Mexico.
• If your hair is cut on the seventeenth or twenty-ninth day of the month, you will not go bald, according to the ancient Romans.
• The number nine is unlucky in Japan.
• The cat Maneki-neko is lucky in Japan.

Maneki-neko

Here are some samples of students' work:

Dream Interpretation Activity

In Latin III this year we have been reading Andrew Olimpi's novella Perseus et Rex Malus. One of the characters, Danae, has a strange dream that results in her...(spoiler alert) getting pregnant.

More on that later. 

About a year or so ago, I read J.C. McKeown's delightful A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire, a book, which - as the name suggests - offers amusing facts about the ancient Romans and interesting insights into Roman culture that the literary and material sources provide. I would recommend the book to teachers and anyone with an interest in ancient Rome. I enjoyed it so much that I can't wait to read the other books in McKeown's series on ancient Greece and ancient Greek and Roman medicine. Of course I would also recommend Anthony Kaldellis' A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Most Orthodox Empire so that you may get a comprehensive overview of Greek and Roman civilization. 😉


Just by coincidence, I was going through my bookmarks in McKeown's book a few weeks ago and stumbled upon his chapter titled "Religion and Superstition." There I had marked a set of amusing ancient Roman interpretations of different types of dreams from the second-century AD writer Artemidorus' Oneirocritica (or Interpretation of Dreams). Here are my "school appropriate" favorites (translated by McKeown):

• Dreaming that one is blind is favorable for runners, since a runner who takes the lead in a race is like a blind man in that he does not see his fellow runners...Such dreams are auspicious for poets also, since they need total calm when they are going to compose, and loss of sight would ensure that they are not distracted by shapes of colors (1.26).
•  Dreaming about turnips, rutabagas, and pumpkins presages disappointed hopes, since they are massive but lack nutritional value. They signify surgery and woundings with iron implements for sick people and travelers, respectively, since these vegetables are cut into slices (1.67).
• Dreaming that one is eating books foretells advantage to teachers, lecturers, and anyone who earns his livelihood from books, but everyone else it means sudden death (2.45). (I'm sure this is a favorite among Latin teachers!) 
• Dreaming that one is dead or is being crucified foretells marriage for a bachelor (2.49, 53).
• Dreaming that one is eating many onions is favorable for a sick man, for it means he will recover and mourn for someone else, whereas dreaming that one is eating just a few onions signifies death, since the dying shed just a few tears, whereas those who mourn shed many (4.55).
• A man dreamed that he had a mouth with big, beautiful teeth in his rectum, and that through it he spoke, ate, and performed all the normal functions of a mouth. He was subsequently exiled from his homeland for making incautious statements. I have not included the reasons, for the outcome was easily predictable (5.68).  

There is one more that I love, but you'll need to check out McKeown's book for that one!

Back to my Latin III classes...since we had just read about a strange dream in the novella, I decided to create an activity around ancient Roman interpretations of dreams, as published by Artemidorus, and have students get their own dream interpreted. 

Based on my choose your own adventure activity from this past spring, I created a similar activity in Google Forms. 

First, students access the form electronically through a link or QR code. 

Second, students select a dream that they "had." The options are food, eating books, a bodily condition, or death. I tried to include as many pictures as possible throughout the form to aid comprehension.

The first page of the form

Next, students answer various questions based on their original and subsequent responses until they get an ancient Roman interpretation for their strange dream. 

How did I use this activity in my classroom?

I used this activity as a warm-up last week, the crazy, absence-filled week before our (week-long) Thanksgiving break. 

Students completed the activity on their phones and submitted their results both electronically and on paper. 

I provided some helpful vocabulary and the QR code for activity on my daily warm-up worksheet.

My warm-up worksheet

When everyone had submitted their results, everyone in the class quickly shared their results. I also elaborated on the interpretations and why they made sense. That onion one is especially profound! 

In my second period class, most students were told that they were going to get married soon, so apparently that class said that they dreamed about death! Should I be concerned?

If you'd like to try out my form to see all the options and embedded questions, click here.