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.

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:

Graffiti from the Romans to Today

For the past few years of teaching the first level of Latin (Latin 101 and Latin I), I have included a fun end-of-the-year day of looking at funny, obscene, and salacious graffiti left by Latin speakers. I decided to continue this tradition, but I was inspired to put a new spin on it this year. Instead of simply translating and commenting on samples of graffiti, I have expanded the lesson to include an exploration into the contemporary points of view on graffiti.

Here's the lesson plan:

1) I introduced the topic of graffiti via the first few slides in the slideshow. We created a class definition of graffiti before looking at the dictionary entry for the word. We also explored the issue: are graffiti art, a crime, or both? 

2) I introduced the Latin vocabulary for agreeing and disagreeing. Then each student received 8 stickers with which to express their opinion on 8 statements posted around the classroom. After students responded to the statements and returned to their seats, I summarized the results.

3) Returning to the slideshow, we examined several misconceptions about graffiti: Only gangs and criminals make graffiti. (We watched a video from last month on graffiti as a form of political expression in Sudan), We can learn a lot from graffiti. (I presented the importance of graffiti to the study of Latin and its speakers, especially as a means for the non-elites to have a voice), and Most people feel the same way about graffiti (We examined perspectives on graffiti that differ from the negativity that we have in the US). 

4) We then read examples of Roman and medieval graffiti, inscriptions, and proverbs. A couple were talking epitaphs and a few were toilet humor graffiti - all of which got strong reactions from the class.


The slideshow:



The consensus statements posted around the classroom:
Click here to view the document in its original formatting.

Samples from one of my classes:

The worksheet with Latin graffiti, inscriptions, and proverbs:

Click here to view the document in its original formatting.

Navigating My Thoughts on Writing a Novella

Novellas have grown in popularity in world language classrooms within the past decade. They provide comprehensible and engaging narratives with lots of repetition of (often) high-frequency vocabulary. I have used one in my Latin I class two years ago (Lance Piantaggini's Piso Ille Poetulus) and have a library of most of the Latin novellas, which I admittedly still need to read. I too would like to jump on the novella hype train, but there are several obstacles that I am facing in the brainstorming stage. The point of this post is to discuss these issues.

First are the challenges that many prospective novella writers face. How do you limit the number of unique words used within one story? Some novellas use under 100 unique words. I'm over here like

On top of that, how do you create a story that students actually want to read and keep reading till the end? I have a quirky sense of humor, which I would like to incorporate in a novella, but that might not necessarily resonate with many younger readers.

Besides these challenges that all novella writers face, I would like to write a novella that would stand out from the crowd and reflect my own interests. One consideration I have is to write a novella in Medieval Latin and/or in a medieval setting. Why? I came to the Classics as a medievalist first and foremost and will always champion the post-classical world among classicists. Sadly, Medieval Latin and Greek are understudied and underappreciated, so I would love to introduce readers to the fascinating stories found in medieval folktales and saint's lives.

One such story is the Navigatio Sancti Brendani (The Voyage of St. Brendan). I first read this text several years ago in a summer online reading group and loved it! It tells the story of St. Brendan and his fellow monks who leave Ireland and sail across the sea in search of the Promised Land. Along the way, they encounter angry blacksmiths, talking birds, a sea monster, even Judas himself. Because of these fun episodes, some Latin teachers teach this text, making it one of the better known texts in Medieval Latin. Most Latinists, however, are not familiar with it, so why not make it accessible to them as well as to my students?

In thinking about adapting the Navigatio for the novella format, two issues come to mind. First, should I try, as best as I can, to preserve medieval vocabulary, grammar, and orthography? Many Latin teachers want texts that include vocabulary that is high-frequency in Classical Latin, so that could be an issue in adapting a medieval text. Some words found in Classical Latin take on different meanings in medieval literature (often with Christian nuances). Medieval Latin grammar and vocabulary, depending upon the text, can vary significantly from Classical Latin, but for the sake of simplicity and for the ease of the reader I would not mind adapting the text with a more classicizing style. In short, I am torn between staying true to the medieval features of the text and making the text appealing to an audience trained in and devoted to Classical Latin authors.

The other issue is related, but pertains to the Navigatio's content rather than its language. The Voyage of St. Brendan was written by a Christian author(s) for a Christian audience to promote Christian morality and inspire its audience to be more pious Christians. My novella would certainly not have the same intent, but I do not wish to separate the narrative from its cultural context. Sure, I could preserve the adventurous episodes and downplay the moralizing, but that seems disingenuous to the original text. How I see it, I can offer a glimpse into the values and customs of early medieval Ireland without endorsing them. For many public school teachers, however, that is too fine a line to walk. The novella would be either too Christian or not Christian enough. Latin teachers usually do not have to deal with the issue of religion because ancient Roman religious practices and myths are regarded as belonging to the past (although it is problematic to ignore the reality that we have pagan students in our classrooms) and are appreciated as a significant part of Western cultural heritage, as found in literature, the visual arts, and music. Christianity, on the other hand, remains potentially too controversial for many teachers to touch, even at the expense of our cultural heritage from medieval Europe.

Teachers of English literature, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and other languages: how do you sensitively expose your students to the role that religion has played in the cultures of the language you teach? 

I should add that I have other texts in mind for a novella, such as ancient texts that avoid the aforementioned issues. Eventually, however, I still would like to write a novella set in Late Antiquity or the Middle Ages. In any case, I plan over the next year to continue work on a novella. As in any voyage, there will be delights and there will be perils, but I am excited for the journey.