Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics at Boston University

04/11/2024

It was during this week in 63 BCE that Cicero gave his First Catilinarian oration. This week Arion wants to know which of the four is your favorite. Write in here or ehad to our other socials to hit the polls.

01/11/2024

Petronius and his werewolf won in this week’s polls. We invite you to wind down from Halloween with Theodore Ziolkowski’s “Petronius the Man in Modern Fiction” from 2016 here: https://buff.ly/3UvfZbB

31/10/2024

Those in the Boston area might like to join Stanford Classics Professor Josiah Ober and Phoebe Segal, cocurator of “Power of the People: Art and Democracy” at the MFA this Saturday afternoon for a conversation about how we can use art and museums to shed light on democracies from ancient societies and our own. More details here:

Stanford historian Josiah Ober brings his knowledge of democracy in the historical past to bear on the present day. Join Ober and Phoebe Segal, cocurator of “Power of the People: Art and Democracy” for a conversation about how we can use art and museums to shed light on democracies from ancient ...

31/10/2024

On this day in 475 CE, Romulus Augustulus became what would prove to be the Roman Empire’s final emperor. Arion invites you to view Rome’s decline via Marianne McDonald’s 2012 “Empire in Decay,” reviewing Elena Theodorakopoulos’ “Ancient Rome at the Cinema” here:

30/10/2024

Arion highlights Rachel Hadas, who will speak on a panel about poetry, language, and dementia at the Helix Center in New York on Nov. 2nd, at 2:30 pm. Learn more here: https://buff.ly/4hiRuYZ And enjoy Hadas’s 2005 Arion poem titled “Boy Heroes in the Sea” here: https://buff.ly/4fp27rf

29/10/2024

A reminder that SASA’s Halloween Bash is underway. Learn more here, including information about a meet and greet with Arion’s managing editor, Brandon Jones:

Help us celebrate our Half Birthday and Save Ancient Studies by reaching our goal of 20 new SASA Monthly Supporters!

28/10/2024

This week Arion wants to know which spooky classic is your favorite. Write in here or head to our other socials to hit the polls:

Apuleius’ Aristomenes tale
Petronius’ Werewolf tale
Plautus’ Mostellaria
Pliny’s Athenodorus epistle

25/10/2024

Thucydides won in a landslide in our polls this week. Thucydides fans can celebrate with Neville Morley’s 2013 essay “Thucydides Quote Unquote” here: https://buff.ly/3AgpYdL

24/10/2024

Domitian was born on this day in 51 CE. By the senatorial consensus, he did little to like, but those who enjoyed bread and circuses might have felt differently. We invite you to look back to 2023 and Joan Mut Arbós’ essay on Jean-Léon Gérôme’s Circus Maximus and its ancient inspirations here: https://buff.ly/4hfrZHP

23/10/2024

Arion highlights editorial board member Anne Carson, who will receive The Paris Review 's 2025 Hadada Award for her life achievements and literary contributions. Learn more here: https://buff.ly/3NFS8ln

And enjoy Carson’s 2009 Arion essay on “Contempts” here: https://buff.ly/4dUmpaP

22/10/2024

Suzanne Marchand will speak tonight at Harvard on “Herodotus and the ‘Edges of the World’ in the Nineteenth Century: The Barbarians’ Revenge.” Marchand, who has reviewed several books for Arion in the past, discusses Daniel Orrells’ Antiquity in Print in our forthcoming fall issue. Subscribe here to be among its first readers: https://buff.ly/45f69gh

21/10/2024

A reminder that Mark Thatcher will speak tonight at BU on “Rethinking the Sicilian Expedition.”

This week Arion wants to know which historian of Sicilian affairs is your favorite. Write in here or head to our other socials to hit the polls:

Diodorus Siculus
Polybius
Thucydides
Timaeus

18/10/2024

Arion is on a fall break for a week. But we invite you to enjoy another of Peter Green’s contributions to the journal over his 25 years of service to Arion, this one an original poem, “Ikaria”: https://buff.ly/3BDENax

17/10/2024

Arion is on a fall break for a week. But we invite you to enjoy another of Peter Green’s contributions to the journal over his 25 years of service to Arion, this one his translation of Ovid’s Ibis: https://buff.ly/3NpNYy9

16/10/2024

Arion is on a fall break for a week. But we invite you to enjoy another of Peter Green’s contributions to the journal over his 25 years of service to Arion, this one on “The Essential Nature of the Delphic Oracle”: https://buff.ly/3YkMwDo

15/10/2024

Arion is on a fall break for a week. But we invite you to enjoy another of Peter Green’s contributions to the journal over his 25 years of service to Arion, this one a continuation of Peter’s fiction: https://buff.ly/4eFawH8

14/10/2024

Arion will be on a fall break for a week. But we invite you to enjoy another of Peter Green’s contributions to the journal over his 25 years of service to Arion, this one an excerpt from some of Peter’s fiction writing: https://buff.ly/3U9xNIX

11/10/2024

We had a 3-way tie between Bouguereau, Boucher, and Muller in this week’s poll. Still feeling artsy? Check out Arion’s stock of posters and order one today:

Cover Posters The following cover posters (14″ x 24″) are available for purchase here. Those marked with an asterisk are in limited quantity. Arion 1.1 (Winter 1990) Arion 3.2-3 (Fall 1995/Winter 1996) Arion 4.2 (Fall 1996) Arion 4.3 (Winter 1997) Arion 5.2 (Fall 1997) Arion 5.3 (Winter 1998) Ar...

10/10/2024

was born on this day in 1813. Arion invites you to celebrate the composer’s birthday with 's 2010 essay on the sublime, in which, among many things, Herzog discusses Verdi and his own operatic work: https://buff.ly/3Yi0wh7

09/10/2024

Arion invites its readers to enjoy some of Peter Green’s contributions to the journal over his 25 years as editorial board member and contributor. This week, we invite you to read Peter’s translation of Iliad 24—what was his last translation for the journal:

08/10/2024

Classical Studies at Boston University had its first lecture of the new year last week, a very successful talk by Lauren Ginsberg on Hercules Oetaeus. Please mark your calendars for the next one, as Mark Thatcher will give a talk entitled “When the Athenians Came: Rethinking the Sicilian Expedition” on October 21, 5pm.

07/10/2024

Arion—the kitharode, that is—has captured the attention of a not insignificant number of visual artists. This week Arion—the journal—wants to know which Arion artwork is your favorite (clockwise from top left):

Durer’s Arion Riding a Dolphin
Bouguereau’s Arion on Sea Horse
Boucher’s Arion on Dolphin
Muller’s Arion on Dolphin

Write in here or head to our other socials to hit the polls.

04/10/2024

Mark your calendars for several October events with Save Ancient Studies Alliance - SASA, including trivia and archaeogaming nights, book clubs, and a Halloween bash with such prizes as a meet and greet with a certain journal’s managing editor. See the calendar here:

Learn more about upcoming or current SASA events, like archaeogaming, book clubs and “ask an expert” Q&As.

03/10/2024

Gore Vidal was born on this day in 1925. Vidal once wrote of Arion, “I think your instinct to get away from the narrow specialization—the ‘treasure trove of irregular verbs’ sort of thing—and appeal to the uncommon common reader is wise and worthy.” We like to think Vidal knew his stuff in this respect. As Quentin Broughall argues in his book, Gore Vidal and Antiquity, Vidal maintained a lifelong engagement with the ancient world. Learn more here: https://buff.ly/4eoLpZ9

02/10/2024

Arion mourns the loss of Peter Green, who passed on September 16, at age 99. Among Peter’s countless contributions to classical studies and the people interested in it were 24 publications in Arion and more than 25 years of service on our editorial board. The Peter Green Gift Fund has been established in his honor at the University of Iowa Department of Classics. Learn more about Peter and his extraordinary life here:

This article announcing the passing of Dr. Peter Green was written by his long-time University of Iowa Department of Classics colleague and friend, Dr. John Finamore.