Reading Listicles §4: Wherever I may Rome – Ian Goh

Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more! Today I’m giving you, in what’s quickly becoming a pretty personal look at some reading matter you might want to explore before you make it to university, some Roman history tips. It’s difficult to encapsulate all the comings and goings of Rome and its empire which…Continue Reading Reading Listicles §4: Wherever I may Rome – Ian Goh

Reading Listicles §3: Read like an Egyptian – Ian Goh

Last week I said I’d have some reading tips for you budding Egyptologists. This is actually a difficult task, not only because I’m not an expert on ancient Egypt myself, but also because ‘ancient Egyptian civilisation’ stretches back as distant from the time of, say, the ancient Athenians themselves as they are from us. I…Continue Reading Reading Listicles §3: Read like an Egyptian – Ian Goh

Reading Listicles Two: Ancient Greece – Ian Goh

Yesterday I promised some Greek history reading tips. I think it’s fair to say from the outset that my colleagues and I would like to complicate the influential but oversimplified saying of Edgar Allan Poe which observes ‘the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome’. AA book which you can borrow and…Continue Reading Reading Listicles Two: Ancient Greece – Ian Goh

Reading Listicles: A First Salvo – Ian Goh

Hi! I’m Ian Goh, Admissions Tutor for Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology at Swansea University. So, you’re casting about for stuff to read in preparation for university? Over a series of something like a week or so of blogposts, I’m going to share some of my colleagues’ suggestions of some books that we’ve found over…Continue Reading Reading Listicles: A First Salvo – Ian Goh

Undesirable Reptiles: The use of Serpentine Imagery in Wonders of the East

By Lucie Lefler Cotton MS Vitellius A XV f.99v. Image is that of the verso side of folio 99 of the Nowell Codex in the Cotton Manuscript. Contains illuminations of a two headed serpent traversing the top centre of the page. On thecentred right-hand side is a bordered illumination of a horned serpent and a…Continue Reading Undesirable Reptiles: The use of Serpentine Imagery in Wonders of the East

Powerful Women and their ‘Dependency’ on Men-Homer’s Odyssey and Madeline Miller’s Circe

By Lucy Elford When reading the renowned 8th century BC epic, The Odyssey by Homer, we can catch a glimpse of a female character who is a shining example of how Ancient Greece would ‘handle’ powerful women and how they would be expressed in literature. This character is Circe- a lower goddess and Witch of…Continue Reading Powerful Women and their ‘Dependency’ on Men-Homer’s Odyssey and Madeline Miller’s Circe

The Phaistos disc (disk) 

By Daniel Thomlinson This tablet is from the Phaistos Palace ruins on the Greek island of Crete. After several years of analysis, this artefact was dated to c. 1700-1650 BCE; the Minoan period and is extensively inscribed with spiralling script. Despite the lengthy debate over its authenticity, it shares undeniable similarities with other artefacts of…Continue Reading The Phaistos disc (disk) 

‘Women, Politics, and Sex’- A Study of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq

By Lucy Elford Lysistrata is a 400 BC play by Aristophanes- a male playwright of Ancient Greece. The play is set in Athens during the Peloponnesian War [411 BC]. The female characters are tired of their husbands never being at home, tired of all their money being pumped into a meaningless war, so Lysistrata- a…Continue Reading ‘Women, Politics, and Sex’- A Study of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq

‘I speak for the trees.’ Reconstructing the Notre Dame Cathedral

By Lucie Lefler The Notre Dame Cathedral Paris is an iconic example of French Gothic architecture. The cathedral dates back to the twelfth century and was the seat of the Archbishop of Paris. Until the fire in April 2019, it was still in use for Sunday mass- yet it is perhaps most famous for its…Continue Reading ‘I speak for the trees.’ Reconstructing the Notre Dame Cathedral

In Memoriam: Prof. Saiichiro Nakatani

In March, less than two weeks after his final visit to Swansea, we lost our dear colleague, friend and alumnus, Saiichiro Nakatani. The news was devastating for all of us. Today would have been his 51st birthday which he would, no doubt, have celebrated in his inimitable style, with friends, excellent conversation, food and drink,…Continue Reading In Memoriam: Prof. Saiichiro Nakatani

Book Review: Elektra by Jennifer Saint

By Lucy Elford ‘Firey and incandescent’  Elektra, by Jennifer Saint, is a tale presenting the perspectives of three women (Clytemnestra1, Cassandra2, and the titular character, Elektra3),  suffering from the violence of men during the events of the Trojan War4. These women are presented in starkly different ways; Clytemnestra is vengeful and bitter, Elektra glorifies her…Continue Reading Book Review: Elektra by Jennifer Saint

‘Interconnective Approaches to the Ancient World’ – Postgraduate Conference

19th-20th November 2022Council Chamber – in the Abbey Building on Singleton Campus, Swansea University– and online. Click here for the conference booklets with abstracts and detailed information about the event and venue. Since 2019, postgraduate students of the three ancient world departments in Wales at Cardiff, Lampeter and Swansea, have been taking turns organising an…Continue Reading ‘Interconnective Approaches to the Ancient World’ – Postgraduate Conference

Student Perspectives: reflecting on my first year of study and looking forward to the second – Jess Evans.

In this second piece by Jess Evans, she reflects upon her first year of university, the teaching and extra-curricular activities that she has been involved in, and how her second year of study will shape up. You can read Jess’s first blog post here: Student perspectives: reflections on the first term of uni. More information…Continue Reading Student Perspectives: reflecting on my first year of study and looking forward to the second – Jess Evans.