Category Archives: Classics

Our Favorite Ovid Quotes

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Ovid

In connection with the event on Thursday, March 29, in the Classics Library, celebrating the life and works of Publius Ouidius Naso (see blog post below), we are choosing our favorite Ovid quotes. If you would like to participate, please share your favorite(s) (with exact attribution) or choose from the ones below!

“There is nothing constant in the universe, all ebb and flow, and every shape that is born bears in its womb the seeds of change” (Metamorphoses 5.177). UC President Pinto’s favorite quote!

“To put it briefly, we possess nothing that isn’t mortal, except the benefits of the heart and the mind” (Tristia 3.7.43-44). Bridget Langley’s favorite quote

“The barbarian here is me, for I make no sense to anyone” (Tristia 5.10.37). Colin Shelton’s favorite quote

“Believe me, nothing perishes in all the world; it does but vary and renew its form. What we call birth is but a beginning to be other than what one was before; and death is but a cessation of a former state” (Metamorphoses 15. 254-257). Mike’s favorite quote I

“A person’s last day must ever be awaited, and none be counted happy till his death, till his last funeral rites are paid” (Metamorphoses 3.134-6). Mike’s favorite quote II

“O Time, thou great devourer, and thou, envious Age, together you destroy all things; and, slowly gnawing your teeth, you finally consume all things in lingering death!” (Metamorphoses 15. 234-236). Mike’s favorite quote III

“O mortals, do not pollute your bodies with food so impious [the flesh of animals]! You have the fruits of the earth, you have apples, bending down the branches with their weight, and grapes swelling in ripeness on the vines, you also have sweet herbs…” (Metamorphoses 15.75-78). Rebecka’s favorite quote I

“Poor me! Love cannot be cured by herbs” (Metamorphoses 1.523). Rebecka’s favorite quote II

“Not for one person’s delight has nature made the sun, the wind, the waters; all are free” (Metamorphoses 6.349).

“You can learn from anyone even your enemy” (Metamorphoses 4.428).

“I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved; since I could not give gifts, I gave words” (Ars Amatoria 165-166).

“If you want to be loved, be lovable” (Ars Amatoria 107).

“A faithful study of the liberal arts humanizes character and permits it not to be cruel” (Epistulae ex Ponto 2.9.47-48).

“Snapshots” of the Classics Library’s Collections

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The Classics Collection

 

The Classics collections include more than 270,000 volumes and c. 2,000 journal titles spanning all areas of classical civilization, including language and literature, archaeology, art, history, epigraphy, papyrology, numismatics, palaeography, religion, philosophy, politics, science and technology, and medicine. The collections in all areas of classical studies are outstanding, although especially exhaustive in Greek and Latin philology and Minoan-Mycenaean archaeology.  The comprehensive level of current acquisitions continues. A few highlights include some 18,000 German dissertations and Programmschriften in classics, especially philology, from the 18th to the early 20th c., a separate room of more than 2,000 books on Palaeography, the collecting of which began with the namesake of the library, Latin palaeographer John Miller Burnam, some 3,500 early imprints from the 16th-18th c. as well as various incunabula such as Statius’ Thebaid, Silvae, Achilleid from 1483, Diodorus Siculus’ Bibliotheca Historica from 1496, Tacitus’ Historiae from 1497, Justin’s epitome of Trogus’ Philippic Histories from 1497, and Josephus’ De bello judaico from 1499 as well as some exquisite facsimiles of illuminated manuscripts such as Ptolemy’s Cosmographia (Codex Urb. Lat. 277), the Joshua Roll (Codex Vat. Pal. Graec. 431), and the Vergilius Romanus (Codex Vat. Lat. 3867), and a facsimile of the oldest preserved Sophocles manuscript (Florence, Ms. Codex Laurentianus 32.9). The collections also include representations of Medieval Latin in the superb facsimiles of the Book of Kells with 24 mounted color plates (Turin), and the Lindisfarne Gospels (Cottonian Ms. Nero D.IV) from the British Museum. Continue reading →

Research Strategies for Classics Majors: A Tutorial

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http://guides.libraries.uc.edu/classics-research

This tutorial is chiefly aimed at undergraduate majors in Classics and beginning graduate students who are about to write a research paper, a junior or senior thesis. To illustrate this step-by-step approach to research, a topic, “Aristotle on the Function of Music in Tragedy,” has been chosen. It seems a particularly useful one for this purpose since it incorporates several disciplines — ancient Greek language and literature, philosophy, music, history, education, and politics — and, therefore, offers good practice in conducting research at the UC Libraries. To illustrate these principles of research, as well as to highlight a multitude of library resources at the University of Cincinnati, especially in the John Miller Burnam Classics Library, concrete and live searches are performed in video and audio.

Two New Exhibitions in the Reading Room

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There are two new exhibitions in the Classics Library’s Reading Room:

One is to highlight our Modern Greek collection. Among the gems on display are, for example: Έρμῆς ὁ λόγιος (1811-21), the first journal published in “Modern Greek”; Constantine Cavafy’s Ποιήματα with the author’s signature; and Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas’ illustrations to Nikos Kazantzakis’ Ὀδύσσεια.

Another exhibition is curated by the classics department and features Mycenaean so called psi, phi, and tau (because of their shapes resembling the Greek letters) female figurines as well as horse and other figurines dated to c. 1400-1200 BCE.

Beginning Nov. 12 UC I.D. Required to Enter Blegen after 5pm

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blegen hoursBeginning Sunday, Nov. 12, a valid UC I.D. is required to enter Blegen Library, home of the Archives and Rare Books Library, John Miller Burnam Classics Library, the Albino Gorno Memorial Music (CCM) Library and the Classics Department, after 5pm.

Public Access: doors to 400 level will be unlocked:

Monday-Friday: 8am-5pm

Saturday: 10am-5pm

Sunday: 1pm-5pm

UC Community Access: doors to the 400 level will be locked and accessible with a UC I.D:

Monday-Thursday: 7:30am-11pm

Friday: 7:30am-6pm

Saturday: 9:30am-6pm

Sunday: 12:30pm-11pm

Individual library hours vary, so check each libraries hours online at https://www.libraries.uc.edu/about/hours.html

 

Classics Students: Welcome to a New Academic Year!

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New releases of guides and tutorials this fall include:

  • “The Classics Library Guide” which in addition to highlighting the history of the Library and some of its works of art, offers a detailed description of the circulation policies in the Classics Library and advice on how to search the Library Catalog. https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2017/08/classics-library-guide/
  • “A Virtual Tour of the Library” which offers a brief introduction to the physical layout, collections, and staff of the Classics Library. Because virtual tours are expected to be kept to a minimum length, there is much that had to be left out including additional physical locations and collections, but this virtual tour may at least offer some basic understanding of how the materials are organized as well as offer a somewhat lighthearted presentation accessible to classicists and non-classicists alike. https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2017/08/classics-tour/
  • “A Research Guide for Classics Majors” is a tutorial chiefly directed at undergraduate students: however, beginning grad students may also benefit from learning something about the Library Catalog and some of the digital resources in the Library. http://guides.libraries.uc.edu/classics-research

Following a survey conducted among classics grad students in the spring, the Classics Library has enacted a few additions and changes: Continue reading →

Happy Winter Solstice, Greeks and Romans! From the Classics Library’s Staff.

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Recommended holiday readings include Latin writings on agriculture, festivals, and the seasons:

Macrobius’ Saturnalia https://www.loebclassics.com/view/macrobius-saturnalia/2011/pb_LCL510.3.xml?rskey=zBWyFV&result=1

Columella’s Res Rustica https://www.loebclassics.com/view/columella-agriculture/1941/pb_LCL361.3.xml?rskey=2qvhvQ&result=1

And De Arboribus https://www.loebclassics.com/view/columella-trees/1955/pb_LCL408.343.xml?rskey=2qvhvQ&result=2 

Varro’s Res Rustica https://www.loebclassics.com/view/varro-agriculture/1934/pb_LCL283.161.xml?rskey=IlRdAQ&result=2

Cato’s De Agri Cultura https://www.loebclassics.com/view/cato-agriculture/1934/pb_LCL283.3.xml?rskey=A8FqDU&result=1

 

 

PS. If you have not yet picked up a classics library mini-bookmark (perfect for pocket-size books!), please come to the Reading Room and do so. While there, you can also view a display of rare books and modern editions of the agricultural writings above. Also, stay tuned for Angelica Wisenbarger’s witty description of the classics library’s “Book of the Month,” Stephanus’ 1543 imprint of Cato and Varro on Agriculture with commentary by Petrus Victorius, on Facebook later this month.

Ancient Greek Pottery from Southern Italy and Sicily on Display in the Classics Library

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vases

“From Greece to Magna Graecia” narrates in pottery the colonization by Greeks of parts of Southern Italy and Sicily beginning with the Euboeans founding the colony of Pithekoussai on the island of Ischia in the 8th c. BCE and the Corinthians Syracuse on Sicily in 733 BCE.

The exhibition, on display in the Classics Library Reading Room, features Corinthian miniature vessels, Attic black and red-figure vases as trading commodities, and Campanian red-figure. There is also an accompanying book exhibition highlighting literary sources on Magna Graecia as well as Greek temples, theaters, tomb paintings, etc., from Southern Italy and Sicily from the 8th to the 3rd centuries BCE.

In addition, there is a display featuring models of Linear B tablets discovered by UC professor Carl Blegen at “the Palace of Nestor” in Pylos. UC alumnus Emmett L. Bennett, together with Alice Kober, published the first definitive list of Linear B signs that formed the basis for Michael Ventris’ identification of the script as an early form of Greek.

Rebecka Lindau, Head, John Miller Burnam Classics Library

pottery exhibit

Welcome, Rebecka Lindau, Head of the Classics Library

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Classics Library Reading Room

Classics Library Reading Room

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Rebecka Lindau started March 1 as the Head of the John Miller Burnam Classical Library.

Rebecka comes to UC Libraries from the Lorenzo de Medici Institute and the Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (Marist College Branch Campus) where she has been a Lecturer in Classical Studies since the Fall of 2015.  Prior to that she worked at the American Academy in Rome Library. From 2011 to 2013 she was responsible for the digital development of that library and its web design and maintenance. From 2007 to 2011, she was the Drue Heiz Librarian, responsible for the staff, collections (including rare books and manuscripts), selection, preservation, access, circulation, technical services, research consultation, digitization, web design, guides and tutorials. From 2001 to 2007, Rebecka was a subject specialist  for Classics, Hellenic Studies, Linguistics and German at Princeton University and prior to that, from 1997 to 2001 she was subject specialist for Classics, Hellenic Studies and Philosophy at New York University. Continue reading →