Conference In GCSE Latin and Greek & Essay Prize Supported by the Classical Association
Westminster School
Friday, 10th February 2017 9.30am -12.40pm
This conference offers pupils in years 10 and 11 the chance to attend a series of appropriately pitched lectures on their Latin and Greek set texts and on topics of wider interest.
The conference lectures will tie into the Classical Association GCSE Essay Prize: each speaker will provide further reading at the end of the lecture and an essay title (1000 words maximum). Pupils who choose to write one of these essays can enter the Classical Association GCSE Essay prize: the winner will receive £100 in book tokens, and their essay will be printed in the Classical Association website.
A voluntary £5 contribution per pupil attending is suggested: for more information and to reserve places please contact
Programme for the day:
Session 1: 9.30 – 10.10 – Professor Gregory Hutchinson: ‘Polytheistic plots and perspectives in Iliad 1′
Gregory Hutchinson is the Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University. He is interested in the interaction between Greek and Latin literature, and in archaeology, philosophy and linguistics. He has published several books and commentaries, eg. ‘Greek Lyric Poetry’ (Oxford 2001).
Session 2: 10.15-10.55
Option 1: Professor Philip Hardie: ‘Beginnings (and endings) in Aeneid 1’
Philip Hardie was Corpus Christi Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Oxford University (2002-6) and now Senior Research Fellow and Honorary Professor of Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge. His most recent book is ‘The last Trojan hero. A cultural history of Virgil’s Aeneid’ (I. B. Tauris 2014).
Option 2 – Dr Elena Theodorakopoulos: ‘Catullus and Ovid: In pursuit of love’
Elena Theodorakopoulos is Senior Lecturer in Classics at Birmingham University. Her research interests are in Roman poetry of the Republic and Principate, and the reception of classical culture and literature in contemporary film and literature. Her book ‘Catullus, a Roman Poet’ will soon be published by Duckworth.
Break: 10.55-11.10
Session 3: 11.10-11.55 – Professor Tom Harrison: ‘Herodotus and the Birth of History’
Tom Harrison is Professor of Ancient History at the University of St. Andrews. He specialises in Greek history and historiography. In 2011 he published ‘Writing Ancient Persia’ (Bloomsbury) and is currently preparing a book for a wider audience on Herodotus and his reception, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Session 4: 12-12.40 – Professor Peter Kruschwitz: ‘Drama Queens: Messalina and Ummidia Acting It Out’
Peter Kruschwitz is the Head of Classics at Reading University. He has published widely on issues of Latin linguistics, Roman drama and song culture, and Latin epigraphy. He is an expert on Roman wall inscriptions (graffiti and dipinti) and Roman verse inscriptions. In 2015 he published ‘Undying Voices; the Poetry of Roman Britain’ (The Petrified Muse; Reading).
12.40 – End