I have loved Ancient Greece since the fourth grade. We had this amazing Ancient Greek unit that spanned my humanities classes. We read Mary Pope Osborne’s Odyssey translation, and read stories from D’Aulaire’s Ancient Greek Myths. We drew life sized portraits of the gods, and we would have had an amazing Greek fair had it not been for the lockdown only a few weeks before. By that time, though, I was hooked. During quarantine, I started reading Percy Jackson, and my love for the ancient Greek world hasn’t stopped since.
When I arrived at Milton as a freshman five years later, I was as passionate about the classical world as ever. I had begun working on a project that kind of possessed me for about a month or so. It was a complete Ancient Greek mythological and historical genealogy, from the primordial gods down to the Olympians, the nymphs, the monsters, the heroes, and even to legitimate historical figures claiming divine ancestry. But it was during this time that I felt isolated in my enjoyment of the classical world. I am a modern language student, and have been since sixth grade, and though I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about modern culture and language, it was difficult to share my love for classics.
Enter classics club. I know a lot of people who take Latin, and I was talking about… something classics related with a Latin student when he mentioned classics club to me. I knew pretty much right away that it would be something I would really like. Since my freshman spring, I have made it a commitment to come to classics club every week. I find it to be a place where I can share a passion for the ancient world with likeminded people, despite the fact that I am not a Latin student, and have never taken Latin. The idea of having somewhere to go every week to practice certamen, or hear a speaker come and present on really interesting topics, is just amazing.
As someone who doesn’t study Latin, the discussions and topics covered at classics club can sometimes feel out of reach to me, but simply being present, and having the opportunity to be exposed to new cultural and linguistic opportunities, has been powerful to me. Since first attending classics club, I have taken up a newfound interest in Roman history, which led me to read Mary Beard’s SPQR. A talk about similes in the Odyssey has given me the motivation to reread different translations, both for school and extracurricular enjoyment, in a new and eye-opening way. The linguistic aspects of the club have even motivated me to potentially take Ancient Greek in the future.
The idea that I’m trying to get across is that classics club is an empowering community. It is a place where I can not only share my knowledge and passions, but also cultivate new interests through conversation, and a shared love of the classical world. It is truly an amazing space.
By Daniyal, Milton Academy student