UCT Classics

The 2026 Mezzabotta Memorial Lecture will be given by Amy Russell (Brown) on “Rethinking the Roman People”. 13 August 2026 at 17h00 in Beattie 114. All welcome!

Whitaker on Wilson in Wired.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-new-odyssey-movie-is-sparking-a-right-wing-backlash-this-female-scholar-knows-it-well/

Whitaker (UCT Classics) tells WIRED he believes that academic translators have a duty to “try to represent as faithfully and accurately as possible the value systems they find in the ancient text.”

The New ‘Odyssey’ Movie Is Sparking a Right-Wing Backlash. This Female Scholar Knows It Well Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of Homer’s epic—the first by a woman—was called a woke “abomination” by online reactionaries. Christopher Nolan’s film is facing similar critiques.

Yesterday's honours workshop on medieval and renaissance manuscripts of works by Classical authors (with a focus on Valerius Maximus) in the Grey Collection at the National Library of South Africa.

Registering at UCT? Choosing the Greek track towards a Classical Studies major means that you will learn ancient Greek language from an absolute beginner’s level in first year to an advanced level in your third year. By the end of first year, you will be equipped to read and translate ancient texts in their original Greek, and in second and third year you will study and translate a selection of works by key authors. We study all sorts of interesting texts and aim to reach a broad cultural overview of ancient Greece. Find out more in our Course Booklet: https://humanities.uct.ac.za/school-languages-literatures/classics/resources

Registering at UCT? Why not try ‘Word Power’ (SLL1002F/S). In Word Power you can study the Greek and Latin origins of English words. This course is popular and offered in both first and second semester. Word power is designed to develop and enhance your mastery of the English language. Through dictionary work and etymological study, the course focuses on enlarging your vocabulary and building up your knowledge of academic English in areas such as law, philosophy, history, mythology, literature, and medicine.) in the modern world. Find out more in our Course Booklet: https://humanities.uct.ac.za/school-languages-literatures/classics/resources

Registering at UCT? Why not try ‘Introduction to Ancient Egypt’ (SLL1057F). The ancient Egyptians were around long before the Greeks and Romans, and this course provides an overview of Egyptian history with a special focus on the dynastic period. In this course, you will study ancient Egyptian culture, literature and society, and consider not only how the Greeks and Romans engaged with the Egyptian world, but also how the idea of Egypt has been used (and abused) in the modern world. Find out more in our Course Booklet: https://humanities.uct.ac.za/school-languages-literatures/classics/resources

Registering at UCT? Begin study of the ancient Greek world by reading epic poetry from Homer. For the Greeks themselves, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey were of enormous cultural importance, and in ‘The World of Odysseus’ (SLL1054F) you will read Homer’s Odyssey in English translation before reflecting on its historical context and tracing its influence in ancient culture and beyond. Find out more in our Course Booklet: https://humanities.uct.ac.za/school-languages-literatures/classics/resources

A peek at some of the older books in the Kytzler Collection: handwritten pages in a 1571 print edition of the Sententiae insigniores, etc. of Cicero.

Classics event next month: Alan Ross (Ohio State) will give a talk titled ‘In Praise of Constantius: Greek Rhetoric and Roman Power in Fourth-Century Constantinople’.
Date/time: Tuesday 11th November @ 17h00
Venue: P.D. Hahn Building, LT 1

Some photos from our dinner to mark this year's end of lectures