Classics Society Update

Classics Society this year has been filled with a range of incredibly fun activities. From presentations to play performances and weekly puzzles, there has been no end to our lively club.

Over the past year we have held multiple presentations on women in classics, both mythological and historical. An aim was to show how Classics is important to the modern day and to highlight its relevance. The point of many of our sessions was to show students how Classics is still embedded in our society through literature, plays and language.

Another goal was to bring Classics to life for students. Therefore, we held sessions on reading Latin and Ancient Greek aloud, which everyone seemed to enjoy (although some may say it sounded a little like a cult!). We also carried out a sacrifice (RIP Mr Teddy Bear) to show the students what habitual events would have been like living in the ancient world. Of course, we have had many parties and more social events, such as our Saturnalia party at Christmas and our Bake Off competition, which really was an excuse for us to eat cake.

However, the club has not been merely run by us as we have had many presentations from other students on a range of topics such as Imperial Rome, History versus Myth, and heroes in mythology to name just a few. We were especially delighted to have Mr Johnson give a special presentation on Numismatics in the ancient world. In addition to Greece and Rome, we have tried to expand the students’ knowledge of the ancient world by discussing other ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians.

Our most exciting event was the production of Euripides’ Bacchae tragedy, which we performed to the Classics Department. We were so impressed with the students' enthusiasm, both their brilliant costumes and confident performances. It was wonderful to see a play written two thousand years ago being recreated by a mad group of us in the N Block!

Our final event before handing over Classics Society will be an (alcohol-free) Symposium in which we will hold debates and philosophical discussions about Classics (whilst also drinking and eating lots of juice and snacks!). Finally, the Classics Department has been so supportive of our club this year and we want to say a massive thank you to them for helping us make this year be a great one for Classics at Stephen Perse Cambridge.