Learning Classics is a bit like putting on a magic pair of 3-D glasses. Once you start delving into the language and the culture, you'll start to see it all around you. This blog is a record of the club's journey through the worlds and language of ancient Rome and Greece... and through modern times, too, searching for the influence of classics all around us. You'll also be able to find vocab, home tasks, links and generally enlightening info here, too.

14 December 2014

A Night (OK, Afternoon) At The Museum

GCA Classics Club hit the BM
Having reached the requisite amount of points, we had an end-of-term treat: a treasure hunt at the British Museum. Despite my best efforts to get everyone lost/wear everyone out by climbing endless stairs, we succeeded in finding objects on our sheets and answering questions about them.
Controversial?
We also managed to take a sneaky look at the Elgin Marbles (not on our hunt!), and some students had an interesting discussion about whether they should be here, or back in their original home, Athens. Is the best place for these works of art in a specially-designed gallery, in a museum created to look like the Parthenon itself, or should artefacts be returned to their place of creation (and perhaps help Greece make some money from tourists going to see them)? The debate is summarised here, but what do you think?
Yep, more stairs...
Uh-oh, Tanvir's gone all intellectual.
We looked at works of art both Greek and Roman, including the Mildenhall Dish ("Miss, I can't look at it, it's too shiny!") and pottery paintings thousands of years old. But we also saw everyday artefacts that gave a glimpse into the lives of ancient people, including a receipt and a curse tablet ("Woah, she must have done something NASTY to deserve that!"). After all that treasure-hunting (and stair-climbing!), we rested a while in the Great Court, exchanged Saturnalia gifts and then said farewell to the Museum.