Blog for the international research project "Our Mythical Childhood… The Reception of Classical Antiquity in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture in Response to Regional and Global Challenges", financed by the ERC Consolidator Grant led by Prof. Katarzyna Marciniak, Faculty of "Artes Liberales" of the University of Warsaw. Team members: Prof. Susan Deacy and Steve K. Simons, University of Roehampton; Prof. Elizabeth Hale and Dr Miriam Riverlea, University of New England; Prof. Lisa Maurice and Dr Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University; Prof. Daniel A. Nkemleke, Dr Divine Che Neba and Dr Eleanor A. Dasi, University of Yaoundé I; Dr Elżbieta Olechowska, Dr Hanna Paulouskaya, Dr Sonya Nevin, Dott. Edoardo Pecchini, Marta Pszczolińska, Angelina Gerus and the Project Officers: Magdalena Andersen, Maria Makarewicz, and Olga Strycharczyk from the Faculty of "Artes Liberales" UW.
Dr Juan Coderch gave a lecture on Reaching the Classical Authors through Oscar Wilde and Sherlock Holmes within the cycle OBTAmistic Meetings at the Centre for Studies on the Classical Tradition (OBTA), Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw, on March 30, 2023. Dr Coderch shared his experience in translating modern literature (and more) into Latin and Ancient Greek.
An example of latest news in Ancient Greek written for Acropolis World News established by Dr Juan Coderch.
Dr Juan Coderch discussing the difficulties in translating Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince into Ancient Greek.
A piece from The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, translated by Dr Juan Coderch.
The lecture incl. a short discussion was attended by Students from “Strumienie” High School in Józefów, Mikołaj Rej High School in Warsaw, and Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School in Kraków.
Dr Coderch’s translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince into Ancient Greek, as well as his translations of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest into Ancient Greek and Latin are available in open access: http://coderch-greek-latin-grammar.weebly.com.
The Addams Family comes back in a series about Wednesday, created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, directed by Tim Burton, James Marshall, and Gandja Monteiro, produced by Netflix, released in 2022. It is a crime story crowded with monsters.
The Addams at principal’s office with a great gorgon fireplace [source].
We follow Wednesday joining Jericho High School, a private school for outcasts like Fangs, Furs, Stoners, Scales, Shapeshifters, to name a few. Among them are the gorgon Ajax, hiding his snake hair under a beanie, and sirens who use their skills to turn the course of events several times.
The Jericho High School for people with extraordinary abilities [source].
The gorgon Ajax with one of his snake-strands sneaking out from beneath the beanie [source].
The gorgon Ajax accidentally stoning himself with a bathroom mirror [source].
Fish scales appearing on a siren’s skin when her hand touches the water [source].
Sirens – Bianca and her mother Gabrielle [source].
Bianca and her mother, Gabrielle, are sirens making use of their persuasive skills. Gabrielle is a member of a cult called the Morning Song and attracts new members offering for money a self-help app to “refocus” one’s life. Bianca, however, has decided to leave the cult and do something for herself. She wants people to trust her, to like her for her, so she wears an amulet to harness the manipulating power of her song.
The siren Bianca wearing an amulet to harness the manipulating power of her voice [source].
The siren Bianca using the power of her voice [source].
Meanwhile another character of the series, Kent, uses his siren abilities to weaken the sirens’ rivals in the Poe Cup canoe race.
Ambiguous characters and visions are looming around Wednesday, to her excitement. We follow her as she tracks down a murderer and solves mysteries. It is an inspiring portrait of an individualistic, questioning, creative, and reserved teenage girl; a story about facing challenges like adventures, getting to know oneself better and discovering friendship along the way, discovering one’s own abilities, following the family paths in one’s very own way.
Another classical motif that appears several times in the first season is Latin. It is used as the language of science, history, riddles, and magic: during botanical class, in an inscription that seems to be a valuable clue in Wednesday’s investigation, and as the language of some dark spells.
Our Mythical Childhood Blog 