Students may soon be reading the ‘Allegory of the Quidditch Match’ in schools. JK Rowling has seen to it that the Harry Potter series be translated into Latin and Greek, for study in schools and elsewhere. It’s usefulness, I’m not sure of, but I know that if I were an 13-year old boy faced with the choice of reading some crusty old philosopher or Harrius Potter versus Voldemort, I’d choose the latter. Which is not to say that the classics shouldn’t be studied; they should, but perhaps more at the university level when those studying them have perhaps the intellectual capacity to read more of these philosophers.
Looking for a place to happen
i have to say i’m a bit bummed by that news. the Latin textbooks that I used (word to Caecillius and Matella!) were actually quite great. Now I took Latin in high school, not elementary school, but the subject matter of our textbooks was actually quite entertaining. You didn’t do much tranlsation of Ovid and the classics until your third or fourth year. The story lines of the early textbooks revolved around life in a Roman home, in the city and at the Senate — where Caecillius worked. There was plenty of intrigue: Grumio the cook and Melissa the maid were having an affair, there was constant infighting and backstabbing at the Senate, and Matella and Quintus, her son often had disputes over the usual mother/son daily events. They were great. The vocabulary that evolved from such situations was excellent (I can both insult a senator and woo a maid if need be) and it was vocabularly that arguably better prepared you for reading the Classics, which is arguably one of the main reasons that folks take Latin (or Greek) in the first place.
Then again, if Harry Potter got more folks reading Latin then that wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
i have to say i’m a bit bummed by that news. the Latin textbooks that I used (word to Caecillius and Matella!) were actually quite great. Now I took Latin in high school, not elementary school, but the subject matter of our textbooks was actually quite entertaining. You didn’t do much tranlsation of Ovid and the classics until your third or fourth year. The story lines of the early textbooks revolved around life in a Roman home, in the city and at the Senate — where Caecillius worked. There was plenty of intrigue: Grumio the cook and Melissa the maid were having an affair, there was constant infighting and backstabbing at the Senate, and Matella and Quintus, her son often had disputes over the usual mother/son daily events. They were great. The vocabulary that evolved from such situations was excellent (I can both insult a senator and woo a maid if need be) and it was vocabularly that arguably better prepared you for reading the Classics, which is arguably one of the main reasons that folks take Latin (or Greek) in the first place.
Then again, if Harry Potter got more folks reading Latin then that wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
sad i know but im trying to remember the name of their dog (Caeciliius and family) i remebmber it just used to sleep by the gate. anyone know??
sad i know but im trying to remember the name of their dog (Caeciliius and family) i remebmber it just used to sleep by the gate. anyone know??