Classics at the University of Otago

09/08/2026

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/09/roman-shipwreck-with-hundreds-of-amphorae-found-off-sicily
New old shipwreck found off the western tip of Sicily, loaded with what look like Italian w**e amphoras! Someone's pub was in for a rather disappointing week or two in the period c. 150-50 BCE (for reference, each of these amphoras could hold about 20 l. of w**e...).
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgx1kpz17go

Italy's culture minister says it is one of the most important underwater archaeological finds in years.

28/07/2026

Now that most of the people who actually want to see The Odyssey have seen it, you've probably seen a review or two (or seventeen) around the place. Please post links to your favourite reviews here, the good, the bad, the ugly, the hilarous! Just don't post obvious spoilers in the comments, like the bit about where Telemachus plots to murder his father (unwittingly) upon his return... Here's one review:

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is a spectacular, strange and often historically wayward journey through Homer, archaeology and the enduring politics of war, trade and storytelling

02/07/2026

This week we celebrated Jaymie Orchard's PhD submission by the customary ringing the bell. Their thesis is entitled "Plunder, Politics, and Propaganda: Fabricating Narratives of Roman Victory". Ka pai, Jaymie!

10/06/2026

Celebrating Payton Yimloy's final submission of the MA Thesis, congratulations Payton on a fantastic research project, and good luck wherever life takes you next!!! 🎉

10/05/2026

A number of our Classics students graduated this weekend in Dunedin, including Dr Matt Watts and longtime English and Linguistics (and other things) administrator Liz Lammers. Congratulations to all, and thanks for letting us be a part of your journey!

19/03/2026

Our next Classical Association lecture will take place next Thursday, 26th March, at 6pm in BURNS 1 lecture theatre.

Professor David Tombs will be the speaker, on the topic ’Seneca’s Account of Maecenas Sitting on the Cross'.

It promises to be a most informative evening, and we hope to see many of you there.

18/03/2026

The vital (contemporary) lessons in Ovid's Metamorphoses. As if we needed any further excuse for reading Ovid than that Augustus banished him from Rome and banned his books!

Metamorphoses, an ancient compendium of Greek myths, has surprising parallels with contemporary concerns, from climate change to gender-based violence.

11/02/2026

Our first Classical Association lecture of the year will take place next Thursday 19 February at 6pm in the Otago Business School (the Commerce Building), Room G.17.

We have a visiting Professor from Italy, Prof. Antonio Stramaglia, and it promises to be a most interesting evening: "The 'Apuleian' Cupid and Psyche before Apuleius."

We will have the normal drinks and nibbles in the Humanities Common Room, and there will be a walking group from the Burns Building to the lecture theatre if you are unsure where to go.

We hope to see many of you there!

08/02/2026

We're very excited to announce that our online Greek and Latin papers are now available to students in Year 12 or Year 13 at school. For information on the papers themselves, click here and follow the links: https://www.otago.ac.nz/classics/language-classes
For information on the Head Start programme at Otago, check out the attached images. And for further information, please email Assoc. Prof. Gwynaeth McIntyre ([email protected]) or the Classics Prgamme Administrator ([email protected]).
For general questions about online Otago study for high school students, please contact Greg Heller ([email protected])