August is here again, bringing that familiar bittersweet feeling of endings and beginnings as we try to soak up every last bit of summer possible before school starts again and the days start getting shorter and colder. For the first time since I was four years old, I will not spend August preparing for a... Continue Reading →
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new decade
Today is my 30th birthday. OOF. That feels weird to write — I'm 30. Thirty. I am no longer in my twenties. I took stock yesterday, the last day of my twenties. I have a few extra gray hairs these days, for which I blame the dissertation, but some of it is certainly my family's... Continue Reading →
It’s Okay, I’m a Doctor
Well folks, it's done! Last month, I successfully defended my dissertation, and the experience was way more fun than I had expected it to be. Last week, I finished the minor revisions requested by my committee and submitted the final version of the dissertation to the Graduate College (final deposit is anticlimactic, despite its finality).... Continue Reading →
The Return of the Palatine Medea
It's been a hot minute since I posted here! It's been a very busy 3 months behind the scenes: in addition to starting a full-time job as a managing editor (hello, semi-decent pay and retirement fund), I've been putting the finishing touches on my dissertation and preparing for my defense. But first, a super fun... Continue Reading →
MORE Myth Retellings To Read
Tis the season...to escape holiday madness with a book that takes you far outside your own world! We're back with more ratings and reviews of recently published retellings and reimagining of Greek myths (yes, all Greek this time). The reviews are more mixed this time around, including one DNF. *gasp* The Women of Troy: A... Continue Reading →
The Broke Grad Student’s Holiday Gift Guide
Two years ago, I offered some gift ideas to brighten any tired, broke grad student's holiday. But what if you are the tired, broke grad student? How can you possibly keep up with the expectation to purchase gifts for all your family and friends when you barely have any slush in your monthly budget? I feel... Continue Reading →
Add These Myth Retellings to your To-Be-Read List
If you've been here a while, then you know that I am a bona fide Madeline Miller fangirl. I've written two posts about Miller's bestselling retellings of classical myths, Circe and The Song of Achilles, both of which I cannot recommend highly enough. But Miller is not the only one reimagining ancient stories from new... Continue Reading →
A Drinking Game for Classics-Themed Film
If you have ever studied ancient history or Greek myth, then you know that both are melodramatic, violent, and raunchy AF. Roman political history during the civil wars of the 40s and 30s BCE reads like a damn soap opera. The Iliad and the Odyssey have sex and violence out the wazoo. These stories were... Continue Reading →
Campus Wildlife Encounters: The Grad Student
As a new school year gets underway, one enigmatic creature will be reappearing on university campuses across the country: the graduate student (scholasticus laboriosus). Frequently mistaken for their cousins the undergraduates (scholasticus iunior) and faculty members (scholasticus beneficiarius), graduate students make up a vital part of the university ecosystem. Let's learn a bit about the... Continue Reading →
All My Covid Knitting Projects
If you know me, you know I'm always either knitting or thinking about knitting. I love to knit, for a variety of reasons — it's fun, it's productive, it keeps me focused in situations where I'd otherwise get bored or sidetracked (looking at you, evening lectures), and it's soothing enough to effectively act as therapy... Continue Reading →
Medea Palatina 