Minerva - Journal

02/04/2019

After a long hiatus, we finally have some good news: the second issue of Minerva, War(fair?), is published and available online at
https://issuu.com/minervajournal/docs/minerva_2

Enjoy the read and let us know what you think!

Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu’s millions of monthly readers. Title: Minerva Volume 1 Issue 2: War(fair?), Author: MINERVA, Name: Minerva V...

07/04/2018

Our deputy editor Zoë pictured here, delving into all things Minerva at the CA conference in Leicester. She spoke about the foundation of the journal, our mission and ethos, and discussed some of our favourite submissions.

07/04/2018

Looking forward to meeting some of our followers at the University of Leicester today for the Classical Association's Annual Conference - the largest yearly gathering of classicists in the UK! We'll be talking all things Minerva - from the accessibility of the field to the politics of translation - and reading a selection of your wonderful submissions.

01/03/2018

Vides ut alta stet nive candidum
Soracte nec iam sustineant onus
silvae laborantes geluque
flumina constiterint acuto?

dissolve frigus ligna super foco
large reponens atque benignius
deprome quadrimum Sabina,
o Thaliarche, merum diota. (Horace, Odes 1.9)

With all the snow and ice outside, we hope you might appreciate some heart-warming Horace. Stay warm and safe, and enjoy your glass of Sabine wine!

11/02/2018

Pulchrum est bene facere rei publicae, etiam bene dicere haud absurdum est; vel pace vel bello clarum fieri licet; et qui fecere et qui facta aliorum scripsere, multi laudantur. (Sallust, Catiline)

What is your opinion on this? Is the fame of a good general equivalent to the fame of a good historian? Should or can the two even be compared?

31/01/2018

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS EXTENDED! (21.02.2018)

Dear followers, due to popular demand, we have decided to extend the deadline for submissions for our 2nd Issue until 21st February 2018. Please send your work to [email protected]. Submissions should not exceed 500 words. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

War(fair?)
After the success of our first issue, Minerva returns for its second instalment. This time, we ask you to consider the implications of and attitudes towards war throughout history. Can war be fair and just? Given that instigator and victim, soldier and strategist are often worlds apart, we seek to explore in Minerva’s Issue 2 how the atrocities of violence are resolved in literary sources. We would welcome pieces from military historians, mournful elegists, and bitter critics alike. Ideally, our finished issue would be a rich and varied tapestry of praise and criticism, fact and imagination, sorrow and pride.
As always, we are looking both for submissions that are translations from ancient into modern languages, as well as adaptations from modern languages into Latin and Ancient Greek. We invite everyone to submit, from beginning Classicists to experienced researchers, as well as school teachers and all other enthusiasts of the Classics.

28/01/2018

nam tu sola potes tranquilla pace iuvare
mortalis, quoniam belli fera moenera Mavors
armipotens regit, in gremium qui saepe tuum se
reiicit aeterno devictus vulnere amoris
(Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 31-34)

So says Lucretius of Venus, the goddess of love. Even the powerful Mars, god of war, is utterly helpless against her. All you need is love?

21/01/2018

Ἕκτορ ἀτὰρ σύ μοί ἐσσι πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ
ἠδὲ κασίγνητος, σὺ δέ μοι θαλερὸς παρακοίτης:
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε νῦν ἐλέαιρε καὶ αὐτοῦ μίμν᾽ ἐπὶ πύργῳ,
μὴ παῖδ᾽ ὀρφανικὸν θήῃς χήρην τε γυναῖκα. (Iliad 6.429-32)

So speaks Andromache to her husband Hector at their last meeting, begging him not to go into battle again and risk dying. He is the only family she has left, since both her parents and her seven brothers have died through the actions of Achilles. Even in antiquity, war was not solely the concern of men; even without actually going into battle, women suffered when the men they loved went to kill or be killed.

15/01/2018

Iam seges est, ubi T***a fuit, resecandaque falce
Luxuriat Phrygio sanguine pinguis humus;
55Semisepulta virum curvis feriuntur aratris
Ossa, ruinosas occulit herba domos.
Victor abes, nec scire mihi, quae causa morandi,
Aut in quo lateas ferreus orbe, licet!

Above is a vision of the ravaged Troy from Ovid's Heroides. What are your favourite cinematic visions of war and literature? Perhaps we should take time to reflect on how time and recollection colour our memories of painful and violent experiences.

10/01/2018

Hello dear followers!

We'd like to remind you that you have exactly three weeks to get your submissions in to [email protected].

It has been a real pleasure to see a theme of such gravitas approached with even greater artistry and we can't wait to share this issue with you!

07/01/2018

Suave etiam belli certamina magna tueri
per campos instructa tua sine parte pericli.
(De Rerum Natura 2.5-6)

So says Lucretius the Epicurean, claiming that it is best for a human being to stay away from armed conflict (politics, too). Instead we should devote ourselves to the simple pleasures of life, such as having a chat with our friends in a nice spot under a shady tree. Do you agree? Let us know what you think!

24/12/2017

di magni, horribilem et sacrum libellum,
quem tu scilicet ad tuum Catullum
misti, continuo ut die periret,
Saturnalibus, optimo dierum! (Catullus 14.12-15)

A very happy Christmas to all of you, friends of our humble journal! We wish you peaceful holidays spent with the people you care about, a table laden with tasty food, and of course, better presents than Catullus got on Saturnalia!