During this school year as part of enrichment, for classics, there has been the option to do a short seminar about any topic within the classics umbrella. I decided to combine my love for reading and classics and talk about contemporary myth retellings as part of my seminar. Some influential authors for myth retellings include Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint and Stephen Fry. I began my seminar by talking about two books by Madeline Miller: The Song of Achilles and Circe which are both incredibly well known. The Song of Achilles is a gut-wrenching novel about love, heartbreak and war whereas Circe is more about attachment and abandonment. The third novel I talked about was Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne which follows the story of Ariadne and Dionysus. I also discussed what made a good retelling and the differences between the myths and the novels themselves. Classics seminars are a great way to research more about topics of interest, discuss classics topics whilst having snacks and great company!

Matilda, Lower VI Classical Civilisation student