Mitch Pentzer
@mitchpentzer.bsky.social
Dr. of Antiquity in Colorado, farm kid from Idaho. Wishes the field were broader; isn't very broad. Latin, Greek, humor. Not terrifically active on here yet.
Today in Epic I introduced Vergil and the Aeneid, on his birthday. Students asked if I planned the term out this way.
October 15, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Today in Epic I introduced Vergil and the Aeneid, on his birthday. Students asked if I planned the term out this way.
Been listening to the audio book of Wilson's Iliad; I'm assigning it for the first time this fall, coming from Lombardo.
Audra McDonald is mostly fantastic.
Audra McDonald is mostly fantastic.
August 17, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Been listening to the audio book of Wilson's Iliad; I'm assigning it for the first time this fall, coming from Lombardo.
Audra McDonald is mostly fantastic.
Audra McDonald is mostly fantastic.
οὐκ ᾔσθησαι τὰς ἄνευ ἐπιστήμης δόξας, ὡς πᾶσαι αἰσχραί; ὧν αἱ βέλτισται τυφλαί.
"Are you not aware that opinions without knowledge are all disgraceful? Even the best ones are blind."
Republic 7, 506c
"Are you not aware that opinions without knowledge are all disgraceful? Even the best ones are blind."
Republic 7, 506c
August 8, 2025 at 10:36 PM
οὐκ ᾔσθησαι τὰς ἄνευ ἐπιστήμης δόξας, ὡς πᾶσαι αἰσχραί; ὧν αἱ βέλτισται τυφλαί.
"Are you not aware that opinions without knowledge are all disgraceful? Even the best ones are blind."
Republic 7, 506c
"Are you not aware that opinions without knowledge are all disgraceful? Even the best ones are blind."
Republic 7, 506c
Anybody know of a facing-page Don Quixote translation?
June 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Anybody know of a facing-page Don Quixote translation?
A reminder: intensive beginning Classical Greek online is still available for registration at the University of Colorado for this summer!
www.colorado.edu/classics/onl...
www.colorado.edu/classics/onl...
Online Classical Greek
The University of Colorado offers online Beginning Greek 1-2 as the first for-credit. CU Classical Greek CU Online Greek Online Ancient Greek
www.colorado.edu
May 2, 2025 at 2:19 PM
A reminder: intensive beginning Classical Greek online is still available for registration at the University of Colorado for this summer!
www.colorado.edu/classics/onl...
www.colorado.edu/classics/onl...
Favorite new theory: Ratatouille as Roman Comedy.
April 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Favorite new theory: Ratatouille as Roman Comedy.
Those without convictions nor the courage of them have a difficult time accepting that others might have both.
“Paid protesters” has been a reliable excuse for the right since the civil rights era.
Segregationists claimed the high schoolers who desegregated Central High in Little Rock were paid to do so.
Segregationists claimed the high schoolers who desegregated Central High in Little Rock were paid to do so.
Mike Johnson: "We've seen this movie before. George Soros groups and others literally pay protesters."
March 30, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Those without convictions nor the courage of them have a difficult time accepting that others might have both.
"Pink Pony Club" now adds melody and glitter to every choriamb my brain comes across.
Gone with the Wind.
King of the Hill.
Dawn of the Dead.
Dick's Sporting Goods.
Gone with the Wind.
King of the Hill.
Dawn of the Dead.
Dick's Sporting Goods.
March 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM
"Pink Pony Club" now adds melody and glitter to every choriamb my brain comes across.
Gone with the Wind.
King of the Hill.
Dawn of the Dead.
Dick's Sporting Goods.
Gone with the Wind.
King of the Hill.
Dawn of the Dead.
Dick's Sporting Goods.
nihil est quod credere de se
non possit cum laudatur dis aequa potestas.
There is nothing which power matching the gods won't believe about itself when praised.
Juvenal 4.70-71
non possit cum laudatur dis aequa potestas.
There is nothing which power matching the gods won't believe about itself when praised.
Juvenal 4.70-71
March 1, 2025 at 3:58 AM
nihil est quod credere de se
non possit cum laudatur dis aequa potestas.
There is nothing which power matching the gods won't believe about itself when praised.
Juvenal 4.70-71
non possit cum laudatur dis aequa potestas.
There is nothing which power matching the gods won't believe about itself when praised.
Juvenal 4.70-71
I have seen GLADIIATOR.
But also: Love Hurts? Ariana DeBose and Marshawn Lynch? It's like something I dreamed, but good.
But also: Love Hurts? Ariana DeBose and Marshawn Lynch? It's like something I dreamed, but good.
December 2, 2024 at 1:55 AM
I have seen GLADIIATOR.
But also: Love Hurts? Ariana DeBose and Marshawn Lynch? It's like something I dreamed, but good.
But also: Love Hurts? Ariana DeBose and Marshawn Lynch? It's like something I dreamed, but good.
Dangit, I have to read more Seneca.
“It is more human to laugh at life than to hate it.”
humanius est deridere vitam quam deplorare. #Seneca
humanius est deridere vitam quam deplorare. #Seneca
November 17, 2024 at 2:53 PM
Dangit, I have to read more Seneca.
I did schedule Thyestes as the last play before Thanksgiving, yes.
No, I did not know this was Family Week when I scheduled the Hippolytus for today.
November 12, 2024 at 9:42 PM
I did schedule Thyestes as the last play before Thanksgiving, yes.
Reposted by Mitch Pentzer
“So one thing is worth much: to keep on living with truth and justice and in good will even among liars and unjust men”
Ἓν ὧδε πολλοῦ ἄξιον, τὸ μετ᾿ ἀληθείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης εὐμενῆ τοῖς ψεύσταις καὶ ἀδίκοις διαβιοῦν.
sententiaeantiquae.com/2024/11/06/d...
Ἓν ὧδε πολλοῦ ἄξιον, τὸ μετ᾿ ἀληθείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης εὐμενῆ τοῖς ψεύσταις καὶ ἀδίκοις διαβιοῦν.
sententiaeantiquae.com/2024/11/06/d...
Don’t Give up On Being Good
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.47 “Always keep in mind that all sorts of people from all kinds of occupations and from every country on earth have died. And take this thought to Philistion and Phoi…
sententiaeantiquae.com
November 6, 2024 at 1:46 PM
“So one thing is worth much: to keep on living with truth and justice and in good will even among liars and unjust men”
Ἓν ὧδε πολλοῦ ἄξιον, τὸ μετ᾿ ἀληθείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης εὐμενῆ τοῖς ψεύσταις καὶ ἀδίκοις διαβιοῦν.
sententiaeantiquae.com/2024/11/06/d...
Ἓν ὧδε πολλοῦ ἄξιον, τὸ μετ᾿ ἀληθείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης εὐμενῆ τοῖς ψεύσταις καὶ ἀδίκοις διαβιοῦν.
sententiaeantiquae.com/2024/11/06/d...
No, I did not know this was Family Week when I scheduled the Hippolytus for today.
October 24, 2024 at 3:39 PM
No, I did not know this was Family Week when I scheduled the Hippolytus for today.
"Hi, so we've got this new law requiring intellectual diversity within government."
"Oh, okay, well, Mr. Attorney General, I think very differently from yo-"
"Not allowed."
"Oh, okay, well, Mr. Attorney General, I think very differently from yo-"
"Not allowed."
Indiana has declared that professors have no speech rights in the classroom; “any speech pursuant to the teacher’s ‘official duties’ and ‘professional responsibilities’ is subject to state direction.”
We're well into Hungary territory here.
We're well into Hungary territory here.
Indiana says professors lack First Amendment rights
Defending a new law requiring “intellectual diversity” from professors, the Indiana attorney general echoes Florida and asserts that “curriculum of a public university is government speech.”
www.insidehighered.com
August 14, 2024 at 6:59 PM
"Hi, so we've got this new law requiring intellectual diversity within government."
"Oh, okay, well, Mr. Attorney General, I think very differently from yo-"
"Not allowed."
"Oh, okay, well, Mr. Attorney General, I think very differently from yo-"
"Not allowed."
"aequo animo audienda sunt inperitorum convicia et ad honesta vadenti contemnendus est ipse contemptus."
"You must learn as long as you are ignorant—if we may trust the proverb. And nothing is more fit to the present than this: as long as you live you must learn how to live."
sententiaeantiquae.com/2024/08/14/l...
sententiaeantiquae.com/2024/08/14/l...
“Learn As Long As You Are Ignorant”: Seneca on What He Has to Teach
Seneca, Moral Epistles 76.3-5 “People of every age enter this classroom. “Do we grow old only to follow the young?” When I go into the theater as an old man and I am drawn to the racetrack and no f…
sententiaeantiquae.com
August 14, 2024 at 4:20 PM
"aequo animo audienda sunt inperitorum convicia et ad honesta vadenti contemnendus est ipse contemptus."
So, 'schedule' comes from Latin scheda, which can be a strip of paper and also a note that would be written on them. I believe scheda is related to Greek σχεδία, 'raft' among another things, perhaps due to the split wood ('scissors' has the same stem) or its makeshift nature.
August 12, 2024 at 3:12 AM
So, 'schedule' comes from Latin scheda, which can be a strip of paper and also a note that would be written on them. I believe scheda is related to Greek σχεδία, 'raft' among another things, perhaps due to the split wood ('scissors' has the same stem) or its makeshift nature.
MmmmmmmCallimachus v. Martial.
August 2, 2024 at 2:31 AM
MmmmmmmCallimachus v. Martial.
Today in Classical reception, an album inspired by a film inspired by Xenophon's Anabasis:
pitchfork.com/news/lin-man...
pitchfork.com/news/lin-man...
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis Collaborate With Nas on New Warriors-Inspired Concept Album
The new album, also called Warriors, draws from the cult 1979 film about a New York street gang
pitchfork.com
August 1, 2024 at 4:53 PM
Today in Classical reception, an album inspired by a film inspired by Xenophon's Anabasis:
pitchfork.com/news/lin-man...
pitchfork.com/news/lin-man...
When American students go to American universities: "Oh no, they're getting indoctrinated with worthless post-modern brainwashing!"
When foreign students go to American universities: "Oh no, the little spies are taking the best of our advancements back to their home countries to foil us!"
When foreign students go to American universities: "Oh no, the little spies are taking the best of our advancements back to their home countries to foil us!"
p790
Significantly reduce or eliminate the issuance of visas to Chinese students
Significantly reduce or eliminate the issuance of visas to Chinese students
July 24, 2024 at 7:10 PM
When American students go to American universities: "Oh no, they're getting indoctrinated with worthless post-modern brainwashing!"
When foreign students go to American universities: "Oh no, the little spies are taking the best of our advancements back to their home countries to foil us!"
When foreign students go to American universities: "Oh no, the little spies are taking the best of our advancements back to their home countries to foil us!"
The poet by name of Mimnermus
who hailed from the banks of the Hermus
sang "Won't it be nifty
if we die at sixty
when illness and cares don't concern us?"
who hailed from the banks of the Hermus
sang "Won't it be nifty
if we die at sixty
when illness and cares don't concern us?"
Is there any more Seussian a Greek name than Mimnermus?
April 16, 2024 at 7:43 PM
The poet by name of Mimnermus
who hailed from the banks of the Hermus
sang "Won't it be nifty
if we die at sixty
when illness and cares don't concern us?"
who hailed from the banks of the Hermus
sang "Won't it be nifty
if we die at sixty
when illness and cares don't concern us?"
Gutted at noticing the Symposium Cumanum this year is on humor...three months after the submission deadline.
April 15, 2024 at 6:09 PM
Gutted at noticing the Symposium Cumanum this year is on humor...three months after the submission deadline.
Actual academic tweet: is there a good scholarly or graduate-level edition of St. Patrick's Confession? I can't find one and am procrastinating my grading too effectively.
December 19, 2023 at 5:02 AM
Actual academic tweet: is there a good scholarly or graduate-level edition of St. Patrick's Confession? I can't find one and am procrastinating my grading too effectively.
Should I ever get quoted, I hope they credentialize me irrelevantly. "proficient combine operator" or "obnoxious sports fan Pentzer", if you please.
I keep noticing a tendency among my graduate students & advanced undergrads to credentialize their sources, e.g. "Cambridge Professor and internationally famous historian Mary Beard," or "Columbia University historian Alan Cameron." I heavily discourage this, but wonder if I'm in the minority here?
December 19, 2023 at 5:01 AM
Should I ever get quoted, I hope they credentialize me irrelevantly. "proficient combine operator" or "obnoxious sports fan Pentzer", if you please.