Mercury/ Hermes is in my test booklet!

Mercury/ Hermes



Just a note:
Although I write about them nearly every week, at my school we do not just take bubble tests all day long.

With that being said, I would like to post that once again, we are taking another bubble test (this test is the one that every student has to take in school to evaluate your academic progress). The reason that I am telling you all this is because in the reading comprehension section, they had a lovely passage about the Roman god, Mercury.

Here are some facts that I learned about him today:

( Mercury the element)
* Although no one knows when the element Mercury was discovered, this element was named after the quick- winged messenger god because they noticed that Mercury( the element)could flow very quickly


* You may notice that many buisnesses have a picture of Mercury( the god not the element) as their logo. This is because they, like Mercury, pride themselves on being quick and fast.

Cool Latin Phrase

I completely forgot that I had an app on my phone that has a whole bunch of " Cool Latin Phrases". I looked around and found a quote that you might like:

abuses non toll it usum-
abuse of a right does not invalidate use

Our school also owns a piece of land that is covered with the Japaneese Knotweed. Unlike our future garden spot, we can't send the junior classicists( also known as the lower school girls) out with a shovel and spade. Why not? The problem is that the land is a very steep hill, and we are concerned that they would accidently fall down. Now THAT wouldn't be good...
If you have any ideas of how we can rid ourselves of this troublesome plant please write a comment! Come'on latinittes, I'm counting on you!

Visit my friend's blog for a recipe for making knotweed tea:
http://www.stupefyingscience.blogspot.com

(Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica)

My science teacher suggested that I do a blog post about this subject, and I wasn't sure how it was connected to Latin or greek Mythology. But, sure enough I found a way to connect a herbacious plant to a classic language.

Have You Seen This Plant?

Unfortunately, I am becoming all-too familiar with it...

In my science class, we are learning about enviromental conservation. We found something of interest right outside our classroom doors. What did we find, you ask? We found a herd(yes I'm calling it a herd) of Japaneese Knotweed, also known as "evil bamboo". Japanese knotweed was once used in ornamental gardens, but during the summer it blooms and spreads its seeds all over the place. Now, that is in itself is not bad, but the problem is that it is one of many invasive species, or a type of plant that is not native to an area, now found in West Virginia. The knotweed escaped from the gardens and is now found competing(and winning)against native plants and flowers. Japaneese knotweed poses a threat because the native wildlife, such as Monarch Butterflies, that depends on the native plants(oddly enough)will not survive. This is a chain reaction. If the Monarch caterpillars cannot find any milkweed to eat, this species will bacome extinct.

Now, if you find Japaneese Knotweed in your neighborhood, PULL IT OUT!!! Although cutting it down will temporarily prevent it from going to seed and spreading more knotweed, the remaining roots that are left in the ground will produce a whole new plant. Did I mention that in an area where there is Japaneese Knotweed other plants won't grow? Yep, that's right so if you don't pull the entire plant out their roots will produce a chemical that prevents other plants from growing.

As you can see, the garden at my school has to be postponed until the knotweed is gone

Thank you for reading this article and I hope that I have encouraged you to get rid of that knotweed of yours. Oh, and how I related Japaneese knotweed to Latin...well you all know that the genus species of any plant is written in Latin, right! Well all I can say is find and get rid of your Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica!!!


Pull Baby Pull,
Morgan, the enviromental conservatist and classy classicist

Grammar Book

Pronouns in Latin

In preparation for the annual standardized tests( these tests have
nothing- well almost nothing- to do with the classics) my Latin/
literature teacher decided to give us English worksheets.

This is what I learned:

Pronoun is a word for words like he, she, and we that are substituted
for proper nouns.

"pro" means to stand in for in Latin

Thus, you can remember that a pronoun stands in for another noun.

Yes, I know you all wanted an English lesson this morning, but still I
thought it was interesting.

Sent from my iPhone

Aveeno

See, this classy classicist scrubs up with Latin everyday.... Do you?

Scrub up with Latin!

Have you all heard of the Aveeno bath and lotion company? Well, let's assume that you do so this post will be relevant to you. Now, the Latin word for oatmeal is aveno. Consequently it is safe to say that the Aveeno company named it Aveeno because they use oatmeal in their washes. So there you go. You can't even escape the Latin influence while bathing.

Thank you Mrs.Jones- Hayes for sharing this with me and the rest of the blog community.

~Morgan

Here's the link

Here is the link that I promised. Click on it and learn about Egyptian mythology.

http://goddessesandgod.blogspot.com/2010/11/ancient-egyptian-gods-and-goddesses.html

OMG! My teacher is an Egyptian god!!!

Would you like this guy to be your teacher? Read this post to find out why I would ask this question...

As you all know, I mainly study Greek and Roman mythology, but lately I have been interested in learning more about Egyptian Mythology. Why is this you ask? Well, this for the last couple of months I have been babysitting the six year old girl next door who is completely in love with Nickelodeon. Once again, why is that relevant? That is because there on that channel there is a new show called House of Anubis.

Now, I'm not going to bother you with the deatails of the show, but it about a group of boarding students in England who think that their teachers are Egyptian gods(or something like that). I watch this show everytime I babysit Sara, so bear with me while I try to figure out the plot line. Anyway, soon I will post the link to a great blog that deals with Egyptian mythology. Then, maybe we can figure out Egyptian mythology together.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what this photo represents, but I do know that it was painted on a sheet of papyrus... I'll consult the internet soon to find out the answer for you all. Better yet, if you know please write a comment

NATIONAL MYTHOLOGY EXAM RESULTS!!!

Now, here is a riddle for all of you:

Q: What does a latin teacher get when she finds a package on her front step during testing season???

A: Very, very happy because the results from the National Mythology Exam have arrived!

You all guessed it. The results are in. Everyone who took the National Mythology Exam at my school received an award!* I know, my teacher is now very shocked. Anyway, me ,along with eight other people, recieved a gold medal- some of which completed a perfect paper-! We also had many Outstanding Achievments and silver medals, too! The only down side to this (if it is a downside)is that next year the Latin 4 students will be taking the Medusa Mythology exam. This exam is harder and requires more studying materials, but I am sure that we will all do great!

*The fifth graders who took the elementary exam have not gotten their results back yet. But knowing, the minimites I am sure that they did fantastic!

National Latin Exam

Salvete! Do you all remember when I was complaining about studying for the National Latin Exam? Well, I am not going to do that anymore! That is becaualong with many other girls in the school who also recieved great scores , I won the third place in the Level 4 latin exam! All of the students at our school did extremely well on this test and our latin teacher is just bursting with pride. It is pretty interesting, because despite its name this is an INTERNATIONAL competition. Yes, I recently found out that students in Iran,among other countries,also took the test( we are puzzeled as to why they study latin, but more power to them I suppose)

So in short, congrats everyone who took the test and keep up the good work!

~Morgan, the classy classicist

Poor Timi is a sophmore

Salvete omnes! Sorry for my recent hiatus, but here is another post for your enjoyment. Okay, so this morning during latin class, my friend Timi, who is a year older than me, was talking about Freshman or "Freshmeat" as people at her previous school used to call the unsuspecting 9th graders. Then, my latin teacher could not help but tell my dear friend what "sophmore" means when greek roots are used. Well in short this is the answer...

soph-
wise
sophomore (wise fool), philosophy

Yes, sorry Timi, you are a wise fool :) But, I am freshmeat,so it all works out in the end.

National Mythology Exam is tomorrow!!!

You feel it as you walk down the hallways, sense the tension in the air, and secretly wish that you would suddenly come down with the flu--- of course, it's test taking time again. No, I'm not talking about the West Test or those other dreaded bubble tests. I'm referring to the time of year when the girls at my school, being the classy classicists that we are, compete in the National Mythology Exam and the National Latin Exam (for the sake of clarity, the names of the exams are almost misnomers because these are INTERNATIONAL exams. Yeah that's right Hungaria we are going to take you downtown to Chinatown! :) So tomorrow morning we will take the mythology exam. Pray for me, my fellow readers and let's hope that I remember all of the myths and such. Oh no... I just forgot who Zeus is. By Hecuba!- this can't be good.

You know, I better go finish studying now ( that thing just now with Zeus was embarrassing).

~Morgan, the classy classicist

Big pic

I promised you all pictures of my award winning project... This was a scene where Romulous and Remus were rescued by the she-wolf who lived by the Tiber River. As you probably know, Romulous killed Remus when they grew up because Remus kept leaping over Romulous' wall. That is why Rome is called Rome and not Remoria (that is what Remus would have named the area if he killed Romulous and not the other way around.) Maybe it was the best that Romulous named the city. My latin teacher noted that Remoria sounds more like a medicine to cure an upset stomach.

I think the turtle adds a special touch...

The bird represents the god Mars who is Romulous and Remus' father

WVJCL

You all will be pleased to hear that three girls (including myself) from our school went to the West Virginia Junior Classical League Convention(WVJCL) in Morgantown, WV this past week. And guess what... I am now the Secretary!!! Also, one of my friends is now the WVJCL Parlimentarian. We are avaible to sign autographs if anyone would like. Okay, that may be a little too much, so let me just write about what we did.

Before I begin I would like to note that this convention was not what my 10yr old brother would call a "nerd alert"(I promise you he does that anytime I metion latin). Everyone was VERY entergetic and very passionate about reviving this so called "dead language". There were five schools that were represented in the convention. Some of my friends that I have known since first grade were even there with another school. But, let me stress, that there was alot of work that we had to do while we were in Morgantown. There were numerous tests that we had to take and two certamens that we competed in. In all, our little school brought home 13 ribbons. Not too shabby, girls!

It was no wonder that the Lakeview Resort was the venue of choice for the 2011 WVJCL: There was a SpaROMA (get it Rome, Roma haha!) and on the lamps outside of each room, there was a greek key. This picture was taken ouside of my hotel room.

They call it Lakeview Resort for a reason...




There was also a very informative presentation about Cleopatra by Vicky Alvear Shecter. I recommend that you visit her blog and website- she has a post about the WVJCL on it!

http://www.historywithatwist.blogspot.com

From there you can visit her website. Thank you once again Ms Shecter for such a wonderful presentation.


Our school won these awads:

Toga Fashion Show~
Most Romanesque Outfit

Certamen!~
3rd place

Projests~ I will post a picture of our projects later
Models
1st:
3rd:

Mosaics
2nd:

Written Tests
~Derivatives-3rd place

~Grammer(level 3&4)-1st

~Reading Comp- 2nd

~ Vocabulary (level 3&4)
1st
2nd
3rd

Tyrannosaurus Rex: King of the Tyrant Lizard

In science class, we are learning about the facinating period in which dinosaurs roamed Earth. I was very intrigued by the T.rex in particular, so I did some research about them. You probably know that the scientific names of most animals are latin, and I found what T.rex means.

This question was asked by someone on the Enchanted Learning website- I thought it was interesting...

Q: what does rex in t. rex stand for?
from ?, ?, ?, ?; December 6, 2000
A: It means king (in Latin). The T. should be capitalized because it stands for a genus (and the genus name is always capitalized, although the species name is not). The T. stands for Tyrannosaurus (which means tyrant lizard in Latin).

I can't wait to show my science teacher this blog post next period!

Which goddess do these pics remind you of?

Hint: This is Athens, Greece

Olive Branch

Aren't these owls cute!!!

Athena- by special request

America, here is the profile of your favorite goddess.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was perhaps Zeus' favorite child. That may
(or may not)be because she sprang fully grown and armed from her father's head. I guess he was spared the teenage years...

Here are some facts about Athena:

*Her mother was Metis, goddess of prudence(though she forget this prudene and was swallowed by Zeus when she morphed into a fly). She now lives in Zeus' head where she, for eternity, will badger her ex-husband. Oops... I meant give him "advice" for eternity... My mistake.

*She is symbolized by the olive branch. She is also recognized by the owl.
Hoot Hoot!

*Nike, the spirit of victory, follows her costantly. I wouldn't mind having this particular spirit follow me around...might be useful.

*She, like her other immortal relatives, took GREAT offence when we mere mortals demonstrated hubris against her.

*I suspect that her decendants have a horrible fear of spiders(I base that judgement on Annabeth in the Percy Jackson books). This goes back to that whole hubris thing with Arachne.

*America,a dedicated Morgan's Mythology follower who keeps writing comments, posting on the mesage boards,and sending me messages, is Athena's biggest fan.

*PS: this post is on the new gods and goddess page!

Veni Vidi Vici - here you go Annemarie!

Forget Julius Ceaser's famous words: here's the twenty first century retake on it:
Isn't the big book of quotes insightful?

Veni Video Vici, I came, I appeared on televion, I conquered.


(I'm kidding...Don't you dare forget-veni,vidi, vici I came, I saw, I conquered)

Women do not wear togas!

Yes, I write the truth. I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired of seeing togas being referred to as a garment that Roman men and women wore. Okay, you broke me down... I didn't know the difference until last year! I know, shame on me...

TOGAS= Men
TUNICAS= Women and children


Like I said before, this is a simple mistake, so let me explain the difference. Which is pretty simple, if I may say so. Togas (worn by men) were wrapped around the body scroupously. Women and children on the other hand, wore a tunica, which was placed over the head. Now, I bet you won't make that mistake again.

~Morgan

oh biscuits...

Be prepared. In this post I will answer the question you have repeatedly asked yoursef: Where does the word biscuit come from? Oh, you haven't asked that before? Well, I'll tell you the answer anyway.

The word biscuit is Latin!!!
After breakfast this morning, our latin teacher told us that when you take this word apart, the word biscuit means "twice cooked" in latin. Now, I don't know about you but I don't know if I want to eat a biscuit that had been cooked twice... It might be a little too crunchy for my taste. What do you have to say about it? Write a comment. Seriously do it.

~Morgan

Magna Carta or "Great Charter"

Well here's a new one for ya'll (yes I feel like saying ya'll today)I'm getting Latin hw in my European History Class! My classmate and I have to translate the Magna Carta from its original latin to English. Although the translation didn't look TOO terribly hard. I won't say that the assignment is easy because my dad is my history teacher and he'll just pile on some more hw if we wanted. Not that we're asking for it!!!

Let me tell you some background info on the Magna Carta:

Well, King John(the dimwitted brother of Richard the Lionhearted,who really wasn't that all that great)finally pushed all of the royals to their limit. (He had even made the Pope curse him to "Hades") They met John on the south side of the Thames River on June 15th, 1215 and made him sign a document which stated the concept of Due Process, among other things. They made sure that John, much to his disbelief, understood that the king was not above the law after all. That document that Johnn signed was the Magna Carta, or the "Great Chart" in latin. This document was considered to be th basis of the U.S Constitution.

Congratulations, now you know more about what happened at Runnymede than 90%
of your peers! That was just a synopsis of what happened, but please write a comment with a specific question. I'd to hear from ya'll!(Yes, I still want to say ya'll!)

Athena is your favorite goddess-2011

I'm sure that Athena thought it was very wise of you to choose her as your favorite goddess. Forgive my pun, but Athena is the goddess of wisdom and knowledge(and war). She is also enjoys weaving, but I'll write about that later...

Athena, because of your choosing, will be the next deity to get a personal profile. What a wonderful accomplishment-good job,Athena!!! Look out for her post soon!

Think your favorite character of greek mythology deserves a special post,too? Write a comment or mention it on MythQ&A

~Morgan

We have a picture of this statue hanging up in our Latin classroom

Hephaestus Profile

NEW!!!
Look under the new gods and goddesses page and see the profile on Hephaestus- the god of the blacksmith,fire,and forge. Trust me, you'll like him.
~ Morgan

A statue of Hephaestus

A Mall fit for the Gods (and Goddesses)

Okay, here's what you have to do:
You're designing a mall on Mt.Olympus(I know that's so going to happen,right)and each god and goddess wants a store named after them. Remember, it has to be something related to what they represent. So, don't put someting like "Hades' Whole Grain Bakery". Demeter would take offense... Good luck, and write your answers in the comment box.

PS: Look at the chart in an earier post to see what each god represents

Zeus
Hera
Poseidon
Hades
Hestia
Artemis
Apollo
Athena
Dionysus
Hephaestus
Aphrodite
Hermes
Demeter(go ahead add Persephone! one more can't hurt)

Greek Key

The greek key was frequently found on ancient pots made by the Greeks.

It is now common in our architecture( look for it in other places,too)

How is this relevant? Look Below

Steelers Victory&Greek Keys

Of course I was happy when I saw that the Pittsburgh Steelers won the playoff game tonight (I live in WV, remember),but I was especially elated when I noticed that one of the players had an image of a greek key tattooed on his arm. Now, I'm not encouraging you to go beg your parents for a tatoo, even if would be somewhat educational. Nevertheless, I was amused to see it. I'm sorry that I don't have the name of the player who had it. That darn camerea man, he wanted to get another shot of Big Ben. Anyway, just take my word for it. Or google it. I'm sure you already just did,though.

Harry Potter Knows Latin

Yes that's right - the famous Harry Potter knows latin! Before I knew that, I never even picked up a Harry Potter book. Now,I can't put them down.(Really,I think I may be addicted...my mom has to hide them in the mornings so I don't take them to school. I wonder if there is a Harry Potter anonymous meeting somewhere. I'll look into it.)

Anyway,here is the story into how I became a Harry Potter fan. Actually, I can put it in a few bullet points.

~Mon.- My friend's dad asks if I'm going to the new Harry Potter movie.
"No, I haven't even read the books." I reply matter of factly (Harry Potter? Oh yeah, that book about the wizard kid...LAME)

~Wed.- My latin teacher mentions that the Harry Potter series has many latin and greek mythology references.

~ Fri.- I'm done with the series

Just kidding...I'm on the fourth book. I do love these books. Anyone who likes latin or greek mythology would love them. So, if your reading this blog you would like them.

Harry & his friends always say- Lumos(light),deluminator( to take away ligt)
nox(night),obscuro(to not see,darken),reparo(to fix)

Those are just a few examples,but make sure that you look for them next time you read these completely woderful books by J.K. Rowling.

~Morgan

Gotta love the local library...

So,I just came back from the library after reading some latin grammer books.(No,I usually don't read dusty old grammer books in my spare time. Yes, I do have to study for a HUGE latin test. So no smart comments). Anyway, latin grammer is fun and everything... but guess what else I found - the Winnie the Pooh Book written in latin!!!

I know I'm a geek but what else is new. Though, my latin teacher will be happy with me :)

A map of the Hundred Acre Woods in the book
Look at "Domus Porcelli"( the house of the little pig aka Piglet). Gotta love that cute little pig...

The Perils of Persephone

Hey,it's Lexi!!!(and Morgan too...)It's a snow day! We're here to inform you of the many perils of Persephone. Persephone is the goddess of flowers. Her mother is Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. Her mother never let Persephone out of her sight,but one day Persephone was not with her mother. As she was playing in a meadow making flowers grow, the Earth opened up and Hades appeared in his chariot. Hades is the god of the Underworld. He is also her great uncle. Before her nymphs could rescue her, Persephone was snatched up and takin to the Underworld. Hades had previousy fallen in love with the young goddess and he wanted to marry her and have her become the Queen of the Undeworld. Demeter was distraught when she learned that her daughter was kidnapped and takin to the Underworld. She told Zeus to have her belovoed daughter returned or the consequences would be dire. She told Zeus that if Persephone was not returned, she would not allow the Earth to bare grain and prosper. Zeus knew that Demeter would deliver that threat, so he sent Hermes to the Underworld to bring back Persephone.
Persephone would never havehad to return to the Underworld again,but while she was with Hades, she had eaten pomegranate seeds. The pomegranete is the food of the dead and if eaten, one could never leave the Underworld. Zeus bargained with Hades to let the young goddess return to her mother. They finally reached an agreement. Persephone would stay one month for each pomegranate seed that she had eaten. Now, she has to spend half of the year with her mother and the other half with Hades. When Persephone is gone with Hades the Earth has winter and when Persephone returnes to her mother,the Earth blossms with the season spring. The myth of Persephone is how the ancient Greeks and Romans explain the different seasons.

Look how happy! Demeter is on the bottom and Persephone is on the top

Relief of a marriage ceremony