The blog aggregates news about publications, activities, etc. related to Egyptian/Arabic scholarship in the field of Greco-Roman studies and thus seeks to challenge the Eurocentrism prevalent in the field. It aims also at directing the attention to relevant materials from modern nonacademic/public contexts; roughly from 1798-to the present. The news comes mainly from Egypt without excluding other Arabic countries.
The fabula crepidataMedea of Seneca the Younger is performed in Arabic based on the professional translation of Prof. Abdel Moaty Shaarawy, see the post about this translation here .
The performance was produced by the cultural program of the Egyptian Radio (Radio Cairo) and now available on the You Tube channel of this program. Medea is done by the famous Egyptian actress Samira Abdelaziz. It is a familiar voice for every Egyptian as she is moderating, since 1975 until today, a radio program called "Said the philosopher", in which she, as a female student with an angelic voice, asks a certain philosopher about a certain virtue. Now, as a Medea, she lectures us about her the virtue of revenge !
The You Tube hosts an extensive lecture in Arabic about the historical context of Homer's Iliad. The lecture is delivered by one of the pioneering Egyptian classicists and papyrologists; Prof. Abdellatif Ahmed Ali. It is uploaded by his son Dr. Moones Ali (Thanks, Dr. Moones, for this valuable addition). Prof. Ali took his PhD from University of Michigan in 1949. He came back to teach in Cairo University (department of Classics and History) until 1974. In this year he moved to Kuwait, where he was teaching Greek and Roman History. The lecture seems to be delivered in Kuwait in 1975 or after this year. In the calendar behind the moderator, I can see a date reading Monday 15/4/88 or 85. With a map and extensive knowledge of the Greek history and mythology, he relates the epic as well as the modern history of scholarship about it in a very interesting, sensational and lively (sometimes theatrical) manner as evidenced by the audience' laughter. Enjoy watching and hearing !
