Recently in English, we have been reading the 'Odyssey' and obviously, there is a lot of Latin references and Greek references throughout the entirety of the book. For example, even though the book is translated into English, sometimes the sentences sound odd or out of place in the text. This is because that when they translated the book, sometimes sayings or words used together don't work together in a different language like English, so I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are occurrences in the book where things Odysseus or Penelope say come out sounding odd because they were originally in Latin. Also, the names used in the poem are all very well known names in the Latin world. For example, Helen of Troy, Odysseus, Telemakhos, and Kalypso. Then we have the gods used in the poem that you can find referenced throughout history and in different Latin texts. All things considered, the 'Odyssey' is filled with Latin/Greek apothegms and mottos, and there are just so many that I can't talk about them all in one sitting. I guess this means that this is the perfect time to go through and label some, and it's very interesting to put a sentence into a Latin translator and see what happens. Sometimes it helps me to understand what they are trying to say when I'm stuck somewhere. Anyways, Latin is everywhere in the world and it's up to us students to recognize where and when it's referenced.
Cat Grayson
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