Trivia

I enjoyed a lovely night last week with my senior Latin classes and others from all around Sydney at the annual Senior Classics Dinner (organised by the CLTA). The costumes were especially fabulous this year, and I am full of admiration for those of my students who embraced the spirit of the evening by dressing up (even if it was as grapes and Jedi).

The after-dinner trivia was slightly easier than in previous years, but there were still a few questions which left me scratching my head. See if you can work out the answers to these beauties.

Which Sydney suburbs are referred to below?

• terra australis
• ager cinis
• urbs cornus
• oppidum novum
• herbaria
• virilis
• collis aestivus
• tumuli septem
• filix rubra
• vallis viridis

Which sporting teams are referred to below?

• tigres
• cygni
• cornices
• tauricanes
• feles
• aquilae
• dracones
• leones

What was the nationality of the following people?

• Ulysses
• Hannibal
• Romulus and Remus
• Cleopatra
• Vercingetorix
• Boudicca

cena Romana MMIX

I had a very enjoyable time with my year 11 students at the annual Senior Classics Dinner last night. The highlight was of course the trivia quiz, fiendishly difficult as always. Here are a few sample questions; I'll put the answers in the comments sometime next week.


The following goddesses all had something to do with pregnancy, childbirth or child-rearing. Match the goddess to her correct function.

Goddesses

• Aboena; Alemona; Lucina; Cunina; Decima

Functions

• To guard the cradle; To watch over pregnancy; To ensure the safe going out and coming in of children; To keep unborn children safe; To look after women in childbirth

The Greco-Roman god of the wind was Aeolus, who had six sons, each controlling the wind from a particular direction. Match the son with the particular direction of his wind.

Sons

• Aquilo; Boreus; Corus; Eurus; Notus; Zephyrus

Directions

• North; East; South; South-West; West; North-West

Many parts of the human skeleton have Latin names. Where would you find the following bones?

• flute; small dish; brooch; basin; cuckoo; ray; hammer, anvil and stirrup

Which NSW places are referred to by the following Latin phrases?

• collis aestivus; mons monens; tumulosus infractus; montes caeruli; silicis phoci; geminus sinus

Senior Classics Dinner

I took a group of my year 11 students to the Senior Classics Dinner, at Trinity Grammar School last night. The dinner is organised by the CLTA every year and is always lots of fun. For me it's good to see my Latin teaching colleagues, and for the students it's good to meet other like-minded students from around Sydney, to dress up, to have a nice meal and to play a bit of trivia. The trivia is always fiendishly difficult, here are a few of the questions that I had trouble answering myself*:

What is the literal translation of the names of the following pieces of equipment?

• stethoscope
• microphone
• camera
• seismograph
• television
• hypodermic

With which particular bodies of water were the following types of Naiads associated?

• Crinaeae
• Limnades (or Limnatides)
• Pegaeae
• Potameides
• Eleionomae

Which modern day public holidays in Australia fall very close to, or on, the following Roman festivals?

• Quinquatria (in honour of Minerva)
• Robigalia (in honour of Robigus)
• Vestalia (in honour of Vesta)
• Ieiunium Cereris (Fast of Ceres)
• Dies Natalis Invicti Solis (Festival of the Invincible Sun god)

I'll give the answers in the comments next week.

[*this may say more about me than the questions]

Livy trivia

This post is dedicated to my year 12 class who are studying hard for their Livy exam. Here is some Livy trivia (some Livia, perhaps?) which you may not have known:

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Livy!

1. Olympic badminton rules say that livy must have exactly fourteen feathers!
2. Livy was originally green, and actually contained cocaine.
3. Humans have 46 chromosomes, peas have 14, and livy has 7.
4. Livy cannot burp - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in his stomach!
5. The first domain name ever registered was livy.com!
6. Livyolatry is the mindless worship of livy.
7. When livy is swallowed, he will enter the blood stream within twenty minutes.
8. If you lick livy ten times, you will consume one calorie.
9. Marie Antoinette never said 'let them eat cake' - this is a mistranslation of 'let them eat livy'!
10. Livy is the world's tallest woman.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

For more random trivia visit this site (gratias to Byron for the link)

Monday, period 4

Good Morning year 9! Your task today, should you choose to accept it, is to visit the Cambridge course website, and do some of the grammar and vocabulary exercises from the last couple of stages. If you've finished with those, you can visit this site, and have a go at some on-line trivia quizes, or this site to play hangman in Latin.