Malta Classics Association

The Malta Classics Association was set up in April 2010 to promote in diverse ways local interest in Greek and Latin civilizations. Our wide-ranging achievements over the past two years have been impressive. The third year promises to be yet another busy one, as well as the right time for exploring new ventures by which to reach a wider audience. Since its inception, the Association has believed in theatre and art as an opportunity to revive and popularise the Classics in an appealing fashion. This summer, we are metamorphosing Ovid back to life. A resuscitated version of the great Roman poet will tread the boards in a new play in Maltese (and Latin) by or Peresso entitled Ovidius in exsilio. Ovid is also the subject of an art exhibition by internationally famed artist Monica Beisner in Valletta. Both activities also form part of the Evenings on Campus festival by the University of Malta. Traditionally, Greek and Latin languages are the heart of Classical studies, and the Association will continue to offer beginners' evening-courses in both languages. A new course kicks off this summer in collaboration with DegreePlus. We shall also continue and round off an intermediate course in Greek that started earlier this year. As a special treat this summer, we also have a number of short courses, one on Greek philosophy, and one offering an introduction to the Latin and Greek etymology of scientific terms for doctors and pharmacists. Three public lectures by three academics specialised in their fields are in the pipeline on topics ranging from Classical marine archaeology, to Greek astronomy and to Platonic philosophy. Previous public lectures are set to go on print during 2013 in the Association's second publication after the issuing of the first Maltese translation of Aristotle's Poetics, which was also the first Aristotle text published in the vernacular. An exciting new undertaking we want to work on and possibly realise during summer 2013 is a cultural trip to Greece. Should this be the success we hope it would be, each year might find the Malta Classical Association touring a different classical site around the Mediterranean or even farther afield.