E-mail me at mcclainm@optonline.net Visit my Facebook page View my LinkedIn profile

Return to list of blogs
Searching for a Conversation
December 24, 2009
Somewhere in the vast realm of blogtalk an erudite and witty crowd is chatting about the classical Greek theater. Where are they?

In a matter of seconds I can find a live game of hearts just by Googling 'live game of hearts'. But finding the analogous site to join a conversation about Medea's infatuation with Jason is not so easy.

A few misguided searches led me to The Ancient World Bloggers Group (AWBG) – which sounds promising, but seems to be frequented by hard core archeologists. Not my type at all.

Next I stumbled upon the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP). The group promotes conversations - but at conferences and not (so far as I can tell) on line. Besides I didn't see anything about the Greek theater.

The Ancient Philosophy Society (APS) promises 'a forum for diverse scholarship on ancient Greek texts' but again the fora seem to be mostly conferences and the texts mainly philosophical.

At last I happened across About.com's Ancient/Classical History section. It contains page after page of commentary on the Greek plays – written at a level I can understand and comment on – and it includes a link to an Ancient/Classical History forum.

N.S. Gill

The instigator of the blog is one N.S. Gill, 'a Latinist and freelance writer with a longtime focus on the classical world'. Since she looks on the up and up and the site is sponsored by About.com I signed up, found a question I could answer and posted a response.

Maybe I found a conversation. We will see. But in the meantime the experience was at least as engaging as a game of Hearts – though a bit harder to find.