Clare Fleming – Roman Revolutions

“Sparrow’s Lover” Piano Adaptation

By Clare Fleming | May 12, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Here is the link to my piano adaptation: https://youtu.be/UK19zZQgAH

After reading some of Catullus’s poems, I was inspired to look for a piano piece that was based off of his work. I found the sheet music of a piano composition entitled “Sparrow’s Lover”, by Tsuquon, which was a loosely based interpretation of Catullus’ poem 2, “To Her Sparrow”. Catullus displayed his emotions through poems, but this adaptation conveys his emotions in a different manner, without using any words, which is why this piece is so captivating and fun to play.

This piece of music mirrors Catullus’s poem 2. In the beginning of “To Her Sparrow”, Catullus words his lines in a gentle way, describing Lesbia’s love for her sparrow. I compare this to the opening 5 measures of “Sparrow’s Lover,” which sounds peaceful and relaxing, just as Catullus seemed in the beginning.

As the poem progresses, Catullus subtly starts getting upset describing Lesbia’s infatuation with the sparrow. He claims that she “is greedily accustomed to provoke sharp bites from the sparrow”, so we can sense his hostility. In the piece of music, starting from measure 6, the song becomes more chaotic and dramatic, just like poem 2. There is also a repeat in the music, which leads me to believe the dramatic, loud, chaotic section of the piece was repeated to emphasize Catullus’s despair and pain.

After his aggression subsides, Catullus’s sense of desperation shines through in the closing lines. He whines, “if only I were able to play with you yourself, and to lighten the sad cares of your mind.” His mournful, solemn mood can be compared to the closing measures of the piano piece, where the composer instructed us pianists to play mezzo piano and piano (quietly) to capture the sadness and desperation Catullus felt when discussing Lesbia’s sparrow.

Overall, the similarities between Catullus’s poem 2 and “Sparrow’s Lover”, made this piece of music very entertaining to play.

Here is the sheet music:

Actum Cinemagraphicum – HBO’s Rome

By Clare Fleming | March 29, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Last week, before we saw a snippet from an episode in class, I watched the beginning of HBO’s Rome TV series. Specifically, I watched the first two episodes of the series. In Episode 1, the show highlights two characters: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. Vorenus is a centurion of the 13th legion of Rome, under the command of Caesar. Titus Pullo is a rowdy soldier under Vorenus’s command who loves to party. The show opens with a battle where Titus Pullo disobeys Lucius Vorneus on the battlefield, leading to Pullo’s punishment. Pullo is publicly whipped and then imprisoned, which aligns with the infamnia tactics of publicly shaming Roman citizens which we talked about in class.

The audience is then introduced to Pompey and Caesar as we watch Julia, Caesar’s daughter and Pompey’s wife, die in childbirth. Once Julia died, loyalty no longer lied between Caesar and Pompey. We then see a scene on the Senate floor, where one man encourages Pompey to betray Caesar. Despite Pompey’s public rejection of this idea, behind closed doors, Pompey starts questioning his allegiance to Caesar and plays around with the idea of overthrowing him. Ironically enough, Pompey starts conspiring about Caesar while he was at a play with masked actors. This portrayal of masked performers ties to our discussion about the word persona and forms of entertainment in Rome.

There was also a scene where Octavian, Caesar’s nephew, is captured by barbarians and held captive. Pullo and Vorenus, on their search for Caesar’s stolen eagle, slay the barbarians and rescue Octavian. In order to establish credibility, Octavian states that he is a Roman citizen born of noble birth. This reminds me of the saying “Civis Romanus Sum”, used when Romans prove their validity to others like Octavian did in this scene.

In the episodes I watched so far, the plot is centered around the build-up of Caesar and Pompey’s tensions ultimately resulting in the Civil War. The show highlights Pompey’s jealousy of Caesar as the main cause for the feud. Pompey is jealous because the people of Rome love Caesar. This plotline, along with many other aspects of HBO’s Rome, are very historically accurate. It is very interesting to see our discussions about Roman history play out on the TV screen. I am eager to continue watching and see the Civil War and Pompey’s death play out as well.

“The Nurse Antigone”: Coping with Grief and Loss

By Clare Fleming | March 21, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

On Thursday, March 17, I attended the performance of The Nurse Antigone by Margaret Atwood. The audience was informed that, prior to the start of the play, Eteocles and Polynices, brothers and sons of Oedipus, killed each other in battle over the control of Thebes. Creon, newfound leader of Thebes, declared Polynices a traitor and therefore did not give him burial rights. Their sister Antigone, the protagonist of the play, opens the play by urging her other sister Ismene to help her bury Polynices. Ismene is against the idea of defying Creon and inflicting more trauma and death in her family. However, Antigone persists and decides to bury Polynices on her own.

A guard found Antigone burying her brother and reports it to Creon. Creon then sentences Antigone to death through burying her alive. The audience then finds out that Antigone is betrothed to Creon’s son, Haemon. Haemon tries talking Creon out of his decision by informing him that the people of Thebes are very upset with his death sentence order. The people of Thebes think her cause was noble and urges Creon to reconsider her punishment. Creon disregards Haemon’s pleas and goes through with the execution. Antigone is then buried alive in a cave and hangs herself.

Tiresias, an old prophet, insinuates to Creon that his decision to kill Antigone will result in the sacrifice of his offspring. Creon accuses Tiresias of lying for the purpose of profiting off his sorrow. Soon after, Haemon kills himself next to Antigone’s hanging body. Creon is informed of this and then learns that his wife is also dead.

Upon reflection, I thought it was amazing the way Bryan Doerries, the director, was able to connect a play from ancient Greece to nurses suffering in the pandemic. The play was centered around loss, grief, and aggression. Nurses during this pandemic have faced so much trauma, loss, grief, and unwarranted aggression and violence. Throughout this pandemic, nurses have had to fill the void of real family members because patients on their deathbeds cannot even see their family in isolation. The reality that families cannot see their loved ones before death can be correlated to Antigone and Ismene, and their lack of closure when both of their brothers died.

On top of this,The dramatic conflict in Greek theater is shown in this play, where murders and betrayal are underlying themes. The omnipresence of violence and aggression in Roman and Greek culture was exhibited through their forms of entertainment. I also really enjoyed seeing Margaret Atwood debut her acting career as Tiresias. I have always loved Margaret Atwood. I especially love “The Handmaid’s Tale”, and it was amazing to watch her on live video.