Events

Each semester, the UCA hosts several events. The biggest events held annually are the Agon and the Aristophanes reading.

Agon

The Agon is Boston University's contest for declamation in Greek and Latin in which students perform a Greek or Latin passage of their choice in front of an audience and a panel of judges. You are of course invited to our next Agon either to compete or to come as a spectator to hear the rhythm of the language and experience the finesse and power built into Greek and Latin verse.

A Brief History of the Agon

Agon is the Greek word for a contest or a battle. The significance of the agon in the classical world stretches all the way back to the days of Achilles and Hector. In the Trojan War, men would show their arete (excellence) through their prowess in battle and in contests such as those set up by Achilles in honor of Patroclus. In Classical times the agon played an important part in civic life and is used metaphorically by Sophocles in his Oedipus Rex, where the chorus praises the equal-wrestling city. Pericles in his famous funeral oration praises Athens for offering her citizens public and private agons for leisure.

It was at this time that agons of declamation became popular especially in Athens where men had to rely on the eloquence of their speech to defend themselves in court or to sway a democratic assembly to their side. Both Euripides and Aristophanes feature agons amongst poets and dramatists, and this practice continued well into Roman times with Cato mentioning the popularity of declamation contests in Rome.

This great classical tradition is preserved to this day by the Boston University Undergraduate Classics Association with our annual Agon. Started in AD 2004 by Derek Haddad '04, the Agon is held every fall and is well attended.

Aristophanes Reading

Every spring, the Classics Department in conjunction with the UCA puts on a play of Aristophanes using the translation of our own Dean Henderson, who is also a perennial actor in the Reading. The play has been directed by Professor Stephanie Nelson for the past five years. Plays usually employ a wide array of props ranging from Indian headdresses to rubber chickens! This event gives professors and students an opportunity to humiliate themselves on stage in the spirit of Old Greek Comedy and have some fun. The last three readings have featured Professor Samons' blues band (including members, Professor Jorgensen, and Professor James Jackson) with such original hits as "I'm a D-D-D-Dean" and "Lysistrata". Admission is free and food is provided.

Past Readings include:

2008 Women of the Thesmophoria
2007 Lysistrata
2006 The Frogs
2005 The Birds
2004 Acharnians
2003 Lysistrata