Lewes Old Grammar School takes part in epic global event

Teachers and pupils from Lewes Old Grammar School (LOGS) are teaming up with their local library for a synchronised international reading of Ovid’s Metamorphoses next month.

Eight pupils from LOGS will read Book III of the classic poem alongside more than 5000 people from 27 countries, as far afield as Colombia, Israel, South Africa and Australia.

Organised by the European Festival of Latin and Greek, the reading will include some of the most iconic passages from Metamorphoses – including the story of Echo and Narcissus and the transformation of Tiresias.

Subtitles will be available to help audience members engage with the text, as LOGS students will mostly use Latin to tell the stories but some sections will be presented in famous English, French or Spanish translations. In total, 50 languages will be used for the recital worldwide.

To accompany the event, Lewes Library will stage a temporary exhibit of Ovid’s key texts, alongside classical, mythological and art books. The reading comes just as Rome announced it would revoke Ovid’s exile, some 2000 years after his death.

This is the latest initiative from LOGS to reinvigorate Latin, after the subject was added to the junior and senior school curricula in September.

“We are very excited to take part in this event for the second year,” said Keith Rogers, computer science and classics teacher at LOGS. “Metamorphoses is an incredibly rich, varied universal collection of tales and this global project really speaks for the timelessness of Ovid’s ideas.

“Eight members of staff from Lewes Library are joining us on the day, and we really hope the reading will inspire and encourage others to take an interest in one of the most influential texts in world history.”

The globally synchronised reading of Ovid’s Metamorphoses is free to attend at Lewes Library on Friday 23 March at 10.00 am.  A reading will also take place at Hastings Library at the same time.

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