Miss Brice (Head of Classics)

Last Friday, the Year 11 Latin students headed to London to visit the much-acclaimed Troy exhibition at the British Museum, followed by a short visit to the Roman Britain gallery.

As part of the Latin GCSE course, the girls have been studying extracts from the epic poem, Virgil’s Aeneid, which is about the Trojan hero Aeneas, who escaped from Troy as a refugee after the destruction of the city by the Greeks. Aeneas then travelled around the Mediterranean seeking to find a new home in Italy.

The girls took their Latin text with them and investigated artistic interpretations of the Trojan War stories, ranging from ancient Greek vases, Roman frescoes and modern paintings. The ageless themes of war, suffering, love and family were depicted in very moving ways, and were perhaps especially brought home in the comparisons made with Syrian refugees and the First World War.

Sarah Gervais (Year 11), said: “Seeing the pots and artwork depicting the text we have studied really brought to light how important the story of Aeneas was for those in the past. A highlight for me was standing in the exhibition with our Latin texts and reading the original Latin, linking it to the pots and artefacts.”

Purdey Blackstock (Year 11) added: “We were able to see so many artistic interpretations of what we have been learning in class, and it helped bring the story to life.”