MONMOUTH, Ill. — Classics professor James May, the provost and dean
at St. Olaf College, will deliver the 23rd annual Bernice L. Fox
Classics Lecture on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Monmouth
College’s Wells Theater.
Entitled "Reconstructing and Rowing on the Trireme Olympias," the
lecture is free and open to the public.
In 1990 and again in 1993, May was of 170 rowers who powered the
trireme Olympias, a replica of the ancient Greek warship, around the
Aegean Sea. In his talk, he will discuss the history of triremes in the
ancient world, the project to construct a ship according to ancient
design and his experiences aboard Olympias.
May, who earned his Ph.D. in classics from the University of North
Carolina in 1977, is the author of many articles on Cicero, classical
rhetoric and Latin pedagogy, as well as a book entitled "Trials of
Character: The Eloquence of Ciceronian Ethos." He earned bachelor’s
degrees in Latin and English from Kent State University.
Established in 1985, the lecture honors the late Bernice L. Fox, who
taught classics at Monmouth from 1947 until 1981. The goal of this
series is to illustrate the continuing importance of classical studies
in the modern world and the intersection of the classics with other
disciplines in the liberal arts.