Forsan et haec

read to the end for the things that are giving me life right now

With everything going on in the world, I completely forgot to mention that I had an article out in the Public Humanities journal’s Manifesto Issue, which launched on January 23. The article is called “As Eidolon Lay Dying,” a title I’m really proud of even though I don’t remember coming up with it? Public Humanities is a new public-access journal through Cambridge that does some stuff similar to what we were doing at Eidolon, but with peer review. It’s well worth checking out. One of their first articles was about museums and Animal Crossing. That’s a vibe I like.

When one of the publication’s editors reached out to me to write something for the Manifesto Issue, I quickly decided the piece would focus on the only manifesto I’ve ever written: How to Be a Good Classicist Under a Bad Emperor, an article we published on Eidolon just a few short weeks after Trump was elected the first time. It wears its manifesto-ness on its sleeve - the first line is literally “A specter is haunting the Internet — the specter of the ‘alt-right.’” Not subtle! We weren’t trying to be. I even changed out our regular Greek-key section break for one that looked a little more swastika-esque, just to really nail home the “this is about fascism” point.

“How to Be a Good Classicist” came about because I’d been working for the past year on my book Not All Dead White Men, a book that most of my colleagues thought sounded kind of silly — classical reception by internet trolls? really? Honestly, I thought it was silly too. On election day I was preparing to give a couple of lectures about my book material, and I included an entire page — 5% of my lecture time — to justifying why people should care about this material. But instead of facing audiences that were scoffing and dismissive, my mid-November 2016 lecture audiences were shell-shocked and reeling. People kept asking me what to do about far-right trolls loving the Classics. I wanted to give them some answers.

I collated some of the research I’d done on my book into that piece and suggested some strategies for how my colleagues could push back against the misuse of antiquity to support regressive political aims. My colleagues and I worked really hard on that piece — we wrote, edited, and commissioned art for it in just five days, which is a wild turn-around time. It became, by far, our most-read and most impactful piece, and it proved to be a pivotal moment for Eidolon. A lot of the response from our colleagues was great. There was plenty of bad stuff, too: trolling, nastiness, and an irreparable fissure in our relationship with our parent nonprofit.

All of this is old news from eight years ago, but it also feels incredibly relevant right now at the dawn of the second Trump administration. I mostly wrote the Public Humanities piece last spring and summer, so I had no idea how timely it would feel. Life can be funny that way.

There’s a famous line in Aeneid Book 1 - “Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit,” perhaps one day it will even feel good to remember this.” Aeneas’ men are in the process of getting shipwrecked when he says that, so you can imagine them looking at him with some skepticism. Like, come on, Aeneas, how am I going to be able to look back on this fondly if I’m in the process of drowning? But when I think back on running Eidolon now, one of the main things I’m struck by is how much fun we had.

Oh, not all of it was fun. A lot of it was extremely difficult and stressful. But writing for the public can also be really, really enjoyable, and I think that aspect gets under-stressed when people talk pros and cons. Everyone talks about the engagement, boosting research, proving the relevance of the humanities in a world where enrollment numbers are dropping. And all of that is great. But it also can be fun! You can write about Animal Crossing! A major part of the ethos of this newsletter is that I want to have fun writing it. (Except for when I’m furious, like last week’s piece about the brutal anti-trans EOs.)

Fun is important. Joy is important. I’ve been really inspired by the Good Queer News substack, which is an incredible resource, but I was particularly struck by his last piece. You can and should read the whole thing here:

Choosing Joy on Hard Mode: Testifying at the MO Capitol

This is the passage that’s sitting with me the most:

I took a hard look around me and made a decision: I do not owe misery to this movement. I am not any more effective as a martyr. I am not failing as an advocate if sometimes the answer to “how are you?” is actually “good!”.

This is an incredibly important point. It’s ok to feel bad, and trust me, I spend plenty of time despairing. But you’re not doing anything wrong if you want to feel good and have fun sometimes.

I had so, so much fun running Eidolon. A lot of that was because of my amazing co-editors, who were such a delight to edit and write and chat with (and still are!). Even the feverish pace of “How to Be a Good Classicist”’s publication cycle is the kind of thing that does feel good to remember. I talk more about that in “As Eidolon Lay Dying” and how key I think it was to Eidolon’s success. That joy and humor is what keeps you going through the death threats and trolls and feelings of irrelevance and Sisyphean labor.

As we gear up for another round of resistance, remember to find community and joy. It will be more important than ever.

Finally, a few things that are giving me joy right now:

Grabie paint markers

SO fun and satisfying. Even just filling out the swatch sheet rules. If you want more ideas for how to use them, Reels definitely has you covered.

The Roottrees Are Dead

If you like mysteries and fancy yourself a bit of an internet detective, this game is definitely for you. The premise is that it’s 1998, and a famous family have just died, and you need to put together a giant family tree and unearth some dirty laundry in the process. I positively devoured it, and I’m currently working on its extremely challenging second chapter, Roottreemania (which I insist on calling “The Roottrees Are Dirty, Dirty Cheaters”). If you want a video game with more Nazi-punching — and who could blame you? — I suggest the new Indiana Jones game, where you can get achievements for bludgeoning Nazis with various different items, like guitars and toilet brushes.

Dazzle Dry Nail Polish

This stuff is amazing! It truly does dry in five minutes!! Perfect for anyone with stuff to do who is also a klutz (aka me).

Cheeseboards for Dinner

I don’t have a link for this one (although you can subscribe to Platterful, if you want), but I want to heartily endorse this concept. People do it for girl dinner, sure, but it also RULES for family dinners. My kids love cheese board night! We bring a stuffed shark to the table and call it Sharkuterie. It’s always a hit.

Share your current sources of joy in the comments, and remember: Aeneas may have been a terrible and totally uninspiring epic hero, but he made some good points.