The Project
This site is a class project for UNC Greek 222/351: Attic Greek Oratory, Spring 2019.
The project was born when Dr. Lye came into class claiming that she had a dream in which we, her students, created a “build your own adventure” for the Ancient Greek speech On The Murder of Eratosthenes. We talked about it and thought that was exactly what our project would be.
How to Play
This site consists of a series of rhetorical choices that you can make, all of which are adapted from a real Athenian lawsuit. The case involved a man, Euphiletus, who had been charged with the murder of another man, Eratosthenes. Euphiletus admitted to killing Eratosthenes, but because it happened when Euphiletus caught Eratosthenes having sex with his wife, the murder, in Euphiletus’s mind, was justified.
Euphiletus hired a logographer named Lysias, who was not an Athenian citizen, but was a very talented speech writer, to craft his defense.
You will have to choose how best to defend (or not defend, depending on your preference) Euphiletus based on various rhetorical techniques and using different lines of argument.
At each stage of the argument, there will be an option of links to choose from, each consisting of a rhetorical strategy or line of argument that you can use to advance Euphiletus’s speech. At the end of each line of argument, you can see how you did.
For additional information about this speech or about Lysias, check out Legal Speeches of Democratic Athens : Sources for Athenian History by Andrew Wolpert and Konstantinos Kapparis
The People
Noah Berens role of Euphiletus
Noah Berens is a classics and biology double major with a math minor from Charlotte, North Carolina. When he’s not violently brandishing rocks and scratching his head, he enjoys playing and teaching piano, running, and working in a research lab studying intellectual disabilities.
Jermaine Bryant role of Eratosthenes
Jermaine is a senior Classics major and History minor from Johns Creek, GA. His major research interests in Latin poetry and Roman History. He also works on issues of social justice and diversity and inclusion in Classics, and has worked on two textbooks and curriculums for the Paideia Institute aimed at bringing ancient language familiarity to primary and secondary school students. Next year he will be starting his PhD at Princeton University.
Ashley Choo-Hen Video Editor
Ashley is a junior double majoring in Classics and Comparative Literature. As a Georgia resident, she’s a big fan of humidity and farmers’ markets. Ashley is also a radio DJ at WXYC and the alto section leader of Carolina Choir. In the future, she wants to attend graduate school for Classics and to run a bearded dragon compound.
Emma English role of Hag
Emma is a senior majoring in Classical Civilization. She is from Mooresville, NC and her future goals include being a trophy wife.
Jack Grayrole of Servant Girl
Jack is a senior Classics major from San Francisco. He enjoys reading, going for walks, and his favorite dinosaur is the ankylosaurus.
Alex Haggis Script Compiler
Alex Haggis wrote his thesis on Greek erotic epigram, likes comics and Foucault, and is willfully ignorant of everything west of the Adriatic
Brodie HeginbothamWeb Design
Brodie is a senior studying Religious Studies and minoring in Greek and Media and Journalism. He is from Edenton, North Carolina, but now calls Chapel Hill his home. Brodie is interested in biblical and theological studies and, after graduating, will be heading to Duke Divinity School to pursue a Masters of Divinity.
Caroline Hermanrole of Euphiletus’s wifeand Script Compiler
is a graduating senior in Classical Languages. She originally hails from Chicago, and she plans to migrate back north after graduation—this time to Minnesota. For four years at Carolina, Caroline has worked as an expeditions trip leader at the Outdoor Education Center. Continuing this passion for the outdoors this summer, she will lead a 40-day whitewater canoe trip through the Canadian Arctic, doing her best to incorporate her Classics degree along the way. In the fall, she’ll return to the Twin Cities and begin applications for grad school.
Leah Hinshaw: role of Child
Leah is a senior Classics and Linguistics double major. She is from Winston-Salem, North Carolina and will be pursuing her M.A. in Classical Languages at Kansas University after graduation. She has interests in Latin poetry, gender, and women’s health and sexuality in antiquity. In her free time, she enjoys painting, yoga, and frequenting goat farms (pictured).
Grace Miller: role of Neighbor
Grace was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina. She is in her second year as an undergraduate at Chapel Hill. She is studying Combined Greek and Latin. She is interested in studying Greek tragedies and Roman New Comedy in the future. This summer she will be studying spoken Latin in Rome.
Allison Ruvidich role of Script Compiler and Greek Reader
Allison is a junior Classics and English major at UNC. When she isn’t weeping gently over her textbooks, she enjoys playing piano, hanging out in libraries, and knitting badly.
Olivia ZitkusProject Director and Script Compiler
Olivia is a junior studying Classical Languages with a Greek Emphasis and Economics. She was born and raised in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where she started studying Classics at a young age. Olivia has interests in the global market for art and antiquities, and hopes to work in art economic consulting after graduating from Carolina in May 2020. In the future, she hopes to attend law school to study international law and trade.
Dr. Suzanne Lye is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the instructor for Advanced Greek Prose: Attic Oratory in Spring 2019, the class for which this website was created. She received her A.B. from Harvard University, where she studied organic chemistry and the history of antibiotics. After receiving her Ph.D. in Classics from the University of California, Los Angeles, she was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Dartmouth College. Her research focuses on conceptions of the afterlife in ancient Greek Underworld narratives from Homer to Lucian. She has been involved in several digital humanities projects, both with students and with scholars, including the Homer Multitext Project. For information about this project, contact Professor Lye. slye@unc.edu
On the Murder of Eratosthenes 