Lampas - Volume 59, Issue 1, 2026

This article responds, in the form of a diptych, to the portrayal of Penelope as presented in the 2025-26 final examination syllabus for Greek. The first part taps into a tradition that challenges the standard image we have of Penelope. After all, few women in classical literature can lay claim to a more consistent image of marital steadfastness than Penelope, an image cultivated by ancient writers from Homer to late antiquity. Yet although Penelope is famously celebrated for her unwavering fidelity to her husband Odysseus, a considerable number of ancient sources nonetheless suggest otherwise, or at least problematize their mutual bond.

The first part of this article (§1-7) examines this remarkable alternative tradition, in which the supposedly ever-loyal wife looks far more like a Jezebel than a paragon of faithfulness. The second part (§8-9) takes as its point of departure the ‘shadow text’ included in translation in the syllabus. It offers a closer look at Penelope’s own perspective on her situation, as presented by Ovid in the first letter of his Heroides, written from Penelope to Odysseus. Here we encounter a Penelope who upholds her reputation for chastity and fidelity, yet positions herself with striking independence from Odysseus. Thus, while both parts inevitably engage with Homer, they also each exhibit a degree of independence that casts Odysseus’ famous spouse in a new light.

Latin and ancient Greek have lost much of their former appeal and status as school subjects. Hence, teachers increasingly need to explain and defend the presence of these valuable subjects in the school curriculum. In this article, we argue that reception studies are indispensable for this, since they show to what extent Greco-Roman antiquity has been a reference culture for former as well as present-day Western society. The use of Greco-Roman receptions in the classroom also facilitates reflections on the so-called ‘self and other’, the long-defended aim to help pupils reflect on their own culture by means of exposure to the ‘other’ culture of Greco-Roman antiquity. In this article, we show that, in particular, contemporary receptions help pupils to do so. We demonstrate how teachers can integrate receptions from a range of disciplines into their teaching of set texts. We also offer downloadable worksheets and online quizzes for direct use in this year’s exam classes Latin and ancient Greek.

This article offers philosophical background to Seneca’s letters on friendship and Cicero’s dialogue Laelius de amicitia, with a particular focus on Stoic theory. Recent scholarship has revised the view that Stoic friendship is impersonal or that friends are interchangeable; instead, Stoics can love friends for their own sake, and even as moral goods. In an attempt to clarify why only the wise can be friends, according to the Stoics, the article highlights two core values of Stoic friendship: reliability and mutual assistance. Reliability is grounded in the wise person’s inner coherence: only the sage has stable, non-conflicting beliefs, making genuine trust and steadfastness possible. Stoic reflection on the need for mutual assistance has a Platonic-Aristotelian pedigree in the question whether friendship arises from need or human nature. Seneca grapples with this problem in a few of his letters: while the wise are self-sufficient for happiness, they not only need other people in order to live, but they also can make good use of the uniquely rational assistance given by their wise friends.

As an author, Seneca has a lot working against him. Should we really be presenting texts by someone like him to young students? This article does not ignore the difficult aspects of Seneca and his texts. But it also highlights some aspects that speak in Seneca’s favour. In terms of content, there is certainly a lot to learn from him. Even his style can be inspiring for modern readers.