Vergil’s Inferno blog

By the encouragement of Dr. Kristina Passman and the modeling of my esteemed colleague James Brophy, I have created a blog for my Honors undergraduate thesis project at the University of Maine. As an homage to the supreme language of Latin and my two favorite texts, Vergil’s Aeneid and Dante’s Inferno, I intend to unite the three in a full translation of Aeneid Book VI into terza rima, the rhyme and meter employed in the Divina Commedia. In addition I shall write an extensive commentary, exploring the religious, philosophical and literary influences of both poets, especially one upon the other. My goal is to complete the project by the end of 2010. 

Please bookmark the sight, and subscribe to its RSS feed if you’re interested: http://vergilsinferno.wordpress.com/

The purpose of “Vergil’s Inferno” is to explore and explicate the influence of Vergil’s vision of the afterlife upon Dante, and thus the prevailing concepts of damnation and deliverance. I will exercise my mastery of the Latin language, my understanding of poetry, and my deep fascination with the classical world and the debt to it the modern world fails to pay. 

How a pagan poet created a Christian Hell….

What you’ll see here is all my progress that’s fit to print, both as a journal and a exhibition to general interest. I will share translations, research texts, and anything relating to the project or my classical studies here at UMaine. So please show your support and feedback to keep me at a high pace. Leave comments, criticisms, libels, you name it. If you’re reading it then it was worth my time. Thank you.

DJ of the Month

Coincidentally, on the month of my birth, WMEB honored me with their employee of the month display outside the station in the Memorial Union. Here’s the text of the blurb written for it. Consider it a taste for what’s the come, as my roommate Zev Eisenberg is creating a feature on my show for a New Media project. Here’s the full text:

“Jeremy Swist is a second-year Honors College student, majoring in Latin and History with a minor in Classics. A former Bostonian, he calls Westport Island his home. Last summer he wrote reviews for The Metal Observer webzine. In addition to Metal he enjoys classical music, ancient history and attending first-year Honors lectures for the hell of it. He serves the Modern Languages & Classics department as a Latin tutor.

“Ministry of Metal” has been running strong for a full year, with a mission to restore dignity to a genre so diluted by commercialization. This is achieved by playing both modern extreme metal and the old school classics. A typical show features Black Metal acts like Bathory, Emperor and Deathspell Omega, Death Metal like Morbid Angel and Asphyx, and Traditional Metal like Candlemass and Manilla Road. Jeremy taps a collection of over 500 albums, spanning several genres and over three decades of music. With a focus on European acts, he flies Metal’s true colors as an international phenomenon, expressing cultural pride and the plight of the human condition. A full broadcast explores the genre’s prolific development and vastness of styles, then dares you to affirm that “it still all sounds the same.” What began as a schism from Rock n’ Roll today incorporates diverse elements from industrial to symphonic. Invited are both veteran headbangers and open-minded initiates. Jeremy takes requests via FirstClass, but receives most through his multinational fan-base centered at UltimateMetal.com.

“Ministry of Metal” airs Sundays 7-10 PM.” 

I’m in the paper again…

…this time for non-musical grievances. I finally heeded the call to write opinion pieces for The Maine Campus, the student newspaper for UMaine. Of a range of topics I could rant about, I felt most compelled to lament society’s neglect of the English language. The article’s intended title was “Thoughts of Technology & Language,” but the editors fancied a more alliterative legend. At least the mugshot will get more people around here to acknowledge my pitiful existence. Read the online publication at this address - http://media.www.mainecampus.com/media/storage/paper322/news/2009/02/16/Opinion/OpEd-A.Lexicon.Lost.To.Lolz-3631195.shtml

But I will copy the article here for your convenience.

Thoughts on Technology & Language

Languages don’t evolve – they devolve. I’ve adopted this philological maxim as my mantra. And while it’s a linguistic principle for tongues to simplify over time, recent culture has taken it beyond the disuse of tenses and cases.

Behold an age of instantaneous information. Speedy Internet access now lets us share pictures, videos and words in a flash. Written sentences can no longer keep up. We ingest media so quickly we have no time to actually read. News websites are becoming increasingly visual because people are more enthralled by the camera than the keyboard.

This disadvantage is affecting the English language itself. Our generation now expresses itself with shorter spellings (“u” for “you”) and acronyms (“lol”), for the sake of celerity. Now, such perversion is appropriate in the context of “LOLcats,” but its use has become so common that many embrace it as valid English. I know professors whose students turn in essays written to the standards of the “LOLcat Bible,” not as a farce, but as a reflection of total immersion in a paradigm where words become secondary to “new media.” Why read Aristotle’s Politics when a boiled-down wiki is bookmarked next to Facebook? It’s a disservice enough to read a translated text, let alone an electronic abstraction.

Again, language simplifies. I do foresee the day when contractions like “doesn’t” and “won’t” will drop the apostrophe and become standard. That’s natural. But our technology threatens the diversity of our lexicon. Increasingly, words are becoming too formal and archaic for common comprehension. You may not notice this much, but try descending this ivory tower into reality. You’ll discover why poverty and ignorance keeps the lower class in the dark ages. Children would rather watch Hannah Montana than read anything at all. A chasm widens between the vocabulary on this page and the simple English that modern media has allowed us to survive upon. It won’t be the first estrangement of a classical language from the vulgate.

How can a Bible rendered to a fourth-grade reading level teach us to think critically about our world? Why read Dickens when every other word requires a dictionary? Culture is unconsciously committing what I call “lexic cleansing.” You’re not at fault. You’re the choir to which I’m preaching. But how small a minority we are, immune to this linguistic purgation. Who’s to blame? I’ll mention the ignorance encouraged by right-wing politics, but what disturb me also are the left-wing elites who deify technology as the salvation of the human mind. They’re too spellbound by their iPhones to realize that technology is what you bring to it, not vice-versa. Television and Internet promised an intellectual renaissance. Now in the hands of the masses, their predominant use is for pornography. Increasing the availability of information has decreased the quality of its expression.

As we drown in our portable TV screens, we dispose our need to express ourselves with the beauty of language. We continually absorb information with fewer words as possible, to the point where smilies and “facepalms” replace our critical capacities. Perhaps we are coming full-circle to ancient Egypt, to a language expressed through pictures. Is literacy again becoming the luxury of elitists? Not while my fellow “emoticon-oclasts” take a stand against this opium of the masses.

Jeremy Swist is a sophomore logophile.

Spring Semester Courses

Taking a break from all the Metal mayhem, I’ll provide my traditional course assessment for the new semester. I’m turning up the heat and tackling 21, count ‘em 21 credits this spring. Among them are three languages, so it should be a lot of fun.

Italian I

Even before showing up I knew this class would be easy. Italian is basically a cross between French and Latin, two languages I’m very familiar with of course. I’m taking this course for two reasons. First, it will be useful when I travel to Rome (for sure the highlight of my life!), and it’s a part of my Honors thesis project, which involves Dante’s Inferno, my second favorite book of all time. Even more exciting about the thesis is that I’ll be translating part of my first favorite book, Vergil’s Aeneid.

 Latin Prose of the Late Republic & Early Empire

This next installment of the advanced Latin sequence focuses on the prose writings of Julius Caesar and Cornelius Tacitus and their discourses on Roman Britain. This class has only three people, the “Triumvirate” of James Brophy, Joe Mileson and myself, with Tina Passman ex cathedra. Since it’s just us, we’re shooting for a graduate-calibre pace. My first assignment was over 500 lines!

 Educational Psychology

This is the final entry-level requirement for secondary ed. majors, before I submit my “e-folio” and qualify for advanced teaching courses. As the name implies, this explores the role of psychology in accounting for students’ behavior and learning in the classroom. So far we’ve covered theories of learning/cognitive development and how they apply to the teaching practice.

 Civilizations: Past Present & Future IV

This final chapter of the epic Honors tetrarchy brings us to the threshold of the 20^th century. With thousands of years of history, philosophy and science behind us we now see how minds such as Nietzsche, Freud and Du Bois apply and synthesize ideas into a new century of modern thought. My love for antiquity will be challenged, but I anticipate on gaining more appreciation for more recent discourses. Better yet, Zev is in my preceptorial seminar, forming yet another intellectual triumvirate with our partner in crime, Quinn.

 Elementary Ancient Greek II

This is a continuation of the course with the book Athenaze, which is the Greek equivalent to Ecce Romani. This semester is just four of us: the Latin Triumvirate plus Megan. So now it’s more like the cast of Seinfeld. Now that we’ve streamlined we’re picking up the pace and should be reading Thucydides in no time (well not quite).

Introduction to Astronomy

I actually took astronomy in high school in place of physics. The subject always interested me, despite its use of mathematics. I needed to satisfy a science-lab prerequisite and this was more fun than geology or biology, but less math-intensive than chemistry or physics. The class consists of lectures by the eccentric Dr. Comins, and a laboratory unit taught by a Chinese TA whose English is barely intelligible. It’s a good thing I’m already learned on this subject or I’d be completely lost.

The Home Stretch

I’m sitting in the Fogler Library right now, working on my Latin paper. Finals week is at hand. I expect I’ll brave the storm and be back in Arlington on Wednesday night. Between then and New Years I will present my Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2008 list. My 2007 list is the most searched-for part of this blog, so putting out another one should increase my total views quite a bit. Those tuned in to “Ministry of Metal” on Sunday the 14th will hear the list played in song, with my top album of the year played through in its entirety. 

Wish me luck and Happy Holidays!

When Zev Breaks Into the Studio…

My roommate Zev Eisenberg leaves no territory uncharted when it comes to his passion for photography. On a whim he descended into the abyss of the Memorial Union and snapped some shots of my show in progress. Click each picture for a larger version. Thanks Zev!

Maine Campus Interview – Full Text

So it turns out the Maine Campus website is incredibly lame in that it requires registration to view any of its content. It’s free, but annoying enough to prevent most people from giving a damn. So here’s the full text of the interview as published by both the website and the printed publication.

WMEB Spot: Ministry of Metal
by Kegan Zema

Jeremy Swist, a Latin and secondary education student at the University of Maine, hosts the weekly radio show, “The Ministry of Metal,” Sundays from 7 to 10 p.m.

MC: What got you first involved with WMEB?

Swist: I saw an advertisement on FirstClass, and they said they needed metal DJs. So I thought I might as well take the opportunity to expose the kind of metal I was into, which wasn’t the kind that most people think of what metal is.

MC: What characterizes your type of metal?

Swist: I specialize in extreme metal, like black metal and death metal, but I also love more traditional styles like doom metal and heavy metal. What most current people think of when they think of metal is the new-wave American heavy metal, like Lamb of God and Godsmack and some bands that aren’t actually metal. People who aren’t into metal, they look at that [type of metal] and think that’s what the entire genre is like. But that’s the case with every genre of music. People will look at hip-hop and if they’re not really into it, think hip-hop is all 50 Cent and Lil’ Wayne, but they shouldn’t by any means represent what the genre really is.

MC: On your show, do you try to show people that there is a whole different side to the genre?

Swist: That’s part of my mission. I am on this forum called ultimatemetal.com, and it’s basically a music discussion forum. I will post the Webstream link, and they [other forum users] will listen in. I get requests from them, and they use it to discover the bands I’m into. Sometimes people who have their own really underground band will send me songs to play on the station, and there are also local bands I promote on the show.

MC: How did you first start listening to metal? As an extreme genre, most people slip into it from something else; they don’t just walk into a store and pick up a Slayer CD out of nowhere.

Swist: How most people get really deep into metal is they start with the bands that they think represent the genre as a whole. Those surface bands that once they’re really into the genre, they look back at them and think they don’t have much substance. In early high school, I got into nu-metal like System of a Down and Linkin Park, and I just moved deeper from there. I got into Metallica and Rammstein and from there, I got into bands that I could no longer find on Napster or Kazaa, so I actually had to physically buy CDs. Then I joined that forum and that opened a whole new world of music to me. The thing with extreme metal is it takes a while to acclimatize, because there are certain elements of it that aren’t very accessible.

MC: Much of the metal scene you’re are a fan of is based out of Europe. Do you feel that you are at an advantage or a disadvantage living in the United States?

Swist: Well I’m certainly isolated from the European metal scene. Metal is huge in Europe. In Norway, black metal evolved kind of as a counter-culture but also very much based in their ancestral roots. What black metal has become today is a very extreme representation of culture. So I just want to make people over here realize that metal is very deep and significant – it’s not just angry music.

MC: The metal scene often revolves around being the most legitimate. However, I have seen many die-hard metal fans embrace Dethklok from the Adult Swim show “Metalocalypse,” a completely fictional band. What is your take on the Dethklok phenomenon?

Swist: Well, I personally don’t really like Dethklok, I have always seen them as just a parody band, stereotyping the metal culture. But I think people are really into them because they are just a fun band. You have another band like Gwar, that’s also kind of a joke band, but there’s also a serious aspect to it.

MC: I noticed you are wearing an Amon Amarth shirt. I know they represent almost the opposite of the idea of being a parody band because they have such a fervent belief in Viking culture. Do find that many of the metal bands you enjoy are fully entrenched in the music they make and the world they live in?

Swist: Well, the problem is that creativity is hard to come by, and no genre of music is free of trends. So with black metal there is the whole satanic trends. Most bands don’t take it seriously, but they think that in order to be legitimate ,they have to adopt that persona. It’s the same with death metal and the death and gore lyrics. The key element to any of those genres is defined by the music, the thematic stuff is just superficial. But because it’s more easily perceptible … a genre is defined by its image, not by its music, and I don’t find that to be fair.

MC: Anything else you’d like to add?

Swist: Check out my show. See the other side of the coin, what’s under the surface, and let the music speak for itself.

“The Ministry of Metal,” part of the complete WMEB lineup, can be heard on 91.9 FM, online at wmeb.fm and on channel 20 of campus television.

“Ministry of Metal” Featured in The Maine Campus

This week’s edition of the Maine Campus, UMaine’s student-run informational and cultural publication, has conducted an interview with myself for the WMEB Spot. Kegan Zema, a reporter and fellow DJ, helped me promote my show by putting my words to the page of what Metal is really about. 

Besides newsprint, the interview is available here on the The Maine Campus website.

Coincidentally, my roommate Zev Eisenberg is featured in the same issue in an article for the Juggling Club (I actually took the picture).

In other news, I have just registered for Spring semester classes. I got all my first choices, which are the following:

LAT 454: Latin Prose of the Late Republic & Early Empire

GRE 102: Elementary Ancient Greek II

HON 212: Civilizations Past Present & Future IV

EDB 221: Educational Psychology

AST 109/110: Introduction to Astronomy (with Lab)

In terms of my Spring schedule this will leave me with no classes before dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays, and no classes at all on Fridays. This gives me convenient times to pursue a part-time job, hopefully working within the Modern Languages & Classics Department. I don’t think I could stand another four months in a dining hall dishroom!

Universitas Mainensis Condita MDCCCLXV

As hinted by the post title, I have begun my translation of the University of Maine Wikipedia article. I’m already through the first paragraph, and after consulting with Dr. Passman, and navigating all the wiki-protocols, I hope to have a direct translation of the English article. Ite Ursi Nigri!

And on that note, I’m pleased to announce the advent of the Maine Senior Classical League. This has been a major project of my girlfriend, Megan Aydelott, and I will serve as secretary to her presidency. I’ll provide more on this once we have our first official proceedings. We will be attending the Junior Classical League convention later this month in Winthrop, Maine.

And finally, Happy Halloween to all, whether you hit the town in full regalia or sequestered yourselves at home to watch horror movies. Abandoning my original plan to go as The Joker, I suggested that my roommate, Zev Eisenberg, and myself dress as one another. Megan decided to also dress as Zev. For those who knew us, the reactions were epically hilarious. For those unaware, Zev is a peculiar dresser: dress shirts/pants, black goatee and a silly knit hat. Zev threw on some band shirts, glasses, a wig and my camo pants to emulate my character. We joined Melissa Carter’s crew for the masquerade ball at the Memorial Union. With delight we took in the scenery, the tarot readings and the chainsaw exhaust fumes in the haunted house. Of course, Zev had to do a photo shoot before we headed off (more photos here):

Farewell TMO

After five months of employment, I have tendered my resignation from my post as a reviewer for The Metal Observer. Now that I’m back at UMaine, I have too many priorities, namely advancing my education. As much as I enjoy reviewing music, that desire is not as great as the number of albums I have to review. As for this site, I will continue to review albums here and there, but no longer will they be syndicated TMO reviews. They will be completely under my own duress. And if I cannot commit to that, I do promise a “Best Black Metal Albums of 2008″ list as I did for ‘07 (the ‘07 list is the most searched-for topic I’ve covered here).

It was a diplomatic and friendly parting with Alex, the co-chief of TMO, and I wish him, Valerie, and all the staff the best as they renovate the site and continue their work to promote the Metal underground. Ave atque vale!