Togas

The first time I ever saw anyone in a toga was when I watched the classic movie Animal House, which of course - besides introducing my fifteen year old brain to a variety of ideas that a fifteen year old would find intriguing - immediately fixed within my mind the connection between togas and wild drunken college parties of infinitely creative debauchery. Subsequently, I have realized that the mythology of the toga party is much more a creation of Hollywood than anything else. After all, since Animal House portrayed the ultimate and idealized party so well, what's the point of continuing on with it.

I only mention togas because our English Honor society here at the college had something they called a togafest, which - rather than being the realization of the mythological party on earth - was actually an event for students and professors to read greek poetry. Although two students did actually wear togas and laurels, everything was very tame - to the point of being a little dull. And to ensure my enduring status as a word nerd, I actually read two of my own poems about Achilles. I will not inflict them on you here, suffice it to say that Achilles really interests me because, when thinking about everything I've read about him (admittedly very little), I am struck with the imagery of fury and violence; they are pratically valorized. For me, the themes between violence and men, especially in our own era, are very interesting things to explore. Anyway, that's it for the cellar this week; I'll be back on Monday.