Classical treasures in our backyard

We often take the location of our school for granted. On Thursday 11th August, during our double session, Unit 4 Classical Studies students took their study to the streets around our school.

Our first stop was the Melbourne University. There students were able to study one of the sculptures on VCAA’s Work List up close, a rare experience. The original bronze statue of Zeus, or Poseidon, depending on which scholarship you follow, stands in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Only two casts of this bronze fifth century BCE freestanding sculpture have ever been made. One is found in the United Nations Building in New York and the other in the courtyard of the Elizabeth Murdoch Building at Melbourne University. The sculpture was a gift from the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne in commemoration of the XVI Olympiad 1956. Being able to study this work up close is a gift! An unexpected treat as we were leaving, was Alicia’s excited spotting of the iconic Discobolus as part of the feature sculpture of the Ian Potter Museum of Art on Swanston Street.

Students were apprehensive about studying sculpture for our individual work in Unit 4 but have been surprised by how much they have actually enjoyed the unit.

Our next stop was the mosaic mural ‘Legend of Fire’ designed by Melbourne artist Harold Freedman and completed in 1982. The mural was commissioned by the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade and is situated on the corner of Gisborne and Albert Streets, East Melbourne. It was interesting to see the artist’s impression of the myth of Prometheus and compare it to what we know of the myth from Hesiod and the playwright Aeschylus whose work Prometheus Bound we are studying.

Though certainly not the greatest characteristic of UHS, let’s not take its central location for granted!

Maree Garra-Riley - Classical Studies Teacher