Out of the Classics Bay: Heaney and Virgil

In partnership with Classical Association NI

Virgil’s Aeneid is an epic masterpiece that has sparked creativity across generations. Join Classics scholar, Lynn Gordon, as she illuminates the profound impact of Virgil’s work on Seamus Heaney. Discover how Heaney’s poem ‘Route 110’ from his collection Human Chain is interwoven with Virgil’s influence. Through insightful analysis, Gordon unravels the threads that connect these literary giants, shedding light on why Heaney found solace and guidance in Virgil’s words that helped him negotiate his own personal and political dilemmas.

About Lynn Gordon

Lynn Gordon is Head of Classics at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. After her MPhil at Corpus Christi College Cambridge, Lynn worked in London and Cambridge. She attributes her love for the literature of the ancient world to Wilfred Mulryne and Robert Jordan, her inspirational teachers at the Methodist College Belfast; her unfailing curiosity about everything to her mother Sarah and her dogged determination to her father Alexander. After university, her teaching career began in Wycombe Abbey School and took her to London and Cambridge (where she took her MPhil under the supervision of Philip Hardie and John Patterson) and now back to Belfast again, where she currently enjoys inflicting her various literary theories and love of scansion on her students and encouraging them to think for themselves.

About the Classical Association Northern Ireland

The Classical Association Northern Ireland’s mission centres on the advancement of Ancient History and Classical Studies, nurturing educational pursuits across Northern Ireland. The Association in Northern Ireland regained momentum during the conclusion of the 2014 Summer School, orchestrated by the Classical Association of Ireland.

Situated in Belfast, this branch operates under the umbrella of The Classical Association of Ireland. Their unwavering commitment to fostering Ancient History and the Classics is symbolized by an emblem—a stylized hound, emblematic of guardianship. The hound’s prominence in mosaic artworks adorning the entrances of Roman residences and its recurrent presence in early Irish Latin manuscripts underscores their dedication. The narratives interweaving hounds are a recurring motif in Northern Ireland’s earliest oral and written traditions.