Daniel does it again - Merton Classicist takes Greek Declamation prize

Daniel Schwennicke, a third year undergraduate reading Classics at Merton, has won the Greek Recitation category in the 2015 Classics Faculty Declamation Competition. Daniel - who last year was awarded an exhibition and the Professor WM Edwards Prize in Classics for his performance in Honours Moderations, as well as the Chancellor’s Latin Prizes for Prose and Verse - decided to take on a new challenge this time round:

"This was my third year taking part in the competition, which has four categories: Latin Reading, Greek Reading, Latin Recitation, and Greek Recitation. For the first two categories, contestants read two prescribed passages, one prose passage and one piece of poetry. For the latter two, contestants recite a passage of verse (16-24 lines) of their own choice from memory. Having entered and won both Latin competitions in the last two years, I decided to enter for Greek Recitation this year.

"I recited the last triad of Pindar’s Tenth Nemean Ode (lines 73-90). The passage focusses on a crucial moment of Greek mythology, the death of one of the Dioskouroi. The Dioskouroi, Castor and Polydeuces, are twin brothers, one of whom is mortal and one of whom is immortal. When Castor is mortally wounded, Polydeuces calls on his father Zeus to save his brother’s life. Zeus proposes—and Polydeuces ultimately agrees—that the brothers will take turns living in the underworld and in the realm of the living. The passage appealed to me because its metre, dactylo-epitrite, is more challenging to recite than the more common Greek metres, and because the scene it depicts throws a unique light on how the Greeks thought about the value of mortality and immortality."

Whilst others might choose to rest on their laurels, Daniel is ready to do battle again in the future:

"Unless next year’s competition clashes with my Finals, I hope to enter for the remaining category and hopefully bring back the complete set of victories to Merton."

Daniel attributes his achievements to the excellent teaching he has had over the last three years:

"I owe my success in great part to the encouragement and support of my tutors at Merton, in particular Rhiannon Ash and Guy Westwood."