This project was assigned in Latin 3003 (Ovid) for several reasons. First, the students read the entire Metamorphoses in translation, and it seemed appropriate for them to gain some understanding of where these myths appear in Roman culture outside of literature. Many of the myths in the Metamorphoses are found in actual houses from Pompeii, often in surprising forms and combinations. Further, in designing and decorating rooms in a virtual Roman house, students could begin to imagine how they might communicate power (or a cutting-edge sense of political dissatisfaction, or even sexual ambiguity) through their decorative choices. They could also begin to imagine how performances of Ovid or other Latin poetry in a Roman dining room or bath might interact with visual depictions of myth on the walls or floors. Last but not least, this project was an attempt to expose humanities students to 2D and 3D software, drawing, and image manipulation techniques. Classics is interdisciplinary by nature, and multimedia projects should challenge boundaries between art history, literature, and social history and encourage students to think holistically about antiquity. In general, universities must teach students visual as well as verbal communication skills, and classics is a great place to begin.
