Description
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, this talk explores how the goddess of love has inspired centuries of Latin and artistic expression. We’ll begin with the Roman poet Sulpicia, who describes Venus herself granting her a lover, then trace how Boccaccio and Botticelli reimagined the goddess in Renaissance Latin and art. The journey concludes with modern women Latinists of the 20th and 21st centuries, whose new Venus passages reclaim the goddess of desire, beauty, and creative power for their own voices.
Dr. Skye Shirley’s love of Latin began at Lexington High School, where she studied under Dr. Fiveash and fell in love with the ancient language in his Latin class. She is proud to carry forward his commitment to equity and access in Latin studies. Skye holds a Ph.D. in Latin from University College London, where her dissertation focused on seventeenth-century Latin poetry books written by women. In addition to her research, she is the founder and director of Lupercal, an international organization dedicated to Latin by and about women. In 2025, she launched the Latin ReadHer, a bilingual reading app that brings women’s Latin texts to a wider audience.
The Fiveash Legacy Lecture is intended to honor and keep vital the memory and teaching legacy of Dr. Michael Fiveash, a long time and much loved Lexington High School teacher. Dr. Fiveash taught Latin, Mythology, and Classics for decades at LHS, and encouraged students in the love of literature and language; inspiring them to seek substance and depth by internalizing meaning found in the myths and wisdom storehouses of Classical literature. There are now two Lexington scholarships established in Michael’s name. The first is for students intending to study the Classics at the college level, and the second is for LHS teachers who inspire the hearts and minds of students in similar ways.
